What to Expect at Second
We worship on Sunday mornings at 10:30 a.m. You might try to arrive by 10:20 a.m. just to get situated for the first time. You can enter our property just off McKnight Road or on the lane from Clayton Road. As a visitor, we invite you to park in the small upper parking lot closest to Clayton Road which you can easily reach from either entrance. Enter the front doors of the church under the arch. You will find everything in our facility is nearby and handicap accessible.
As you enter through the arch, you will find the Narthex (entry hall) straight ahead. There is a Welcome Center in this room that is hosted by someone who will greet you, give you any information you need, and welcome you.
The restrooms are located just to your right as you enter the building through the front entrance. They are in the modern addition to our building completed in 2002.
If you have children, this new addition to your right contains all of our children’s classrooms and our nursery. The nursery is open for infants and toddlers from 9:10 am through the conclusion of the worship hour. Our nursery attendant, Feng Mei Guo, is a much-appreciated professional who has served the children of our church with grace for nearly ten years.
Older children will go with you into the sanctuary. Usually, we have a children’s conversation in the worship service and then the elementary aged children leave for Children’s Church. We have an able team of gifted volunteer educators who serve the needs of our children. We care very much for their safety and security and for their spiritual well-being. Even our children seem to enjoy meeting new children!
You are also very welcome to come on Sunday at 9:15 a.m. for our Sunday School hour. We have several superb classes for adults, a class for young adults, a class for youth, and classes for children. You will likely meet Shari Nelson-Faulkner, our children’s educator on staff, who can assist you in introducing your children to our teachers. These classes conclude by 10:15 a.m. and you can easily find your children as you come to worship together. The nursery children remain in their room throughout the morning, but you are welcome to drop by and check on them. The adult classes are always lively, engaging, and thought-provoking. There are no rote answers at Second Baptist Church!
You will find our congregation very hospitable. But it is also a congregation that highly values individuals and their own unique spiritual needs. So you won’t be harassed, pushed, or the object of a crusade. You will be warmly greeted and engaged.
We make no apologies for being a small church. The size enables us to take one another seriously and to enter into the lives of each other and of our guests. Yet we are large enough to have a full staff, to realize big dreams, and a large mission of making an impact throughout the St. Louis region.
Our worship service occurs in an inspired place, the Sanctuary of the Beatitudes. When you enter our facility, the narthex is in front of you and the sanctuary is just to your left, easily accessible.
There are two things that we suggest that you try to do on one of your first Sundays with us. One is to walk around the Sanctuary of the Beatitudes. It is so named because of the well-known Beatitude Windows that were created by the renowned St. Louis artist, Siegfried Reinhardt and produced by Emil Frei. There is a description of each of the windows in the sanctuary and you will likely be drawn, as have successive generations of our members, into their dramatic and expressive rendering of the life of Jesus and his core, revolutionary teachings. The vaulted Sanctuary with near-perfect acoustics was designed by Frederick Dunn using his trademark “Chicago common brick” that gives the sanctuary its earth-tone warmth.
Within the sanctuary and its simple, contemporary lines, you will note the role of music in our services. We have two new Yamaha grand pianos, one in the rear choir loft and one in the chancel, and the historic Gale-Blewett Memorial Organ is one of the extraordinary organs in St. Louis and has followed our congregation in three buildings since it was built for us by the highly regarded Odell Organ Company in 1879.
The second thing that we suggest is that you walk down the hall that contains the restrooms and children’s classrooms because this is the “Baptist Liberties Hallway.” There are eight posters in this hall describing the five Baptist Liberties that are so integral to our tradition and heritage at Second Baptist Church. You will learn much about our church from this hallway. Usually, examples of our children’s art also adorn this area!
If you want to tour our facility, ask the host at the Welcome Center in the narthex and one can easily be arranged.
Our worship service is a combination of relaxed and formal. You will note the extended time of personal greeting that is incorporated into the worship service, the role that children often play in worship, and the time of sharing of concerns and celebrations by individuals in the sanctuary during the season of prayer. You will also note that members of our congregation give leadership to our worship service every Sunday morning.
We attempt a high level of excellence in our worship services, from the preaching, to the music, to the design of the worship service. Each of our worship services is carefully crafted to create the desired worship experience.
You need not feel compelled to give to the offering as it is taken in each worship service. You are our guest! We take this offering as an act of worship because we believe in the power of giving. The time of giving in the worship service represents our compassion for the world around us.
We serve the Lord’s Supper or Holy Communion on the first Sunday of every month. You are welcome to receive it as our church has practiced open communion, welcoming everyone, for over a century and a half.
Our pastor, Dr. Stephen D. Jones, enjoys meeting new people and would love to spend some time with you getting acquainted, learning about your spiritual journey, and helping you discover if Second Baptist Church is a place to help you in that journey. Like the congregation, Steve will not crowd you, but he is interested in beginning a pastoral relationship with you, for a day, or for longer. You are invited to call him by his first name. There is an introduction to our pastor and word of greeting from him in another section of this website.
At the close of our worship in the Narthex, you will be invited to tarry for a few moments and enjoy coffee fellowship with us. You will meet a number of our people and find that engaging with them is natural and easy. You can stay or leave as you feel comfortable.
We understand that visiting a new congregation can be unnerving. You can enter feeling like an outsider and wonder if this congregation will be a fit for you. We can’t promise the latter, only you can determine that. But we can promise that a warm welcome awaits you and you won’t leave feeling like an outsider. We’ve had people say to us, “This isn’t the church I was seeking, but you have certainly welcomed me warmly.”
The people of Second Baptist Church come from a variety of backgrounds. Many are first-time Baptists and many are shocked that they have joined a Baptist church. Even some who grew up in a Baptist church are shocked that they still remain a Baptist! Many have come from more rigid, fundamentalist backgrounds and have found healing and liberation at Second Baptist Church. We have single, married, divorced, widowed members and you will note a lot of age diversity within our church. We celebrate the growing racial diversity of our congregation.
Second Baptist Church is not a neighborhood church. Our members come from Ballwin, the city of St. Louis, Warrenton, St. Charles, and South County and points in between. Because of our history in the city of St. Louis, we attract people from across the metropolitan area.
From what we have heard, Second Baptist Church is a unique church in St. Louis. We may not fit any stereotypes! Our heritage goes all the way back to 1833, but the best part of our heritage is the way it allows us to serve in the contemporary context with a broader understanding of peace, justice, hospitality, spirituality and a reasoned approach to faith.
Feel free to join us any Sunday morning. You can see the upcoming sermon topic and worship theme by going to the current newsletter on this website. If you have any questions that you would like to ask prior to your visit, feel free to call the pastor at the church number, 314/991-3424.
Welcome to Second Baptist Church of St. Louis!
Posted by Timothy R. Butler on Apr 4, 2008 at 21:41:46 | Article Path: Home: About: What to Expect at Second
