What To Expect

First and foremost, let us tell you that you are always welcome at Southwest! We know visiting a church can be a little intimidating. "What should I wear?" "Will I find a seat?" "Will people speak to me?" "Is there something for my kids?"

Here are a few things to keep in mind...

• We do not have a dress code. Some people dress up, some come casual. Whatever makes you comfortable.
• Sit anywhere you like, there are no assigned seats. We even have a balcony that has a lot fewer people if that would make you more comfortable.
• At no time will you be singled out as a visitor. We usually have a short greeting time where everyone greets those sitting around them.
• We are not after your money! We do pass collection plates, but these are for our members. We would very much appreciate you filling out a blue visitors card and if you do, place that in the collection plate when passed. You have no obligation to give so do not feel pressure about it.
• Southwest is far from a perfect church. We really do think of ourselves in terms of family. We have "stuff" just like the rest of humanity, the only difference is that we depend on Christ and each other in the midst of it, knowing that Jesus makes us perfect in the eyes of God.
• We have parking reserved just for you! On the North side of the building (closest to 45th), there are several parking places marked as Visitor Parking. They are very close to the main entrance (pictured above). Please feel free to use these.

Sunday Morning

Here is a rundown of things we do during a typical worship service.

The Place
We worship in the room referred to as the auditorium. There are no reserved seats so sit anywhere, and remember there is also a balcony available. Currently, you can expect between 750 to 825 of us meeting with you.

 

Singing
We love to sing! We sing songs of glory and honor to God and His Son Jesus Christ, and songs of encouragement to each other. We use a projection screen to display all the words, and have songbooks in the racks where you sit if you'd like to see the music. You are welcome to join in or just sit back and listen.

Praying
We believe in the power of prayer, and we often pray for specific needs and requests. We will have several public prayers during our service lead by men up front. Again, you will not be required or asked to do anything.

Lord's Supper (Communion)
We observe this memorial every Sunday. This Supper is a way of remembering the sacrifice Jesus has made on our behalf. During this, plates containing pieces of unleavened bread (they look like crackers) will be passed throughout the congregation. The bread symbolizes the body of Jesus. Each participant will break off a piece of the bread and eat it and spend a moment remembering Jesus in any way they choose. Some open the Bible, some silently pray, some listen to a song that is being sung or sing along themselves. They will also pass trays filled with small cups. The cups will contain grape juice, symbolizing the blood of Jesus, and participants spend another moment remembering that our sins have been forgiven. Once again, with the exception of passing the tray as it comes down your row of people, you are not required to participate. And if you don't, no need to be embarrassed. And feel equally as free to join in.

Preaching
While we have many special services and variations in our gathering time, we usually have a time dedicated to teaching and preaching. And when we do, way more often than not, a man named Brian Mashburn, who has been commissioned to study, live out, and then preach and teach the life of Christ does this. He is currently studying the Bible looking for what it means to be a follower of Jesus, and then calling all of us to become more like Him. You can listen to many of his recent talks on our sermon's page, or check out his secret inner thoughts (if you dare!) at his blog. Brian is an open and honest lover of God, is dedicated to becoming more like Jesus every day, and believes that this is the best possible life for you.

 

Invitation to Respond
Inviting worshippers to take their "next step" towards Jesus is a part of every service. Don't feel ill-at-ease during this invitation, you will not be singled out in any way. What usually happens is at the close of the lesson. The speaker will encourage those who wish to respond publicly to either come to the front (or the back, if they wish for a more private interaction with one of our Shepherds, who are spiritually mature, older Christians) of the auditorium while the congregation sings. This is completely voluntary. It is common for several to respond, and equally common for none to do so. Some may respond for baptism. Some to confess sins. Some to ask for prayer for a specific need or to share some special gratitude or praise. Some come to say they want to join this church family. If anyone responds for baptism, you will get to witness the baptism during the service.

Offering
How many times will you be asked for money? None. However, containers will be passed to collect the weekly financial offering. As our guest, you are welcome to make a donation if you'd like, but feel perfectly comfortable in just passing the collection plate on down the row. We would love to have your blue visitor card put in the plate, but don't even feel required to do that.

Childcare
We value your children very much at Southwest. We are not inconvenienced by children at all, no matter what the issue. For parents of young children, childcare is provided during all or most of the worship service. We want you to know that we take seriously your trust in us when you check-in your child.

All children have to be checked-in at the children's check-in area in the children's wing. For children birth to 2 years old, we have attended nursery for the entire service. For three year old's, we have Wee Worship and for 4 years through Kindergarten we have Kids Praise. For both Wee Worship and Kids Praise, your children will stay with you in the auditorium to start. About midway through the worship service, we will have a time to dismiss the children. At this time, you can take your children to the children's check-in area. Once checked-in, you can return to the auditorium for the remainder of the worship service. At check-in, you will be given a name tag with your child's name on it. For security reasons, you are required to have this name tag to pick up your child. Also, if you are staying for Bible Classes, your child will be taken to their Bible class after worship so you do not need to worry about picking them up and taking them to class. You can pick your child up anytime at the check-in desk.

Bible Classes
We have classes for every age group. Our class time starts after the worship service, approximately 10:50 and ends at 11:50. See our Bible Classes page for more information and class locations.

Southwest Small Groups

You will probably hear or see references to small group gatherings when you visit with us on a Sunday morning. At Southwest, our leadership has asked every member, at a minimum, to engage in two corporate activities. Meet with the large group for worship of Christ on Sunday morning, and meet with a small group of our family for more intimate and interpersonal community centered on Christ. Most in our body participate in what we call Lifegroups, and most of those groups meet on Sunday nights. You are welcome to try out a Lifegroup at any time. If you don't get invited to one, seriously, ask anyone in our church family about them and they will either invite you to theirs or point you towards someone who can help connect you with a group. You can also contact church office at 806-352-5647 or churchmail@southwest.org.

Sunday Evening

There is a special service at the building at 6:00 which meets in the auditorium. This is a much smaller group than on Sunday mornings so it is typical that only the back half of the auditorium is used for seating. Everyone is welcome, and again, feel free to sit anywhere. This service usually involves all of the same things we do on Sunday morning, but it is a totally different service than the morning. Our worship minister, Doyle Corder, is the person who coordinates and speaks most Sundays at this service.

Wednesday Evenings

We offer Bible classes for all ages. They begin at 7:00 and end at 8:00. See our Bible classes page for more information and class locations . We also offer a service we call Oasis. This is an adult worship service that takes place in the auditorium. We consider this time an "Oasis" from our day to day lives. We worship and we hear a short devotional thought from one of our Oasis speakers. You can listen online to recent Oasis devotionals on our Oasis Audio page.