What to expect

Walking into a new church can be a bit daunting, especially if you're not used to it. Even if you go to church regularly, churches do some things differently so it's good to know what to expect.

What do I wear?

Please feel free to wear whatever you are comfortable wearing, whether that's a t-shirt and jeans, or a suit and tie if that's more your style.

Finding Us

We meet at Bourton Meadow Academy which is on the east side of Buckingham, closest to Milton Keynes. The school address, map & directions can all be found on the Where We Meet page.

Parking

We have full use of the school's staff car park so park wherever you can in the marked bays. If that car park is full there are more parking spaces just outside the main gate. You can also park along Burleigh Piece.

Getting to the main hall

We meet together in the school hall. You'll see the main entrance to the school under the covered walkway. There will be someone there to greet you at the door and they will direct you down the main corridor. The hall is halfway down on the left. Find yourself a seat - there aren't any that are reserved - and make yourself comfortable!

Morning Service

At BEChurch we're committed to coming together to worship God, so there is a sense of reverence to the service, but we are in no sense "stuffy" about it and enjoy being in God's presence together as a family.

The service starts at 10:30am and one of the leaders will usually welcome everyone together, pray and then invite the congregation to sing. There will be notices given so that everyone knows what's going on that week and what's coming up.

We often have a children's talk - it's aimed at children of all ages and many of the children will go to the front row to listen and take part before they go out to their classes.

We may sing some more songs, pray together and then read from the Bible before one of the elders (or a visiting speaker) preaches a sermon. Sermons are around 30 minutes long.

We're usually all done by midday and tea & coffee will be available at the back of the hall so please help yourself.

What about my kids?

If you have children please bring them along with you. We know they fidget and make noises at inappropriate times, but don't worry we're quite used to it. If you feel uncomfortable and want to take them out for a bit we provide a creche for the very little ones (up to age 3). Just head towards the back and someone will direct you. At around 11am all the children will be invited to attend various Sunday School classes. These cater for children from 3 up to around age 14 and will include age appropriate teaching and activities. They will enjoy themselves! However, if they would prefer to stay in the main hall with you through the rest of the service that's absolutely fine.

Communion

On the first Sunday of each month we celebrate communion (also called the Lord's Supper) as part of our service. We encourage everyone - including visitors - who believes in the Lord Jesus and is trusting Him as their saviour to take part with us. If you know that's not you, just let the bread and juice pass by when they're offered. Please don't be embarrassed, we won't be offended - quite the opposite in fact. If you want to understand more about communion you can do that here.

Afterwards

At the end of the sermon we'll usually sing another hymn or song and finish with a prayer before having tea & coffee. This is as much a part of the service as everything else and we often use this time to chat about what's been said in the sermon, enourage each other, share requests for prayer as well as general chat. Please don't be surprised if lots of people want to speak with you - we're a friendly bunch and we like to make everyone feel very welcome.