It’s not easy visiting a church for the first time. Do I belong here? Am I really welcome? Will the people be unfriendly, or too friendly? Will I be conspicuous? Will it be easy to leave if I don’t enjoy it? Will I enjoy it? Will they ask me for money? How should I dress? Am I welcome if I don’t believe?

We want to make your visit an enjoyable experience, easy, stress-free, relaxing. Damascus Road exists for all people, whatever their background, including those who have never been to church before. If we were visiting a new church for the first time, we’d like to know what to expect, so here’s a brief overview.

To begin with, you need to know where we are. Here's a map and directions.

When you arrive at Damascus Road for our 10:30 am service, you’ll park in the Second Street Garage (free on all Sundays except game days). Services are held in the Student Memorial Union directly south of the parking garage and the main entrance is near the circular turn-around at the southwest corner of the garage. There is good signage to help you find your way.

The main entrance, called the “canyon” (a large open-air hallway through the center of the building) is just south of the circular turn-around. Use the first doors on the left (across from Starbucks) to enter the interior of the Union. Should you need the "facilities", restrooms are located just inside these doors. Walk down the hallway past various offices, the bank and hair salon to the end of the hall and you’ll find the Kiva Room.

At the Kiva Room entrance, there should be some friendly people (we call them "greeters") to say hello, answer any questions you have, and give you a copy of "The Median" which has the week’s announcements and any notes for the day’s service.  You’ll notice the Median has an info-card insert, which is an easy way for us to get better acquainted; you can ask for any kind of information or assistance using the info-card. You’ll notice that everyone is dressed comfortably, in anything from "office casual" to shorts and sandals.

If you arrive late, just help yourself to a seat. If you need to leave early, no-one will complain if you slip out. You may sit anywhere, no seats are reserved. The Kiva room is accessible to those needing wheelchairs or walkers. We encourage people to bring a Bible if they have one. If not, just follow along with the scripture displayed on the screen at the front of the room.

Children are welcome in our service. Believing it is important for parents, grandparents, and children to worship together, children are invited to our services. It is our practice to let parents and children decide what level of participation they feel comfortable with.

 The service is designed to be accessible, understandable, and compelling. The service usually begins with an opening song, followed by a welcome and introduction to the theme of the day’s service. During the welcome, we’ll highlight a few upcoming events and allow the opportunity for tithe. We want you to feel welcome as our guest, with no pressure to give. Our regular attenders will put their contributions in the baskets as they are passed. Even though we hope you’ll simply be our guest on your first visit, we do hope you’ll drop your info-card in the basket, so we can send you any information you request.

Often, there will be a song, reading, drama or multimedia to further explore the theme. Then we’ll either begin a time of group singing or a member of our Teaching team will begin the message. Our teachers usually speak for about 30 minutes, and do their best to make the messages interesting, enjoyable, and relevant to daily life. The message will either look at a specific section of scripture or look at a contemporary issue through the lens of the Bible. Our messages will often include interesting quotes from contemporary people, songs, or movies and, if they do their job right, you’ll hear solid Christian theology in intelligent, understandable, relevant terms.

We celebrate communion each week, sometimes during the group singing time, often along with a time to reflect on the message. Communion (also known as the eucharist or the Lord’s Supper) is a Christian celebration of the self-sacrifice of Jesus Christ. You’re welcome to share in communion with us or you can just sit back and enjoy the music and reflection time.

Our bands do a great job leading musically, from a mix of different musical styles. We feature Top 40, Rock and Bluegrass sounds in our services and occasionally we'll sneak in some R&B, Classic Rock or Country tunes. You’ll have some new tunes to hum all week long.  During the singing, many people make use of various stations around the room - places where they can write in a journal, spend time in prayer, or create art. You are welcome to stand when we sing or, if you prefer, you can just remain seated throughout the service.

We’ll close the service about 90 minutes after it began and we hope you’ll come up and introduce yourself to the teacher afterwards.