First Sundays are our monthly Family Celebration and Thanksgiving Sundays. Here is how we celebrate, and how special events are planned.
First Sundays are set apart for celebrating life's milestones together as one church family: thanksgiving, birthdays, wedding anniversaries, promotions, baby dedications, testimonies and other expressions of God's goodness.
We do not hold individual celebration services on other Sundays or private praise events. We celebrate together, in one service, with one heart and one voice.
This shared rhythm promotes unity, joy, order and ease. It removes pressure and unnecessary expense, protects leaders, workers and church systems from overload, and ensures that no one celebrates alone.
Some important life events naturally fall outside the First Sunday rhythm, such as weddings, baby naming ceremonies (on the 8th day), services of songs and similar personal milestones. Because they are private in nature, they need clear planning and proper coordination to ensure peace, excellence and order.
For private events, families are responsible for all personal arrangements. All food must arrive fully prepared and pre-packaged, as no food preparation, serving or packaging is permitted on church premises. Photography and videography are arranged independently, and families are responsible for post-event cleaning, returning the facility clean and ready for others.
When a celebrant is invited to the stage, the altar is treated with reverence and dignity. Only the celebrant and, where necessary, a few immediate nuclear family members step onto the stage. All others remain in front of the altar to preserve focus, order and the sacredness of the moment.
All First Sunday celebrations and special events outside First Sundays are coordinated only by the Administration Department, with approval obtained through your Life Group Leader using the Living Word Event Form. Submit the form at least SIX WEEKS in advance (except baby naming ceremonies, which are observed on the 8th day). The pastorate and the pastor's office are not involved in approvals or scheduling.
Above all, God is honored first in every celebration, because every milestone is made possible by Him. Members are encouraged to honor Him first with a befitting seed, knowing that without Him there would be nothing to celebrate.
To protect joy, preserve unity, promote excellence, remove stress, and ensure that every celebration is joyful, reverent, orderly and God-honoring, together as one loving church family.
Speak with your Life Group Leader and submit the Living Word Event Form at least six weeks in advance.
Know what Christ has done. Know who you are in Him. Live by His grace.
