What to expect
Corporate Gathering
Scripture tells us that the church of God is a metaphorical body that is made up of many different parts. At Pioneer, we aim to make this clear even in our corporate gatherings for worship. When you join us for a gathering, you will find that our pastors and other well-respected men within our congregation are the primary ones who lead us in our time together, but many other brothers and sisters contribute through praying, reading Scripture, leading songs, etc. And we ALL participate by being actively engaged in each part of the gathering for one another's mutual encouragement. This is a very intentional part of our culture, as we believe one function of the church gathering is to demonstrate the church's inclusion of all of God's people. Because of this belief, it is the cultural expectation at Pioneer that all in the gathering are heard, seen, acknowledged, embraced, etc. as we come together for communal reading, singing, praying, preaching, and seeing God's Word at work!
G3 Classes
At Pioneer, we are committed to spiritual growth in 3 areas: knowledge of God, love for God, and obedience to God. As a means of helping us grow in those areas, we have 10-14 week classes on different areas of the Christian life during the Spring and Fall seasons. The topics of these classes range in variety from dense theological topics, to practical day-to-day topics, to topics on the basic fundamentals of Christianity. They are held at 9AM (in place of what many churches offer as Sunday School) during the weeks they're offered. Be sure to ask around to find out what/where/when classes are being offered.
Flow of Gathering
When we gather together, we long to adore our God, acknowledge our need for him, and rejoice in the grace he has given us in Christ Jesus. The order of every corporate gathering is designed to communicate a clear gospel message, glorify God, and equip the saints. We seek to do that through preaching the gospel, reading God’s Word, praying, singing, and taking the Lord’s Supper. The specific Scripture readings, prayers, and songs all correlate to the text that will be preached that Sunday for the sake of cohesion and deeper meditation on the message of God’s Word. We hope and pray that the rhythms of our corporate worship will grant a greater knowledge, love, and obedience of the Lord in those who gather on Sundays.
Music
Praising God through song is an essential part of our corporate worship. When we gather each week, we sing a variety of songs that are rooted in God’s Word, Christ-centered, and diverse in genre. We believe the congregational voice is the most important instrument in our musical worship, as we lift our voices to God and address one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. You can expect our musical accompaniment to be minimal, our voices to be joyful, and our hearts and minds to be engaged in song.
Expositional Preaching
We believe God's written Word in the Holy Bible is the primary means of His communication and guidance of His people today. With that said, the aim of preaching at Pioneer Church is always to explain and "expose" God's Word as He intends it to be understood. This means that the preaching at Pioneer is purposefully rich with Biblical truth and teaching, will often be in the form of series that walk through books of the Bible sequentially, and is preached with passion that makes clear we believe that God indeed speaks through His holy Word.
Ordinances
Jesus instructed His followers to observe and practice two ordinances that remind them of His ministry and work of salvation. They are Baptism and the Lord's Supper (also known as Communion). At Pioneer, we observe the Lord's Supper each week in order to have a tangible reminder and celebration of what has been accomplished for us through the broken body and shed blood of Jesus Christ. We observe baptism when someone who has yet to be baptized as a Christian is in the process of joining our church. For more on our beliefs regarding communion and baptism, see our Statement of Faith
Children’s Ministry
As a church we believe that parents should take the primary role of discipling their children. However, the church is also a key part of discipleship. As the children at Pioneer take part in Sunday morning classes, they see other members of the church serving faithfully and lovingly AS the church. They get to see the faith of individuals within the body, while also watching the corporate body work in unison to serve them and others.
