10:30am Morning Worship

12:15pm Lunch (always plenty for guests)

1:15pm Catechism classes for youth

2:15pm Afternoon Worship

Our dress code runs the range from suit and tie to t-shirt and blue jeans. Other than encouraging modesty in dress, we hope you wear whatever makes you feel most comfortable.

When looking for a church to visit or join, many people will often consider what options that local church has for their children. We agree children are a valuable part of the body of Christ! As our church standards, The Westminster Confession of Faith, notes, “The visible church,...consists of all those throughout the world that profess the true religion; and of their children…” (1 Cor 7:14; Acts 2:39; Gen 17:7-12; Eze 16:20-21; Rom 11:16) - WCF 25.2. As children of believers are part of the covenant community, we expect them to be included in the worship service, so our children remain with us during worship and the preaching of the Word.

The position of both Christ and the Psalmist was that children were capable of praising God. (Matt 21:16 and Psalm 8:2). We want our children to learn from an early age what it means to worship God corporately and what better way for them to learn than to be a part of the worship service. We understand there are some portions of the worship service that our youngest children don’t fully understand, but God has given the primary duty of parents to point their children to Christ and to instruct them in the faith (Proverbs 22:6). Parents can explain what is happening in the worship service, either reverently during the service, or afterwards during discussion of all that was experienced and heard.

In addition, the elders desire to do all they can to aid parents in the discipleship of their children. To learn more on discipling children, please listen to this sermon from a series on “The Christian Family”. One way DPC seeks to do this, is that the minister may address the children specifically during the sermon. Another way is that we also have Sabbath school classes directed to different age groups (3 years to teenagers) that meet between the two worship services each Lord’s Day. For more information on our youth classes please see one of our elders.

Another important aspect of discipling children is to instruct them in the precious truths of the Bible. DPC encourages our covenant youth to memorize the various catechisms of our church standards, the Westminster Standards. The catechisms are in Q&A formats that teach theological and biblical truths in a manner easily memorized. Parents can instruct their children in the faith through daily catechesis beginning as soon as a child is old enough to talk! For more on why catechesis is important, read the short article, Is the Shorter Catechsim Worthwhile? The three catechisms used by our covenant children are: The Children’s Catechism, the Westminster Shorter and Larger Catechisms.

DPC also encourages households to practice regular times of family worship where families spend time together reading God’s word, praying, and singing the Psalms. The Westminster Confession of Faith 21.6 states, “...God is to be worshiped everywhere in spirit and truth; as in private families daily (1Pet 3:7, 2Sam 6:18, 2Sam 6:20, Acts 10:2, Deut 6:6, Deut 6:7, Jer 10:25, Job 1:5), and in secret each one by himself, so more solemnly in the public assemblies, which are not carelessly or willfully to be neglected or forsaken, when God, by his Word or providence, calleth thereunto.” Please speak to an elder if you’d like more information on how to begin the habit of daily family worship.

Here are a few more tips to help parents and children benefit the most from sitting in the public worship service together:

To the parents of young children, may we suggest....Relax! God gave them an abundance of energy, don’t feel you have to suppress it entirely in God’s house. All are welcome! We encourage families to sit towards the back so if you do need to tend to little ones, it will minimize distractions to the congregation. We understand there may be times when it’s necessary to quietly slip out of the worship service to tend to needs such as feeding, changing, and quieting a fussy baby. For these reasons, we have a nursery with the service piped in by closed-circuit video for any who need it.

To the parents of older children, we encourage families to sit towards the front where it is easier for children to see and hear what’s going on in the pulpit. They tire of seeing the backs of other’s heads. Also, it will minimize distractions behind them.

If you have to leave the worship service with your child(ren), feel free to do so, but please come back. As Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me...” (Matt 19:14).

We also encourage parents to quietly explain the parts of the worship service and the actions of the Minister. Sing the psalms, pray, and give attention to the preaching. Children learn behavior in worship by imitating you.

Remember that the way we welcome children in church directly affects the way they respond to the church, to God, and to one another. We want them to know they are at home in this house of worship.

Lastly, we have a “Sermon Notes for Covenant Kids” page to encourage our children’s attention during the sermon. These are found on the front table at the entrance to the worship area.

To consider the Biblical practice of Psalm singing, you can find three messages in the Gospel Worship sermon series that explain the Biblical reasons for singing the psalms. (Scroll down this page to listen to the entire Gospel Worship Series via SermonAudio.)

At the Reformation, Calvin called for a return to the ancient church’s practice of using only the words of the biblical text for singing in worship. He endorsed Augustine’s judgment that the song texts spoken by God through the prophets are those which are appropriately offered back to him in worship. “Now what Saint Augustine says is true, that no one is able to sing things worthy of God unless he has received them from Him. Wherefore, when we have looked thoroughly everywhere and searched high and low, we shall find no better songs nor more appropriate to the purpose than the Psalms of David which the Holy Spirit made and spoke through him. And furthermore, when we sing them, we are certain that God puts the words in our mouths, as if He Himself were singing in us to exalt His glory.”

This advocacy for the church’s use of the Book of Psalms as its manual of praise may be stated in two parts.

First, in both the Old and New Testaments the text of song for the worship of God is regarded as having been given by the Holy Spirit through inspired prophecy. The words of song for worship were as much the oracles of God as were ethical codes and prophetic visions. Thus Scripture defines divine inspiration as normative for the texts to be used in this part of worship.

Second, the Lord’s placement of the Book of Psalms in the biblical canon amounts to his requirement that its texts which are overtly designated for singing in worship should be employed for their announced purpose. Neither are we at liberty to venture beyond the Bible’s prescriptions for religious observance. In other words, the canon of Scripture is sufficient for the religious functions which it claims for itself. The principle of sola Scriptura has consequences for the question of an appropriate text for singing in worship. In those parts of worship for which the canon claims to supply a text, the sufficiency and divine authority of the canon entail a restriction to that text.

In more recent times, John Murray has once more called the churches back to a recognition that the only text which the Bible recognizes for song offered to God in worship is that which comes by prophetic revelation. “1) There is no warrant in Scripture for the use of uninspired human compositions in the singing of God’s praise in public worship. 2) There is explicit authority for the use of inspired songs. 3) The songs of divine worship must therefore be limited to the songs of Scripture, for they alone are inspired. 4) The Book of Psalms does provide us with the kind of compositions for which we have the authority of Scripture. 5) We are therefore certain of divine sanction and approval in the singing of the Psalms.”

John Murray: Song in the Public Worship of God

We thank the brethren at Greenville Presbyterian Church for this excellent material on Psalm Singing.

We celebrate the Lord's Supper Quarterly to give the congregation time to prepare to meet with the Lord. The Lord's Supper is the Christian feast that replaces Passover. The quarterly observance of the Supper matches the quarterly feasts of the Old Testament. It also allows for the whole counsel of God to be preached during the rest of the year, and allows us to intensely focus on the atonement of Jesus Christ on the day communion is celebrated. To understand this historic Presbyterian practice, please consider the following sermon.

We celebrate the Supper at a Common Table, with a Common Loaf of Bread, and a Common Cup. To understand this Biblical and historic practice, please consider the following sermon.

We do not have a collection in the worship service. However, there is a box outside of the meeting hall where you may deposit your tithes and offerings.

For those who would like to give electronically, please use this link - Tithe.ly link for DPC or the convenient button at the bottom of every page. We know that many non-members appreciate the ministry of this congregation and would like to support it. But we do request that you do not neglect your giving to your local congregation. If you wish to give above your tithe to your local body, then we count it a blessing if you choose to support the ministry here financially. But do not have it come at the expense of your own body that is watering your soul.