Practices:

Why don't you have a lot of programs?
Many of us grew up going to the church building many times throughout the week in order to participate in children's, youth or family programs.  While there is nothing inherently wrong with those programs, we found ourselves busier in the work of the church than in the work of the Kingdom which is about going out and making disciples.  We at Living Stone Church are intentionally low-program/high-relationship in an attempt to encourage each other to participate in the community of Rochester in many ways.

  Do you have a children's program for my kids?

  Another thing we noticed about the churches we  

  grew up in is that the community was segmented

  by age with adults going into one room and kids

  being split up by grade and supervised by one or

  two adults.  We desire to keep families together

  and to help parents live up to the responsibility to

  raise their children in the faith.  Our Neighborhood

  Groups meet on the first Sunday night of the

  month in homes around a meal and include our

  children's education program called Kid

  Connection.  In this way the community as a whole

  helps parents instruct their children in the Christian

  faith.

  Why don’t you worship on Sunday morning?
  One thing we've repeated since the beginning is that we want to BE the church before we DO church.  Our focus is on being a community of Living Stones built into a spiritual house for God's glory.  We find that the community aspect of worship is lost when we come to the worship gathering in a rush on Sunday morning, sit for an hour and then hurry off to other appointments.  Worshipping on Sunday evening gives our gatherings a relaxed feel and allows us to work on relationships in an unhurried manner.  This also allows people to have a restful Sabbath and come to our gatherings in a worshipful frame of mind.

How would you define worship?
We at Living Stone Church believe that worship is a lifestyle and not an act localized to Sunday mornings between 9:30 and 11 a.m. Our lives should be lives of worship to God, giving glory to God in everything we do. In addition, we worship every time we gather, whether through song and prayer or conversation and laughter. The particular gathering on Sundays should be understood at a culmination of a week of worship rather than the only time we seek to bring glory to God.

Can you describe your worship gatherings?
Our worship follows a very basic structure: Approach to God, Word of God, Response to God. 

In the Approach we sing some songs, prepare ourselves to hear God's word and spend some time in confession of the ways we haven't lived according to God's desires in the past week. 

During the Word of God section we read a section of Scripture, hear some prepared remarks or teaching about this Scripture and then get a chance to respond in discussion after the teaching.

In the Response to God section we often read one of the historic creeds of the church or pray together the Lord's prayer, we celebrate the Lord's Supper (also called Communion) together and we pray for each other and for our world.  We end each gathering with a blessing from God and a challenge to go live according to God's purposes.

We value multiple voices and perspectives in our worship; thus you will often find lay people leading different parts of the liturgy.  We also sing songs from around the world and throughout history in an attempt to open ourselves up to the witness of the worldwide church.

In the end, the best way to understand what Living Stone worship is like is to experience it for yourself some Sunday evening.  

Identity

Is Living Stone a Christian Church?
Yes, Living Stone Church is a Christian Church. We hold to the major creeds (Apostle’s, Nicene, Athanasian) that all major Christian denominations agree on. This includes a belief in the Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) and in Jesus Christ as the Son of God who came to earth to live as a human and die for the salvation of the world.

Is Living Stone Church non-denominational?
No. Living Stone Church belongs to a Protestant denomination called the Christian Reformed Church. This denomination is often described as Presbyterian with a Dutch accent because its roots can be found in the Netherlands. We feel it is important to be accountable to a large group of believers that includes churches from all over the U.S. and Canada. Belonging to a denomination is kind of like belonging to a very large family. We may not agree with everyone and there are certain to be lots of arguments, but in the end we’re happy to have a group of people who care for us and want the best for us.

What if I’m Catholic? or Lutheran? or Baptist? etc.
While we have located ourselves within a certain denomination, we do not exclude people who are identified with other traditions. We are influenced by writers and thinkers from many traditions including Catholicism and Lutheranism, Baptists and Mennonites. In addition, we have friends from all of these traditions and more and are stretched and strengthened by our encounters with them. The bottom line is that all are welcome at Living Stone Church.

Why are you called Living Stone Church?
Our name comes from one of the letters found near the end of the Bible, called First Peter. In chapter two verse four the writer says that Christians should be like Jesus, the Living Stone, and that like Living Stones we should be built into a spiritual house. We love the image of all Christians being shaped and formed to be used in building a holy Temple that praises God. As Christians the focus is not on the individual stones that are used to build the Temple, but on the God who is worshiped therein.

Do we really need another church in Rochester?
Rochester is a vibrant community with many various faith traditions in it. Rochester is also a very disjointed community with huge disparities between professional people and those in the service industry. It seems that our community is always in transition with two thousand new people moving in every year. We feel there is a need to bring people together from across the different groups within the community and give people a place to connect...to God, to each other and to the world.

If you have any questions for this page, please send them to office@living-stone-church.org