FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

We hope this section answers questions not covered in the rest of the website. Please also feel free to contact us with additional questions. 

Is There Something for Children During Worship?

There is nursery provided at our Worship services. It is to the left and down the stairs when you first walk in.  It's filled with toys and nursery workers who will care for your young children while you're worshiping. Children under 4 years are welcome in the nursery, but also always welcome in the service as well. For older children, we provide a children's bulletin and crayons, and for those who can write we have children's sermon note sheet to help them learn to listen during the sermon.

We want children in the worship service, but for the sake better preparing them for it we have Children’s Worship Training that takes place during the sermon time. They meet in a room just down the hall from the sanctuary and will return just after the sermon. This is for ages nursery to age 6, children will leave just after the pastoral prayer and return just before the Lord’s Supper begins. Of course your children are welcome to stay in the worship service if you prefer as well.

Do You Have Adult Sunday School?

We value Christian education and so we do have Sunday School that runs for 8 weeks in the Fall and 8 weeks in the Spring. The rest of the year our Sundays are reserved for corporate worship and a day of rest. This is also a great day to fellowship and share meals together. The Fall Sunday school begins in October and the Spring in February.

Do You Have Children's Sunday School?

We do have classes for children age 4 years through High School and again following the rhythm of life in Manhattan these classes runs for 8 weeks in the Fall and 8 weeks in the Spring. When going on, Sunday school meets before the worship service. Parents are always welcome to help in their children's classrooms or to attend the adult Sunday School class.

What Should I Wear to Worship?

We think you'll be comfortable in just about anything. However, if you're really asking "what do most people wear?" the answer is jeans and a nice shirt. But you'll also see skirts, dresses, khakis, bow ties, suits, polos, t-shirts, tank tops, crocs, flip flops and the ocasional barefoot child, etc...it's all great with us!

What Is the Worship Like? 

Our desire is that our worship shows "reverence and awe" (Hebrews 12:28) while avoiding rote formalism. We wish to be casual enough that we can explain aspects of the service as we go and laugh when appropriate, yet always showing proper honor to God who is worthy of the worship we bring. Below are a few more details about our service.

Liturgy - Liturgy is just a big word referring to the order of what we do in worship. When I visit a church I tend to be a nervous that I'm going to be lost and not know what to do. Really, don't worry about that. We will give you a bulletin that walks you through the entire worship service telling you not only what we do, but also why we do it. The words are provided for anything we recite aloud as a congregation.

On paper it looks more formal than it is in reality. Yes, we value reverence, but like I said before we are not about stuffy formality. We are a community of sinners who are gathering to worship our God. 

Sermons - Our pastor preaches expositional sermons from the Bible (that means verse-by-verse through a book). This comes from a conviction based on Acts 20:27 where the Apostle Paul says "I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God." So if you have a Bible bring it, but we also have bibles you can use in the pews.

Songs - We sing old hymns and new songs using a variety of instruments including piano, acoustic guitar, viola, violin and the occasional box drum. We wish to incorporate the musical gifts God has given to our congregation. If you are interested in using your musical gifts please let us know. Seriously, we’d love for you to play!

Here is the service in 26 seconds…

What Is The Lord's Supper Like?

We practice the Lord's Supper every Sunday because it is an important sacrament Jesus gave for the church. If you would like to learn more about it you can listen to a past sermon on the Lord's Supper here.

All who trust in Jesus Christ alone for the forgiveness of sin are welcome to partake in the Lord's Supper, regardless of whether you are a member at Manhattan Pres or not. This is the Lord's table, not our church's or denomination's. 

We do come to the front to as a group around the table to be served the bread and cup. We gather in two circles as a family and the elder's distribute the bread first and we partake together once everyone is served. The elder repeats with the wine and grape juice. We'll walk you through every step though so no fear that you'll be doing the wrong thing. However, you can stay in your seat and no one will even notice.  

The bread is homemade and fresh. It is by far the best tasting bread I've ever had at the Lord's Supper so grab a big piece, you won't regret it. :-)

We have both grape juice and wine, feel free to participate with either.  We offer wine because that is what the Scriptures tell us Jesus used, and we offer grape juice because many today abstain from alcohol as an issue of conscience and we want to respect that. We offer both options because this is a meal of unity and we do not wish for the element of wine or grape juice to be cause for divisions among the people of God. Whatever the choice, may we drink by faith in the One who poured out His blood so that we can stand holy and pure before God

Here is a photo of communion (at our previous location)

What Is The Passing of Peace?

The first time I visited a church that had "the passing of the peace" I was nervous, because I had no idea what it meant (do we make peace signs?). It is nothing scary, it’s a simple time of greeting each other. More specifically, after having confessed our sin to God and having listened to a passage of Scripture that assures us that our sins are forgiven in and by Jesus we are now also at peace with one another. So we "pass the peace." You can greet your neighbor with the traditional greeting of, "Peace of Christ to you" or you can just say “hey, good morning!” and introduce yourself, you won't be "doing it wrong" either way so don't fret.

Does Manhattan Pres have a building? 

We do not, we currently rent space in the newly renovated Union Hall. As far as a permanent building, it’s always a possibility (if you want to donate a million or two that’d be just fine :-) ), but we’re thankful for the way the Lord has provided for us currently.

What is a Presbyterian?

Simply put, the title Presbyterian refers to the way in which we do church government. In the book of Acts Paul would train elders (plural) to lead the new churches that were formed.  The Greek word for elder is “presbuteros.” These men were to be responsible for the spiritual growth of those involved in their churches. We simply seek to do the same.

Our pastor is part of a Session (group of elders) that leads the church. This diversifies leadership across all of the elders equally and keeps leadership in proper accountability. 

What denomination are you a part of?

We are a part of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). The PCA is a relatively young denomination formed in 1973 in response to growing liberalism in the PCUSA (mainline). The PCA is committed to the infallibility and authority of the Bible and the primacy of the Great Commission, with our roots in the truths of the Reformation. You can learn more on our page about the PCA.

What's best way to get involved?

First, come to worship. Second, go to a Small Group, Third, go to the other events we have going on (check the calendar). We also put out a great email every week with current information about what's going on in the life of the church and wider Manhattan community. You can sign up for that at the bottom of the homepage. If you change your mind later you can always unsubscribe yourself. 

Other Questions

If you have more questions please don't hesitate to call, email or text. I'd love to answer anything at all and nothing is going to offend me. I didn't grow up a Christian and was not a Presbyterian when I first became a Christian so I've asked my massive share of questions to others along the way who were more than gracious with me; I'd love the opportunity to do the same for you.

Pastor Brian Hough
2300 Chris Dr. Manhattan, KS 66502
785-341-4069
brian@manhattanpres.com