belong | grow| serve
The Gathering at Bluff Park is a modern worshiping community in the heart of Bluff Park. We exist to gather friends around God’s table to find belonging, grow in faith, and serve the world. At our core is the belief that we are at our best when we are gathered around the table together, sharing a meal, and listening for God’s voice in our lives. At the Gathering, there is space for you to discover deeper communion with God, your community, and the world. Come join us!
Who We Are
The Gathering at Bluff Park is a modern worship experience in the heart of Bluff Park. We exist to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world by creating space for friends and neighbors to find belonging, grow in grace, and serve the world. We worship at 9am on Sunday mornings as a part of Bluff Park United Methodist Church.
What to Expect
Some Questions You Might Have About The Gathering…
WHAT WILL THE WORSHIP SERVICE BE LIKE?
The service will incorporate modern worship music into an order that the Church has handed down over 2,000 years. It will be relaxed and vibrant, historic and relevant. Are you familiar with contemporary worship songs? You’ll recognize our music. More of a traditional person? You’ll hear some familiar prayers and creeds. We’re creating a fresh expression of the Church’s historic faith – the drama of God’s unending love in which you have a significant part to play.
We will gather together, hear some stories from Scripture, respond with our prayers and our gifts, and be fed at God’s table. Whatever your preferences, there will be a place for you.
If you’d like to experience the worship service before your first visit, watch the worship livestream on our Facebook page.
WHAT SHOULD I WEAR?
Come in whatever makes you feel like you. Are you into wearing jeans? That’s cool with us. More of a fancy church-clothes kind of person? Pop that suit on and head on over. Your mom buy you a sparkly new dress? That works too. You do you.
WHERE SHOULD I GO?
We’ll worship in the Bluff Park UMC Chapel. BPUMC is located at 733 Valley St in Hoover (35226) and the chapel is the building with the steeple in the middle of campus. Park in either parking lot – we’ll have some friendly folks ready to point you in the right direction.
WHAT SHOULD I BRING?
Just yourself! Got a friend that’s been meaning to give church a shot? Bring them too! We’re all better together.
WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH COMMUNION, THOUGH?
Each week we celebrate the Sacrament of Holy Communion. Communion is a time where we are invited by God around God’s table to hear the story and remember what God has accomplished for us in Jesus Christ, and to be fed by God’s grace. There’s bread and grape juice, stories and prayers. It’s an intimate moment where the Church has taught us that God will show up every time. In the United Methodist Church, we believe that God’s table is open for all, so if you follow Jesus, you are welcome – whether you are Methodist or not. If you’re just feeling this whole church thing out and would rather hang back and not participate, that’s cool, too. You can sit in your seat or come forward and bypass the station and pray. If you want someone to pray with you, we can do that, too. God’s grace always invites us and never compels us. Whatever posture you take, God will meet you there.
