frequently asked questions
FAQs
These are some answers to some common questions we often receive about who we are and what we believe. We hope they help!
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How Do I become a member of your church?
First things first, it's not “our church” but rather “The Lord’s church”, hence the name “the church of Christ". Once you believe in Jesus (John 8:24), change your life/repent (Luke 13:3), confess Jesus as Lord (Romans 10:9-10) and are baptized into Christ (Acts 2:38), God saves you by His grace and adds you to HIS CHURCH (Acts 2:41,47).
If you don’t think you have ever done these things, or are concerned about your salvation and want to know more, please contact us.
If you have previously done these things, and are a Christian new to the area, please contact the church office if you are interested in becoming a member of this congregation. You will be working with a congregation of great Christians who love God and one another. Being an active member of a local congregation of the Lord’s church is very important to one’s spiritual growth.​
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ARE YOU PART OF A LARGER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATION?
No, we are independent, autonomous and non-denominational. We believe that God gave us the Bible as the one and only guide book for religion, and that is what we are trying to follow. We do not get it perfect of course...thankfully we also strongly believe in God's grace even when we don't get everything perfect. We are just Christians who are trying our best to serve God with all of our heart because of the wonderful things that He has done for us. Although our church name is the West Visalia Church of Christ, we try to approach the term "church of Christ" more as a descriptor than a proper name.
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What are your services like?
Simple, friendly, participatory (and not really that long either :). ​
Our worship services consist of singing, praying, teaching/studying the Bible and what we call the Lord's Supper or Communion. The Communion is a time we remember the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross in the way he asked us to in Matthew 26:26-29 and 1 Corinthians 11:23-26.
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If I visit, will you ask me for money?
No, we do not solicit funds from visitors. Every Sunday we do take a few moments to thank God for our blessings and we will usually remind our members of how they can give online or in the box we have in the entry. The funds we collect go to support the work that WVCOC is trying to accomplish.
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is the church important?
The Scriptures teach that the church is the body of Christ, and that each person has a purpose and is useful (1 Corinthians 12:12-18). All Christians serve the cause of Christ and are a part of the church He built, and are valuable no matter their age or gender (Galatians 3:26-29).
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When Jesus came to earth, one part of His mission was to build the church (Matthew 16:16-18). Before Jesus ascended to heaven, Jesus gave a mission to the church, saying, "...Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you..." This has always been and continues to be the mission of the church.
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Not only did Jesus build the church and give it a mission, but Jesus also died for the church (Ephesians 5:25). Since the church was this important to Jesus, it is important to us too.
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