In Our Sanctuary At Rose City Park Presbyterian

We gather each Sunday to pray, give thanks, reflect on the week that’s passed, and prepare for the week ahead. We are inspired by beautiful music. We hear the wisdom of the ages and learn from Pastor Liz’s reflections on the text. We celebrate our connection as a community. We rest in the spirit of God.

“This church is a place of safety and welcome for me.” -RCPPC Member

What can you expect when you attend a worship session?

The Service: All Presbyterian churches share a general order of worship, which we adapt to meet the specific needs and interests of our own community. You’ll find ours easy to follow in the bulletin, where unison prayers are printed, and songs and readings of the day are listed. 

Each service includes music, a time of personal reflection and prayer, reading from the bible, and reflections of our pastor. There is often laughter. Each Sunday, our children gather with Pastor Liz for a lesson and, usually, to listen to the choir. 

We are mostly seated during the service, and invited to stand in spirit or on our feet to sing. 

On the first Sunday of the month, we celebrate communion at an open table, which means there are no requirements or expectations for participating. All people– including children– are invited. 
After the Service: We hope you will come down to our fellowship hall for coffee (ethically sourced and sustainably grown), cookies (usually homemade!), and conversation (never dull.)  
What to Wear: What’s comfortable for you is comfortable for us. You’ll find many of us dressed in office casual. If there’s a church hike following the service, shorts and boots might be the order of the day. Sometimes a kiddo might need to wear his dinosaur costume. In short, what’s most important is not what you look like, but that you’ve come. 
Arriving: As in many Portland neighborhoods, there is ample street parking on the surrounding streets. 

Come in through the main entrance just off the parking lot, on NE 44th Avenue, between Sandy Boulevard and NE Hancock Street. Look for a plain green door under a sign that says Rose City Park Presbyterian Church. 

Come up the stairs to the Upper Narthex. You’ll find ushers distributing a bulletin for the service and ready to answer questions, or direct you to a bathroom, our Kinderspace, or to a place to sit inside the sanctuary. Ushers can also provide hearing assistance upon request.

*RCPPC is ADA accessible. See information below. 
Accessibility: We seek to actively welcome, affirm and support children and adults with various abilities and continue to work to make our church accessible to all.

RCPPC is an older building which has been updated to include ADA accessibility for main gathering spaces. For example, Our parking lot includes several handicap spaces.

Our elevator is accessible directly from our parking lot via an outside door. You can use it to access both the first floor (where the sanctuary is located) and fellowship hall, on the bottom floor.When you arrive for worship on Sunday, one of our ushers will assist you in opening the elevator.
You may also enter the building via a ramp, which leads from our parking lot as well as the NE 45th St. sidewalk. This brings you to all the first floor spaces, such as the office, library, chapel, children’s library, parlor and sanctuary.

Wheelchair space is reserved in the sanctuary in the last row of the front section.

Handicap-accessible, gender neutral bathrooms can be found on the main floor and outside the fellowship hall.

Large Print copies of the liturgy are available on site as well as on our website ahead of the service.

Worshipping with Kids?

At Rose City Park Presbyterian Church, we celebrate children and youth as integral parts of our church community. We want families to feel welcome to share a church experience together, in whatever way that might be right for them. Here, multiple generations and families share the worship hour.

A worship service might offer busy caregivers a chance to spend meaningful time with their children or serve as a springboard to conversation beyond time spent in church. This time also encourages relationships between younger and older members of the church, beyond the immediate family. Such relationships pass on values and beliefs through rich experiences and relationships. Being part of a caring community which sees—and helps—a child grow to maturity is a gift.

As kids join others in worship, activity boards help keep busy minds and hands engaged. These can be found just outside the doors of the sanctuary, in what we call the Upper Narthex.  Each service includes a time for children to sit with Pastor Liz for a lesson. 

For Parents/Caregivers

Kinderspace (Age 0-5)

For parents of infants and young children, ages 0-5, our Kinderspace program offers a comfy space where childcare staff and congregation volunteers create a nurturing atmosphere. Our Kinderspace program has been developed by an early childhood expert, who is a member of the congregation.  Kinderspace is currently staffed by trained early childhood educators. It’s open 9:30am-11:30am to give time for parents to drop off little ones before attending worship and allow for some fellowship time after the service.  

Elementary Kids (Grade K-5)

Kids in Kindergarten through Fifth Grade have the option to depart after the Time with the Young Church for Sunday School which meets in our Children’s library adjacent to the sanctuary from 10:30-11:30am. Our teachers, many of whom have a background in education, lead the group in a time of lessons, stories, art projects and music, drawing from progressive curriculum which emphasizes our core values around inclusion and spirituality.