Park Memorial United Methodist Church in Troy is beginning a new type of worship service on Sunday, Sept. 11 and it’s open to everyone.

Jerrid Olmstead, church youth minister, said the purpose of the “Come Alive at 9:45” worship service is two-fold.

“The overall focus of ‘Come Alive at 9:45’ is to worship God and to be open to doing things in a different way,” Olmstead said. “One week, we might have a contemporary worship service and the next week we might go back to the old-fashioned type of service. We might include skits and dramas in looking for new and different ways to present a full worship experience.”

Olmstead said “Come Alive at 9:45” will be a more active worship service. “We’ll encourage those who attend to be involved in the service,” he said. “If someone has written a poem and would like to share it with the congregation, there will be a time for things like that. The services will have flexibility. They will be structured but with periods for things to happen.”

“Come Alive at 9:45” will focus on relationships among those who attend those services.

“First and most important is a relationship with God,” Olmstead said. “Then, relationships with others. Relationships are important in any organization and outside the church. Relationships are very important to the health of any organization and we want to develop relationships within our church.”

One way that will be accomplished is through small group activities, such as dinner groups.

“Dinner groups will be times of fellowship,” Olmstead said. “ The names of those who would like to participate will be put in a hat and the names will be drawn to determine which dinner group they will be in. You might be in a dinner group with someone from the 8:30 service or the 11 o’clock worship service. That’s a way to build relationships so that we’re not separated by the time we go to church.”

“Come Alive at 9:45” is an additional service at Park Memorial. Sunday morning worship services are also at 8:30 and 11a.m. Sunday school is at 9:45 a.m.

If a Sunday school class wants to attend “Come Alive at 9:45,” the class might consider changing its meeting time in order to do so, Olmstead said.

“‘Come Alive at 9:45’ is a different kind of worship service and one that will be of special interest to college age young people.

“But it’s for anyone who would like to experience a different kind of worship service,” Olmstead said. “We invite everyone to join us for ‘Come Alive at 9:45’ and see if it’s for you.”