Plan Your Visit
Thanks for your interest in Shades Crest Baptist Church! We look forward to welcoming you in person very soon. Visiting a new church can sometimes be an uncomfortable experience. We’ve all had those “first-day” uncertainties — at school, at work, and yes, even at church. Questions like “Where do I go when I get there? Where do I sit? What about parking?” can be on repeat in our minds.
We’d like to help make your first visit to Shades Crest an enjoyable one, by answering some questions you may have in advance. That way you’ll know what to expect when you get here!
What To Expect On Sunday Mornings
What Do I Wear?
Be comfortable! You’ll see people wearing everything from jeans and T-shirts to Sunday dresses and suits, with many people dressed in business casual. Know that our focus is on gathering as a community, worshipping, and studying scripture together, not on fashion choices!
Where Do I Park?
Shades Crest Baptist Church is located at 452 Park Avenue in Birmingham. You’ll find parking spaces designated for guests in the front parking lot on Park Avenue, near the building. No matter where you park, there will be greeters available at each door who will welcome you and guide everyone in your family wherever you need to go.
How Early Should I Arrive?
Plan to come 10 to 15 minutes early so our greeters can escort you to worship or to Connect Groups. You’ll want to allow a little extra time if you have preschoolers, so you can electronically register your child.
Where Do I Go?
If you are a first-time visitor to Shades Crest, we hope you will enter at the Welcome Center entrance on the right-side of the building as you face the church from Park Avenue. You’ll notice the “Welcome Center” signage above the door. This entrance will be convenient for your family and will help you quickly become familiar with our facility.
Accessibility
Handicapped parking is available in both the front and back parking lots at Shades Crest, with ease of entry doorways on the front of the building, in addition to under the covered entrance on the north end of the building. Elevators are available on both the north and south ends of the church. Multiple handicapped-accessible restrooms are available throughout the building, in addition to being conveniently located near the elevators. The sanctuary includes several pews designed for wheelchair accessibility at the end of the row.
What About My Kids?
Preschoolers
Our preschool ministry serves children from birth to six years old. While you participate in worship in the 9:00 a.m. or 11:00 a.m. worship hours, your preschooler will enjoy their own worship experience. During worship, children will encounter Biblical play activities geared specifically for preschoolers and enjoy some fun on the playground.
Connect Groups for preschoolers are at 10:00 a.m. and are designed for children to learn Biblical truths through play, creativity, and engaging lessons. We have classes for each age group, and we provide a snack for all children ages one and older. Younger preschoolers hear a short and simple Bible story with a fun activity. Older preschoolers participate in a more in-depth Bible lesson with age-appropriate activities.
Each week we impart Biblical truths and scripture that children can memorize and apply in their daily lives.
Preschool Check-In
We care about every child who enters the Shades Crest preschool hall, and their safety is a top priority for us. When you arrive with your preschooler(s), you will check-in each child electronically—a quick and simple process. During check-in you will receive a tag for your child to wear while they are in our care, and a pick-up tag for you to bring when it is time to pick up your children. Your child’s tag will include your phone number, so we can text you should we need you for any reason. We look forward to serving your family!
Safety
Your child’s safety—and your peace of mind—are of utmost importance to us at Shades Crest. Beginning in August 2022, Shades Crest is partnering with MinistrySafe, an organization dedicated to the protection of children. In addition to the background screenings already required for every individual working with children (infants through 12th grade) at Shades Crest, MinistrySafe offers training which will be a requirement for all those serving in roles with children.
Ministerial staff will participate in specialized training which will enable effective monitoring and oversight of volunteers working with children of all ages.
Children
Children in 1st – 6th grades join their families in worship at the 9:00 a.m. Rising worship service, or the 11:00 a.m. Majestic worship service. You’ll find “Sermon Notes for Kids,” child-friendly worship activity sheets, on tables outside both the fellowship hall and sanctuary entrances. These sheets are designed for your child to interact with worship in an age-appropriate way.
Connect Groups for children are at 10:00 a.m.
Students
Connect Groups for 7th – 12th graders are designed to encourage and equip a student’s openness for spiritual transformation. Students learn that transformation can take place when they connect with God, study God’s Word, and when they connect with their faith community and others. Leaders challenge students to look for where God is at work around them, and to apply what they are learning in Connect Groups to their everyday lives. Guys and girls meet separately in Connect Groups for 7th – 11th grades, while our 12th graders meet as a group together.
Sundays At Shades Crest
Rising
Do you enjoy worshipping in an informal setting and singing praise music led by a team of musicians? Come to our modern worship service, Rising, at 9:00 a.m. In the Rising service, you’ll worship with our praise team and band in our church fellowship hall. You’ll see song lyrics and scripture passages projected on a screen, and watch videos related to that day’s worship focus. Baskets are passed during this service, offering you the opportunity to give.
The fellowship hall at Shades Crest is a multi-purpose space where we have meals as a church family, host large churchwide and community events, and have our weekly Rising worship service.
Our pastor, Nic Seaborn, will preach on the same passage of scripture in this worship service as he does in the 11:00 a.m. service.
The Rising service lasts about 45 minutes.
Connect Groups
Connect Groups take place at 10:00 a.m. every Sunday morning. We want to offer every person who comes to Shades Crest (as a visitor or member), an opportunity to connect with others in a small group experience. In a Connect Group you will get to know others on a more personal level, study the Bible together, and focus on applying the Bible to your everyday life.
There is something for every age level, from preschoolers through senior adults, during the Connect Group hour. Shades Crest greeters will assist you in finding the right Connect Group for you and every member of your family.
Connect Groups last approximately 45 minutes.
Majestic
Majestic is our conventional worship service, located in our church sanctuary. In this service, you will worship with our sanctuary choir, sing hymns and occasional choruses accompanied by piano, pipe organ, and sometimes our church orchestra. You will receive a printed bulletin as a guide for this worship service. Offering plates are passed during this service, providing you the opportunity to give.
Our pastor, Nic Seaborn, will preach on the same passage of scripture in this service as he does in the 9:00 a.m. service.
The Majestic service lasts about an hour.