How to Get Connected and Grow at Discovery Church

Discovery Church in Sauk Rapids, MN, lays out a five-step path from first visit to belonging: plan your visit, attend a Sunday service, connect with someone, join the life of the community, and grow in faith alongside others. If you are new and wondering where to start, the practical answer is to begin with a Sunday at 9:30am and work through those steps at your own pace. Small groups are described on the site as "the best way to get connected," so that is the step worth prioritizing once you have attended a service or two.

The Five-Step Connection Path

The church presents connection as a sequence rather than a single event. Here is what each step involves and what you can expect.

1. Plan your visit

Check the service time and let the church know you are coming. The site's Plan Your Visit page is the entry point for this. Sunday services are at 9:30am.

2. Join a Sunday service

You will be greeted at the door and welcomed. This is the lowest-commitment way to see whether the teaching style and atmosphere fit what you are looking for.

3. Connect with the church

After or around a service, you can talk with a pastor, grab coffee, and fill out a connect card. This is the step where a general visit turns into a relationship — it is how the church learns who you are and what you are looking for.

4. Join the life of the community

This is where most of the ongoing involvement happens. Options named on the site include small groups, kids and youth ministries, and serving alongside others.

5. Belong and grow

The final step is described as finding deeper purpose while walking with others in faith. In practice, this is less a checkbox than the result of staying involved in steps 3 and 4.

Where to Plug In: Ministries and Groups

The site frames its ministries with the line "There's a place for everyone." Use this table to match your situation to a starting point.

If you are unsure where to begin, small groups is the option the church itself points to first. If you have children, Kids Ministry or Awana lets you get involved at the same time your kids do.

What the Church Emphasizes

The site describes five things you will find there, which are useful as a checklist for whether this is the right fit for you:

• Scripture-centered teaching — the Bible as the foundation, on Sundays and in everyday life
• Authentic community — friendships that grow into spiritual family
• Radical hospitality — warm welcome, real conversations, sincere care
• Generational and ethnic unity — worshiping as one diverse body
• Readiness to serve — existing to bless neighbors and the community

The site also speaks directly to the hesitation many people bring: feeling distant from faith, unsure where they belong, or having walked into a church and felt unseen. If that describes you, the stated aim is a place rooted in Scripture, relational in community, and honest about real life.

Other Ways to Engage Before or Between Visits

• Listen to a sermon — a low-pressure way to sample the teaching before attending
• View upcoming events — useful for timing a first visit around something specific
• Submit a prayer request — the site notes you don't have to carry things alone

A Practical Starting Sequence

If you want a concrete plan rather than a list of options:

1. Listen to one sermon online to get a feel for the teaching.
2. Plan your visit for a Sunday at 9:30am.
3. Attend, and fill out a connect card before you leave.
4. Ask about small groups — the church's own recommended next step.
5. Add one serving or ministry role once you have been a few times.

The pace is up to you. The structure is there so that a first visit does not have to be the last point of contact.