Sunday Worship
Which Service should I go to?
All of our services involve worshipping Jesus with common prayer (liturgy) and song. Our liturgy roots us in the patterns of worship of the earliest church. We read the Bible and someone will explain the section we had read and encourage us in our faith. We break bread and share wine together (communion, although we aren't sharing wine right now) - connecting us with the community of disciples who shared the Jewish Passover meal with Jesus on the night before he was executed. We offer the opportunity to receive prayer from an experienced team of prayer ministers who will pray for God's power to be at work in our lives. Part of our worship involves taking up an offering of money - it's part of the way in which we give to support the work of the church, and a way of symbolically expressing to God that we're offering Him our whole lives - feel invited but not obliged to take part. All of these elements are a part of each of our services - the rest is a matter of differing tastes in music and differing levels of formality.
9.00am in Church
Our principal service is a blend of old and new in terms of the musical style. We have great organists who play before and after the service to prepare us for worship and send us out into the world, and who lead us in rousing hymns and some sung parts of our prayers. The choir offers an anthem as part of the worship as we offer ourselves to God before communion and as we begin to come up to receive the bread and wine. Once a month or so the dance choir offers a piece of dance. The words we use are in a printed bulletin and all our hymns and song words are on a screen. Please stay for coffee and snacks in the Atrium after the service (cookies and lemonade in the summer).
'New Chapel' - 11:15am in Church
Our contemporary service begins with worship led by our band. Then the speaker for the morning gives a talk - always from a passage in the Bible, helping us understand what the Bible means and how it applies to our lives day to day. This is followed by some prayers led by a member of the church and ending in a common prayer of confession - a way of acknowledging to God that all of us are in need of his forgiveness and help. There's a chance to greet one another at this point in the service and perhaps some announcements. The band play another song to prepare us for communion, and we pass round an offering basket (feel invited, not obliged). The communion liturgy is less formal than at 9am, and the band continues to lead us in sung worship as we receive bread and wine, or come for a prayer of blessing - or just remain where you are if you don't want to come forward.
Chapel Service - 7:30 Rite 1
The original part of the Chapel dates to the 1870s and gives us a beautiful setting with stone and stained glass in which to worship. The Chapel holds about 100 folks and provides a more intimate setting than the larger Church. At the 7:30 am service we use the “Rite I” form from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer, which is more traditional, using “thee” and “thou.” All the words are in the prayer books and hymnals in the pews.
The Mid-Week service in the Chapel
We have a mid-week communion service on Tuesday in the chapel at 8:30 am. All are welcome.