Sunday Worship

Our regular Sunday worship services follow the Reformed (Protestant) tradition familiar in many New England Congregational churches. These services are considered to be non-liturgical, in that there is no set order of worship or required words or prayers. Still, in our tradition, we follow a fairly standard order of worship most Sunday mornings. Let’s describe a typical worship service for you.

GATHERING AS A COMMUNITY OF FAITH

The first part of our worship brings us together and helps to focus us in a spirit of worship. This section includes several parts.

PRELUDE

As people enter our worship space, the church musician plays music that helps set a worshipful mood and lets people know that we are now gathering for worship.

GREETINGS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

Before we begin worship, we take time to welcome guests and make important announcements for our community life together.

INTERLUDE/ACOLYTE

Following announcements, the church musician plays a short piece of music while our “Acolyte” or worship assistant, lights two candles on the table at the front of the church. This has symbolic meaning. The light represents the Holy Spirit (part of God’s presence) coming among us, and also represents the “Light of Christ” (also part of God’s presence) that helps define who we are. The lighting of candles signals that out time of worship has begun.

CALL TO WORSHIP (Responsively)

Here the pastor asks worshipers to rise as they are able for a responsive “Call to Worship,” which is printed in the Order of Worship (which our ushers hand out to everyone who joins us in worship. The Call to Worship begins our formal time of worship, together, as a community of faith. A “responsive reading” is where a worship leader reads a line that is answered by the congregation reading aloud together.

OPENING HYMN

We continue standing as we sing together a hymn, usually taken from one of our two hymnals: The New Century Hymnal or the Pilgrim Hymnal (both published by the Pilgrim Press). The singing of hymns is an ancient Christian tradition, bringing us together to offer praise, thanksgiving, or prayers to God. Theologian Augustine of Hippo (354 - 430 CE) is said to have written ”For he who sings praise, does not only praise, but also praises joyously; he who sings praise, is not only singing, but also loving Him whom he is singing to.”

PRAYER OF INVOCATION (Unison)

We continue standing as we say together our “Prayer of Invocation,” which is printed in our Order of Worship. The Invocation traditionally calls for the Holy Spirit, the presence of God, to join us in our worship. Following this prayer, we sit.

A TIME WITH ALL GOD'S CHILDREN

In years past, we might have called this part of our worship service a “children’s sermon.” Yes, often this message is aimed at the young people in our congregation, but the truth is, we all often learn about the basics of our faith during this time together. During these few minutes, the pastor illustrates a concept brought out in Scripture, or tells a story, or explains a tradition. You never exactly know what’s going to happen here.

LORD’S PRAYER

Our “Time with all God’s Children” ends with a time of prayer, including the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples. We print this prayer in our Order of Worship, so don’t be afraid if you don’t have our particular version memorized. Here is what we pray together:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.

After the Lord’s Prayer, we dismiss young people to our church school lessons downstairs. Normally, we run one class of mixed ages, with age-appropriate activities available.

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

There’s an old Scottish proverb that reads “(Open) Confession is good for the soul.” In our tradition, we use confession to remind ourselves of several things:

We are not perfect. We all make mistakes. Sometimes we do things we know that we shouldn’t do, and sometimes we do not do the things that we should do. We admit our imperfection in acts of confession.
Confessing our imperfections to God is an act of humility. In confession, we acknowledge God’s position in our lives, and submit to God’s authority over us.
When we sin, we put ourselves out of balance in our relationship with God. In confessing our sin and asking forgiveness, we are asking to be reconciled with God, to be restored in our relationship.
In our prayers of confession, we are reassured of God’s forgiveness – God’s acceptance of us just as we are. We are restored in our relationship, and given a new chance, indeed a new life, in which we seek to follow God’s will for us.

Our Prayer of Confession works like this: First, we read together a prayer that is printed in our Order of Worship (it’s different nearly every week). Then there is a time for silent prayer, where we offer our sins to God for forgiveness. And finally, the pastor concludes the prayer with an assurance that we have been forgiven.

GLORIA PATRI

Following our Prayer of Confession, we all stand (as we are able) to sing the Gloria Patri (which is Latin for the first words of the song, “Glory be to the Father”). This short song is what we call a “doxology,” which is a short song or saying that offers praise to God. Most of our friends and members know the words and tune to the Gloria Patri, but we print the words in our Order of Worship:

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Amen.

HEARING THE WORD

The second major part of our service involves hearing the Word of God, which we find in Scripture (the Holy Bible.) In our tradition, this is considered to be the most important part of the service. For that reason, the pastor will leave the lectern (podium) at the front of the church and climb a few stairs to an elevated “pulpit.” This is because we “elevate” the Word of God in our worship.

There are usually four parts to our reading of scripture, which is chosen each week based on a three-year rotating schedule known as the Revised Common Lectionary.

Old Testament

First, a passage is read from the Hebrew Scriptures, sometimes known as the Old Testament. There are a wide range of readings from this section of the Bible, including historical stories, the words of prophets, even poems and songs.

Psalm

Next, we will read responsively from the Psalter (Book of Psalms), a collection of 150 ancient songs collected in the Bible. Since we don’t have the original music for these songs (and it wouldn’t make much sense, as these songs were written in Hebrew), we read them together, sometimes with a sung response. The practice of reading responsively from the Psalms goes way back in our tradition, and helps us to understand how God’s people came to understand their relationship with God in ancient times, before the ministry of Jesus.

Epistle

Following the reading from the Psalms, we read a passage from the Epistles, which is a group of letters and sermons written after the life and ministry of Jesus, and which are found in the New Testament (sometimes called the Christian Scriptures). These letters help us better understand how new Christians lived following the time of Jesus, and what our Christian church came to believe about his life, ministry, death, and resurrection.

Musical Reflection

After the reading from the Epistles, we take a moment for personal reflection prior to the reading of the Gospel. There is usually a short musical interlude here.

Gospel

Finally, we read from the Gospel (the four books in the New Testament that tell about the life of Jesus: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). Each year we follow one Gospel account closely, rotating between Matthew, Mark, and Luke (we work John’s Gospel into specific times of the year).

Hymn

Following the reading of scripture we sing together a song from one of our two hymnals.

The Sermon

We continue with the Hearing of the Word with the Sermon, a talk by the pastor or other worship leader based on the Scripture that we've just heard and studied together. The Sermon is also heard from the pulpit. Usually the “preacher” (one who gives the sermon) takes some time to analyze one or more of the scripture readings, put it in context, illustrate it with stories, and apply the meaning to our lives today. But sermons can go just about anywhere, and if the Holy Spirit is with us, together we learn about our relationship with God. In other words, the Gospel is preached, and we hear the “Good News.”

THE OFFERING OF OUR GIFTS

Usually the shortest part of our worship service, the Offering of our Gifts is where we collect what is offered by our congregation in the form of pledges, special offerings, or simply whatever money they may wish to donate in order to support our work, here in the world, in God’s name. The pastor offers an invitation, collection plates are passed, and then we stand together as we sing this Doxology together:

Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise God, all creatures here below;
Praise God above, you heavenly host:
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

Following the Doxology, we remain standing as we read together a Prayer of Dedication, which is printed in the Order of Worship. We are then seated.

THE CHURCH AT PRAYER

Our time of prayer together is an important component of our worship experience. It is our time to talk with God, to offer praise and thanksgiving, but also to ask for God’s support, help, and guidance. There are two parts of our time of prayer together:

Pastoral Prayer

First, the pastor (or other worship leader) asks for names of those we might hold up for God’s love and mercy. This is a time when our community draws together to support each other in prayer, but it’s also a time when we might hold up those in trouble around the world. Following this time of common concern, the pastor leads the congregation in what we call “corporate” prayer (prayer coming as one from many hearts).

Silent Prayer

Following our pastoral prayer is usually a time of silence, when individuals in the congregation can pray for others and for themselves. This is a time to open one’s heart to God, sharing one’s most intimate fears, troubles, and joys.

GOING FORTH INTO THE WORLD

Our service now draws to an end. But there’s an important message here. This is where our worship ends for now, but where our work begins. First, we rise and sing a closing hymn, during which the acolyte comes forward to extinguish the candles, signifying the end of worship. But the acolyte also carries the flame from the candles out of the sanctuary, showing that the Light of Christ goes out into the World. Finally, the worship leader offers a Benediction (a blessing or “sending out”), and we sit to listen to the postlude.

Following the service, we invite everyone downstairs to our vestry for a time of fellowship, coffee, and refreshment.

That’s a summary of our worship service. Please know that you are always welcome here.

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