Much attention has been given over the last few years to developing the concept for our second service, and that endeavor is ongoing. But that didn’t mean we weren’t thinking about ways to enhance the experience at our traditional worship service. With that in mind, we’d like to share with you some new things you’ll be seeing at the 9:00 AM service that we hope will nurture your faith in Christ in significant ways.

First, we’re calling the 9:00 AM service Holy Ground. This is an idea that germinated from Pastor Lisa’s practice when introducing the time of Confession and Forgiveness. She often invites the congregation to try to set aside all distractions in order to come into this time of self-reflection with open hearts. To do that, she’s reminded us that when we are in church, we are on Holy Ground. Some features of Holy Ground include an awareness of one’s absolute need for God, our utter dependence on God, and the sacredness of this time that God gifts to us each week. 

With that in mind, we will continue to frame the Confession and Forgiveness time as an invitation to step onto Holy Ground, and to do that we will now be processing the Cross into worship as a way to remind us that what makes this ground holy is Christ’s presence among us. So watch for that starting this Sunday.

We will also be more intentional about explaining some of the liturgy we say and sing so you will understand it better and feel the sacredness of Holy Ground throughout the entire service.

We will also be stationing the bread and chalice of wine on the counter in the Narthex. It will be brought forward by our Communion Assistants at the time the monetary offering is collected. We are doing this because we wish to demonstrate the essential connection between God’s offering of the Body and Blood of Christ to us with our own monetary response. God acts first, so the bread and wine will proceed the offering plate, and what we give to God is a response to the grace God gives us first. The Communion Assistants will then remain at the Table as the bread and wine are consecrated, serving as representatives of the congregation so as to include everyone in the mystery of the sacrament.

At the end of the service when we offer our Prayer for You for the Week, we will again process the Cross out of the sanctuary to invite all to consider how Christ goes ahead of us, always leading and giving us the ability to do what he’s asked us to do.

We hope you will appreciate these small but significant changes to our Traditional Worship service. Our desire is to draw all of us into a deeper appreciation for the holiness of God that is open to us because of Christ’s unconditional love.