Sunday Worship -- What to Expect

• Sunday worship is at 8:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. from the first of September through the end of May. Our average worship attendance is 160+ (50-70 at 8:30 and 100-120 at 11:00).
• During the summer we move to one liturgy at 10:00 a.m. Summer worship attendance can range from 95 up to 150.
• Holy Communion (Lord's Supper, Holy Eucharist) is available every Sunday at all liturgies. If your young children usually take the meal, they will receive it here!
• The Rite of Healing is included during the distribution of Holy Communion on the second Sunday of every month. This is an option for worshippers. A healing team of two is made up of the lead person, who will lay hands on your head, and the assistant, who will stand behind you and lay hands on your shoulders or upper back.
• Throughout each month, we use three different liturgies:
  • On the 1st and 3rd Sundays we use Setting 2 in the Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELW). An organ accompanies hymns and the musical parts of the liturgy.
  • On the 2nd and 5th Sundays we use Setting 6 in the ELW. This is a jazz/gospel setting and is accompanied by piano and often cello.
  • On the 4th Sunday we use a setting written by Marty Haugen from the Hymnal Supplement 1991. Piano, guitar, and flutes lead us.
• Worship is formal but relaxed. That means many things. The pastor wears liturgical vestments and puts on communion vestments for the celebration of the meal. We begin and end the liturgy with a procession led by the cross and followed by banners and the worship leaders. Knowing that visitors can become lost as we move through the liturgy, part of our worship hospitality involves some minimal direction to pages or hymns on an as-needed basis. The use of a worship book is an intentional decision to limit the waste of paper.
• Dress: what matters is that you come to worship. Yes, there will be everything from suits to shorts, from dresses to slacks. As you would expect, be sensible.
• Children in worship: Each week a children's lesson takes place during the offering. Children come forward, and all that matters is that they hear and experience the unbounded word of love that is our God in action. We have a nursery but encourage parents to bring the children in for the children's lesson and Holy Communion. Our narthex (gathering space) is served by our P.A. system for those times when parents need to remove a child from worship for those "special parental moments" we all know so well.
• Music is vital to our worship. We are a singing congregation that makes the hymn singing a real joy. Our Senior Choir sings from September through May, and during the summer we invite talented members and friends of all ages to offer music in worship.
• The diversity of the saints will be apparent. You will worship with singles, traditional families, elders of the congregation, single-parent families, interracial families, same-gender couples, long-time Lutherans, those who are not sure what "Lutheran" means, and of course -- visitors!
• After each liturgy, there is a fellowship time in the narthex (gathering space), and you can stay and share a drink and a few cookies or feel free to be on your way.
• Because we are a real community of ordinary folks, there will be times when you will experience the grand laughter of those filled with joy and hear the sobbing of those in pain.
• During Advent (the four Sundays prior to Christmas Day) and Lent (the 40 days prior to Holy Week), we offer Wednesday evening worship at 7:00 p.m. The order of worship is called Evening Prayer, from Holden Village.