Worship
Worship: Sundays 10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Worship starts at 10:30 (year round) and ends somewhere around 11:30 with a postlude from our accomplished organist, Richard Waggoner. We say "accomplished" because he plays scrumptiously and has a Ph.D. in organology and his sheet music is always black with notes. Richard is also an ordained Methodist minister and can preach what he plays.
Children are welcome to attend. A nursery is provided year-round for infants and toddlers, although you are welcome to keep them with you in the service should separation anxiety (yours or your child's) be an issue.
In the fall, winter, and spring, children preschool age and older begin the service with us, then come up front for a children's sermon. Thereafter, they leave for age-specific Sunday school classes in the education wing of our building. (More about our Christian education programs.)
In the summer, after the children's sermon, pre-school and lower elementary kids move to the chapel for an all-ages children's worship. For the older kids remaining in worship, there are children's bulletins available, because a mind is a terrible thing to waste, and a soul even more so.
Though we take the Spirit-filled life seriously, our service leans towards the casual and informal. We do have some elements of the formal, including Old and New Testament readings, liturgy, and an offering.
We love music and its transcendent spiritual power. During the school year we've got a bang-up choir that does everything from high church to low country ("Folsom Prison Blues" excluded). Our talented, energetic choir director, Bruce Kramer, also has a Ph.D., but it's in education, not organology.
Several worship services throughout the year are almost entirely in the form of music, ex. Mozart's "Requiem," or Malcolm Dalgish/Wendell Berry's "Hymnody of the Earth."
So far as we know, our minister, Peter Boehlke, doesn't have a Ph.D., nor does he seem to need one. A recovering P.K. (pastor's kid), Peter's sermons are practically challenging, intellectually stimulating, and theologically poignant. If you're looking for Superbowl homilies or a rework of the tired "Footprints in the Sand" vignette, keep looking: we can't help you.
Don't be caught unaware: a five minute period of silence follows the sermon, a time to "be still and know that I am God."
Prior to prayer, our pastor opens up the floor for worshippers to share joys, concerns, and specific prayer requests. None is too big, none is too small.
We serve communion on the first Sunday of each month. Any person desiring God's love in Christ is welcome to participate.
Clapping is allowed. We've never had anyone speak in tongues, but if you do, please bring an interpreter.