What happens in Worship?

This text was taken from a pamphlet written for children. Nonetheless, it is quite useful and informative for adults also!

A lot happens in Worship each Sunday. We hope that as you worship with us you will learn about the different parts of Worship. Some of the most common parts of Worship are listed below. If there are other parts of Worship that you don't understand, please write us a note and place it in the offering plate. We'll try to add it to this list.

Prelude: This is a time to be quiet and get our minds and hearts ready for Worship.

Presentation of the Scriptures: An Elder brings in the Bible and places it in the lectern. The lectern is the podium on the left side in the front of the church. The person who is helping the pastor to lead the Worship service reads from there. An elder is a church member who has been elected to be a leader in the church.

Words of the Church's Life: This is the time when the pastor announces special things that are happening. The pastor will also announce if someone has been born or if someone has died.

Minute for Mission: Someone from the congregation will come forward and tell us about an activity our church is doing to help others. Sometimes the Minute for Mission will be a time when we ask for help in doing mission work.

Call to Worship: This is how we are called to begin our Worship service.

Processional Hymn: This hymn is usually a "praise" hymn. We stand to sing about the wonders of God and how much we love him.

Prayer of Adoration: This is a prayer that tells God how much we love Him and how happy we are to be His people.

Prayer of Confession: This is a prayer that we read together. In this prayer we tell God about things that we are sorry for. We ask Him to forgive us for things we have done wrong, or for the times we have not been kind. We ask Him to help us to be better people.

Declaration of Pardon: This is when the pastor or other leader tells us that God will always forgive us. God loves us and will be with us.

Gloria Patri: We stand to sing the Gloria Patri to praise God. Here are the words:

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.

Moment with the Children: All the children are invited to sit on the steps in the front of the church to hear a message just for them. Sometimes one of Dr. Toole's puppets visits with us!

Old Testament Lesson: Part of the Old Testament of the Bible is read so that we can learn how God speaks to us through the history of our faith.

New Testament Lesson: The pastor reads to us from the New Testament of the Bible. The New Testament stories are all about Jesus and the things He did and taught.

Sermon: This is the time for the pastor to teach us about the scripture he or she has just read. The pastor tells us about God -- how much God loves us and the things that God expects of us. The pastor also tells us what we can learn from Jesus and all that Jesus did for us. The pastor teaches us from the Bible which is one way God speaks to us.

Affirmation of Faith: We stand and say together what we believe. Sometimes it is the Apostles Creed, sometimes it is something else, but it is always printed in the bulletin.

Hymn: We stand to sing this hymn. It is usually about the things that the pastor spoke to us about in the sermon.

Pastoral Prayer and Lord's Prayer: This is a time when the pastor prays for our world, our town, our church, people everywhere and for us especially. The pastor finishes the Pastoral Prayer by inviting us to say the Lord's Prayer. You can find the words on page 16 in the front of the hymnal.

Offering: This is a time when the Deacons (adults in the church who have special jobs that help us) will pass the offering plate down the pews. If you have an offering to give, you place it in the offering plate when it is passed to you. Then the plate is passed back to the deacon.

Doxology: We stand together and thank God with this song for all the things He gives us. The words are printed in the bulletin:

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

Recessional Hymn: This is the last hymn of the service. This hymn is usually about the ways we can serve God. It reminds us to take what we learn during the Worship and use it in our lives during the week.

The Benediction: The pastor gives us a blessing and tells us that God will be with us as we go out into the world.