December 8, 2024 - Second Sunday of Advent
We continue with our Fall / Winter Worship Schedule. Details below or on our Home Page.
See our Sunday Themes and Special Events page for details about the Sundays (and some weekdays) of the Church Year, including the current Stewardship Sermon Series.
Any worship services that are live-streamed or pre-recorded at our YouTube Channel are available to join, restart, or stream at your convenience any time after the start of the service.
Fall / Winter Worship Schedule: (September 15 through December 22, 2024):
- 8:30 am – Worship in the Sanctuary. This service will be live-streamed for our online audience (Available to join, restart, or stream at your convenience any time after 8:30 at our YouTube Channel).
- 9:30 am - Fellowship Time – In Fellowship Hall.
- 9:45 am - Education Hour – In classrooms. Fellowship Hall and the Sanctuary. Some special events may be scheduled or held in other locations (such as outdoors, in Memorial Pavilion, etc.); watch for details.
- 11:00 am - Worship in the Sanctuary.
Christmas Worship Schedule:
- Tuesday, December 24 - Christmas Eve
3:00 pm - Family service. Children participate in telling the Christmas story. Special prelude music begins at 2:40 pm
9:00 pm - Candlelight service. Older youth and adults participate in the Christmas Orchestra, along with the Chancel Choir. Candlelight singing of "Silent Night." Special prelude music beings at 8:30 pm - Wednesday, December 25 - Christmas Day
9:30 am - Worship service. Casual, come as you are, experience a quieter celebration of the Incarnation. - Sunday, December 29
9:30 am (One service only) - Service of Lessons and Carols - Sunday, January 5 - Return to regular Sunday morning schedule
8:30 am and 11:00 am - Worship
9:45 am - SCS / Education Hour
For any Worship Service involving Communion, we have returned to using real bread and wine. Typically, our communion assistants will have two chalices available; the larger of the two will contain wine while the smaller will contain grape juice. If you desire to commune with us but are not comfortable returning to bread and wine at this time, individual communion packets containing a wafer and grape juice are available. If you need a gluten-free option, individually-wrapped wafers are also available. As another option, please feel free to bring your own communion elements (bread in some form, and wine or grape juice); you may bring them forward to be blessed before communing if you wish.
In the event of inclement weather (not limited to winter(!)) making travel especially hazardous, or if local officials declare a weather emergency, we may go "on-line only," either pre-recording or live-streaming the first worship service scheduled that day, with only the leading participants present. The service will be available at our YouTube Channel at the scheduled time, and all in-person activities at the church will be cancelled. Watch this page, our Home page, or our Facebook page for the latest announcements.
In the event of exceptionally nice weather (comfortable temperatures and no precipitation forecast), we may move some events outdoors, including scheduling outdoor worship services during the summer months! During Summer 2024, we held worship outdoors on June 2 (which turned out partly cloudy but a very pleasant day) and July 28 (a warmer, sunnier, and even nicer day). Watch the Home page and this page for updates on outdoor events. Please dress appropriately for the weather (bundle up, or hats and sunscreen, as applicable) and come join us outside!
Updated Building Use and Masking Guidelines (as of 1/1/2024):
Based on most recent guidelines and masking recommendations, here is our current masking policy.
- The wearing of masks is OPTIONAL in the church building for all worship services, meetings, and events.
- While masks remain optional, with COVID-19, RSV, influenza, and other communicable diseases still out there, we invite people to wear masks if they wish, identified by their own comfort and risk level.
- Therefore, please be considerate and respectful of those who choose to continue to wear masks.
We will continue to utilize other safety measures such as opening windows and running ventilation fans. And we will continue to offer the online worship service for those who may not yet be ready or able to attend in-person worship (or for any other reason in-person worship at that time on Sunday morning may not be appropriate, including attending while out of town). We also continue to encourage anyone who is eligible to remain current with vaccines as applicable, and we request that if you are sick or experiencing symptoms, you refrain from attending any in-person service until you feel better.
We will continue to evaluate our policies, and communicate any changes if necessary. We thank you for your continued patience and understanding over the past four years as our faith community has had to adapt to doing things in creative and different ways.
If you have any questions, please contact the church office,
Note for all Indoor events: In accordance with current guidelines, to keep air circulating, windows may be open and the air conditioning or heat, as applicable, may be turned down (how far and how low will depend on the weather outside). Please dress appropriately for a warmer- or cooler-than-normal room!
Regarding Outdoor Events (Worship, Education, Social or Other), including Memorial Pavilion
- The parking lot or designated seating area (if other than Memorial Pavilion) will be marked where people may drive and which parts of the parking lot, if any, are reserved for the event. Please respect the cones when driving in the parking lot.
- Masking is optional for indoor and outdoor events. Please respect those who choose to continue to wear masks because of their personal risk level.
- There are tables with benches in the Memorial Pavilion, but please feel free to bring your own chairs or a blanket on which to sit at any outdoor events. If you need and cannot bring a chair, please contact the office in advance or an usher at the event; there will be extra chairs available.
- There are some nice, shady spots in our parking lot and of course within the Memorial Pavilion, but if you wish to bring your own shade (umbrella or canopy), please feel free to do so, but also please be considerate of anyone behind or around you, and make certain your portable shade will not fall over or blow away!
- If attending an Outdoor event, please remain in your vehicle if you are not feeling well, are experiencing any symptoms, or if you would like to be present but not sit outside. There will be reserved parking spaces for those remaining in their vehicles; please inform the ushers if that is what you wish to do, and you will be directed to park in the reserved area.
- Outdoor worship services will be available on FM radio upon request (frequency will be announced at the start of the service). Please call the Church Office in advance of the event or inform an usher when you arrive, so we can set up the transmitter. Note: The transmitter has a very limited reach, covering church property and perhaps our nearest neighbors, and is set to an FM frequency not in use in our area.
- Because of some technical challenges, outdoor events may or may not be live-streamed. If the Outdoor Worship is not live-streamed, a pre-recorded worship service will be available on our YouTube Channel at the time of the service, to stream at that time or at your convenience. The Service will feature the same hymns, Scripture lessons, and Sermon, along with the opportunity for Communion.
- The Children's Sermon at Outdoor Worship services may involve an opportunity to draw on the parking lot! Bring your own sidewalk chalk, or pick some up at church. (Please do not draw on the floor of Memorial Pavilion!)
- Bulletins will be available for outdoor worship services, or you can print and bring your own (a link to the bulletin is included in our weekly email, or click HERE).
- Please dress for the weather for outdoor events. This applies to both winter (Bundle up!) and summer (Hats and sunscreen if we're not in the shade!) as applicable.
- All Outdoor Activities are "weather permitting," meaning "not uncomfortably hot or cold, not precipitating, and neither in the forecast." Watch the Home page, the top of this page, or our Facebook page for any weather-related changes or cancellations.
PAST SERVICES
All past worship services that have been livestreamed during 2023 and 2024 are available for streaming at your convenience at our YouTube Channel.
Visit our Video and Audio Page for some special services, including the latest additions from Youth Sunday and Pentecost 2024.
Our services include the essentials of Lutheran worship:
- Gathering
- Hearing of the Word
- Sharing of the Meal, and
- Sending of the Disciples
We are created to praise God - and so worship is our central and fundamental practice as a congregation.
When we worship, the Spirit is gathering us together as a church. We enter into God's time. Through the Word and Sacrament of worship, God gives us nourishment to actively engage in ministries as followers of Jesus in our day-to-day lives.