Worship
The ministry of worship gives great thanks for the opportunity to give witness to the stirrings of the spirit in worship planning, worship services and the flush of generative growth that occurs as a consequence of participation in worship. Our congregation is truly blessed to be lead by ministers, professional staff and lay participants who joyfully ascribe the mercy and power of God; who encourage and welcome transformation and renewal; who - with God’s grace - challenge all of God’s beloved children to name and claim their gifts and move into the world to serve God’s people. We give great thanks for John and Clover, faithful and wise ministers of word and sacrament.
The ministry would like to highlight the following from 2009:
- As the session and Endowment supported the creation of AWE (Alternative Worship Experiences) services, we give thanks for the many ways Anne Wilson uses music to rouse the spirit within each of us
- As there has been an increase in the number and kinds of participation of lay readers and leaders in worship, we give thanks for the many voices and faces of the spirit among us
- As radiant purple Advent paraments adorn the communion table, we are reminded and give thanks for the way the spirit dances and shimmers in our sacred spaces
- As more people came forth to serve communion, we give thanks for the way the spirit feeds and nourishes us, from person to person, hand to hand.
As the bulletin has been fine tuned with the watchful help of Lynda Bernays, we give thanks for the ease with which we can be called into prayers and songs of the spirit.
- As we welcomed Roger Heineman as head usher, we give thanks for a spurring of spirit and adherence to the many details that go into welcoming the spirit into the sanctuary for each week’s service
- As Ann Williams finished her final year of scheduling weekly lay readers, we give thanks for the ways in which fulfilling the spirit is a loyal and disciplined response to the call of hard and dedicated work.
- As new elders, Jean Reinhold and Kurt Haas, were called and joined the Ministry of Worship, we give thanks for the spirit inspiring them to use their talents, energy and enthusiasm for the work of the ministry.
- As sermons are now online after being recorded by Mark Waring, David Bell and others manning the soundboard, we give thanks that the spirit moves beyond Sunday morning in our sanctuary at 11am to the larger world.
The charge of the ministry of worship is to consider and ensure the “quality of worship, the standards governing it, and the fruit it is bearing in the lives of God’s people.” It is with hope and humility that this ministry did so.
“. . . the life of the church is one and . . . its worship, witness and service are inseparable.” (Directory of Worship, Preface a.)
Elders serving the Ministry of Worship
Carolyn Vrtunski, Jean Reinhold, Kurt Haas