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Worship Vision
We set out to offer relevant, dynamic, and
varied worship in service of God and our faith community, striving to
inspire individuals as they pursue their Christian faith journey.
We seek to offer worship that welcomes everyone and inspires:
- Transcendence by the power of the Holy Spirit
- An understanding of the relevance and depth of God's Word
- Opportunities for personal and corporate transformation
- An atmosphere of hospitality that welcomes an open, inclusive, and diverse family of faith
- A multi-generational, Christ-centered experience
- Excellence and creativity in artistic expression
- A call to spiritual formation
A Blended Approach: The Worship Feast
The Worship Task Force Report of 2001
identifies how worship might more intentionally "develop an open and
inclusive family of faith where diversity is encouraged." To engage and
reflect the breadth of our community, we’ve introduced new modes of
worship. Some may fear these steps are creeping in as if on a certain
path to minimize tradition. On the contrary, including old and new
styles within one service (rather than separate style-specific
services) reaffirms a commitment to tradition by providing the
opportunity for new church goers and younger generations to experience
the depth of tradition. Likewise, traditionalists are invited to
experience the joy of contemporary styles. To capture this
intentionality a metaphor may be helpful.
Consider worship as a banquet offered to
glorify God. People bring favorite items that they are gifted in
preparing. God’s entire diverse family is invited to partake in, and
contribute to, this offering. A broad palate is considered so that many
different kinds of people feel acknowledged and cared for (meat for
meat-lovers, vegetarian dishes, sugar-free fare for diabetics, some
sweets for children, etc). The banquet doesn’t strive to supply a full
course of everyone’s favorite food; certain items will delight some and
be passed over by others. We set a table that reflects hospitality and
intentionally acknowledges a broad family of faith. We need not fully
satisfy—that is God’s role.
So, we prepare a place for all, invite
transcendence through the Holy Spirit, proclaim the Word, and
experience communion as a body of Christ—and we offer all for the glory
of God.
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