Our Ministry of Worship

Our vision for Sunday worship is to hold services which are God-honoring and full of praise & prayer; which welcome the stranger in our midst; which engage the whole person, recognizing the God-given creativity in each of us; which challenge us to be all that God has created us to be and which are mission-minded and life-changing.

Recent reflections from the Worship Team:

Wise Men Still Seek Him is one of my favorite phrases that emerge in the Advent and Christmas Season.  The phrase can be interpreted in many ways.  Hopefully, you continue to seek Him and find a very personal relationship and meaning to this season and the new year.

DID YOU KNOW:  Advent, which comes from the Latin word for "arrival" or "coming," is a period of preparation for the birth of our Lord.  Advent begins four Sundays before Christmas and is the start of the Christmas season, which lasts through the Baptism of Our Lord.  Advent is a time of joyous anticipation, but also of penance and preparation for the great Christmas feast.

DID YOU KNOW:  Advent didn't become part of the official church year until about the fourth century, when the Festival of Christmas was established.  But the festival held at Christmas time is not only a Christian event.  If you go back thousands of years to ancient Egypt, Asia or elsewhere, you find that a festival was being held at the same time of year that Christianity celebrates the birth of Christ.  People celebrated the end of the winter season and the approach of spring…the end of darker, drearier days and the beginning of longer, brighter ones.  Ancient people celebrated the solstice as a time of renewal and rebirth and as a promise, always fulfilled, that soon the land again would be green and lush.  Ancient celebrations such as the Saturnalia in Rome and the feasts that were held in the Nordic countries to honor Balder, the god of the sun, served to take minds off the short gloomy days and to help people look forward with hope to better days ahead.

DID YOU KNOW:  The 12 days of Christmas are the 12 days that separate Christmas day on December 25 from Epiphany.  Depending on the church, January 6 may mark Christ's baptism or it may mark the day that the wise men visited the baby Jesus with their gifts.

Most people know the Christmas season song "The Twelve Days of Christmas" and treat it as simply a fun song.  But it may well be a song designed to teach the catechism to children during the 16th century.  People that say that the song was a Christian teaching vehicle believe that the "true love" mentioned in the song is not an earthly suitor, but refers to God Himself.  The "me" who receives the presents refers to every baptized person who is part of the Christian Faith.  Each of the "days" represents some aspect of the Christian Faith that was important for children to learn. 

DID YOU KNOW:  St. Nicholas of Myra lived and acquired his reputation for sanctity long before the Church began its formal process of beatification.  He became recognized as a saint by a kind of popular acceptance.  Historians and hagiographers generally write that much of what is said about Nicholas is legend.  Again, remember that at Nicholas's time there were no investigation and authentication of claimed miracles before canonization took place.  Attributing miracles and wonders to a person was an ancient way of expressing people's conviction about the holiness of the person. 

You will still find Nicholas listed in the various dictionaries of saints, for example, Dictionary of Saints, by John Delaney (Doubleday).  And you will still find Nicholas listed in the Roman Calendar on December 6.  There he is assigned an optional memorial.  In other words, churches and communities on that day may choose to celebrate either the liturgy in honor of St. Nicholas or the liturgy for a weekday in Advent.

DID YOU KNOW:  The candy cane is a symbol of the humble roots of Christianity, the shepherd's crook.    Legend has it that in 1670, the choirmaster at the Cologne Cathedral in Massachusetts handed out plain white sugar sticks among his young singers to keep them quiet during the long Living Crèche ceremony. In honor of the occasion, he had the candies bent into shepherds' crooks.  Since then, more Christian  symbolism has been attributed to these Christmas candies.  The hardness of the candy cane reminds Christians that the church was founded on solid rock.

The traditional peppermint flavor of the cane tastes like hyssop, a plant in the mint family.  It was used in the Old Testament for purification and sacrifice.  Records show that some people gave candy canes to children who learned their prayers.  The shape of the candy cane, like a 'J', signifies Jesus.

DID YOU KNOW:  That candle wax in carpet can be very nicely removed with a brown paper sack and a hot iron  (THANK YOU BETH)

DID YOU KNOW:  That many people in our congregation have very sensitive sniffers….scented candles are a no no!  (Our apologies.)

DID YOU KNOW:  Christ is the star that all wise people follow, as did wise men of old.  ·For ancient people, a five-pointed star at the top of a tree symbolized the pentagram -- the so-called "star of mankind." But for Christians, a five pointed star represents the star followed by the Magi.  ·An eight-pointed star is a symbol of the world Christ came to save.  ·The six-pointed star, called the Creator's star, represents the six days of creation.  Often recognized as the Jewish "Star of David," it also reminds us of Jesus' ancestor, King David.

DID YOU KNOW:  A circle symbolizes continuance - it never ends.  It also reminds us of the never ending love of God.  Christmas wreaths are traditionally circles made with evergreens, which symbolize life.  They are often decorated with other natural plant parts, such as pine cones and holly berries.

There is a true richness in the history and symbolism of Advent, Christmas, and the season following.   January and February will find us exploring how God is calling us and revealing himself to us.  The worship team is beginning this next week to put together the Lenten Service and would welcome anyone that wants to join us in our meetings to make plans and carry out those services.            

                                                                                           ~ Joyce Sigler

For more information about the Worship Team please contact the .