Our Worship
We Teach to put God’s Word in our minds and our hearts.
God’s word is central to our Worship
At Christ the Servant, we respect the beautiful traditions of the Church. At a time when many churches are abandoning the traditional rituals, we have sought to preserve many of them and to fill them with new life for modern people.
Worship: is at the center of our relationship with God and we see the liturgy (which literally means, “the work of the people”) as our Communal response of gratitude for God’s love in Christ. We cherish the great traditions of the church and we explore new styles and ways of worshipping God. This means that you’ll experience a variety of worship opportunities at CTS: a traditional liturgical setting, formal services with incense and processions, services with jazz or rock music, and services written by our confirmation youth.
Entering: When entering our church, an usher will hand you a printed bulletin. The outline of the day’s service is in the bulletin. Refer to it to follow the service and see what hymns we’re singing. Page and hymn numbers in the bulletin refer to the Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELW). That’s the red book found on or near your seat. Please note that you can turn to anyone sitting near you for help with any questions you may have during the service.
Preaching: Like most liturgical churches, we follow the Revised Common Lectionary which takes us through most of the Bible in three years. Pastor Parsons draws on the weekly lessons for the core of her message.
Sacraments: Baptism and Holy Communion are the primary sacraments for Lutherans. We define sacraments as something commanded by Jesus, that uses ordinary elements, (like water, bread, and wine), that communicate God’s promises and grace to us. If you are interested in learning more about Baptism or Holy Communion, please let Pastor Kari know, she’d love to discuss it.
Offering: Rather than passing a basket for our offering, we all go up to the altar to offer ourselves This practice represents the ways that we give ourselves for the sake of God’s work in the world. The usher will guide you and you can just follow the person who leads you out of your row. If you choose, you may leave a financial offering in the basket held upfront. You may also just nod your head or bow acknowledging the offering of yourself. In this offering, we accept funds to support the work of the church in the basket; funds for World Hunger in the smaller can, and food offerings, which can be left in the larger baskets on the corners of the altar platform. Food donations which go to Gaithersburg HELP to feed those in need in our local community.
Christ’s Table: Everyone is invited to and welcomed around Christ’s table to receive the bread and wine in which, we believe, Christ is present for us.
At the time of communion, we go forward and gather around the altar. An usher will help to guide you. Bread is used except during Lent and gluten free wafers are available upon request. Either wine or white grape juice is offered from a tray of individual glasses.
If you choose not to commune, you are invited to join us to receive a blessing; please cross your arms over your chest to indicate this.
We also offer communion to those worshipping with us at home via Zoom. If you wish to participate in communion via Zoom, please have some form of bread and wine (or water or juice) near the location where you are viewing Zoom to eat and drink when you hear the pastor say, “This is the body of Christ given for you” and “This is the blood of Christ shed for you.”
Choir: The CTS choir meets most Thursdays at 7:30pm and is open to all singers, regardless of experience level. Weekly choir rehearsals take a hiatus from the second week of November until the New Year, and from Pentecost until early September. The choir works together on music for special services, including anthems and pieces from classical and modern genres as they apply to the themes for Sunday services. Small vocal and instrumental solos and ensembles are also incorporated into regular and special services. Florence Bastien leads the choir and coordinates all musicians who wish to share their gifts in our congregation.
We enjoy and welcome children at worship: Children are important in the life of our church family and we enjoy and welcome them at worship. We recognize noisy children and crying babies for what they are – gifts from God and signs of new life for which we give thanks. Activity bags are also available if your child would like one.
During Advent and Lent we offer special services of Evening Prayer at 7:30 PM on Wednesdays.
Signs of the Cross: At various times throughout the service, you’ll see some people making the sign of the cross. They are symbolically reminding themselves and the rest of us of their baptism and it is a quiet way to mark the sacrifice our Lord made for us on our very person. If you are comfortable, please feel free to do so at times indicated by a small cross (☩) embedded in the order of service.
