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Worship is central at Christ Lutheran Church.
Holy Communion is offered three times each week:
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10:00 a.m. Sunday MorningSeasonal Worship and Special Events
This is the most traditional of our worship settings, yet it is celebrated with a variety of settings and styles according to the season and mood.
The Good News of God's Grace is always preached.
Music is accompanied by organ, piano, guitar, flute, percussion or any available instruments appropriate to the musical style. We offer variety in musical styles within each service.
The Sacrament of Holy Communion is offered every Sunday, providing the strength to meet the week ahead.
Back to top3:30 p.m. Tuesday Afternoon
Each Tuesday, at 3:30 p.mn., a large group of residents gather for 'Worship and Praise' at Vale Healthcare Center (13484 San Pablo Avenue, CA). This ministry began over twelve years ago when one of our members was a resident. After her death we have continued ministering to other residents with whom we have established relationships and count on our presence. Significant time is spent connecting with each resident before worship begins. The service includes singing of favorite hymns (often with solos by the residents), a time for pray, sharing Scripture and a homily followed once a month with the Sacrament of Holy Communion.
Volunteers are welcome to join in this time of worship and fellowship. We leave knowing we have been a blessing and have been blessed by the witness of these faithful saints.
Back to top6:30 p.m. Wednesday Evening
Full worship on a small scale, the W.O.W. service incorporates the “shape of the rite” (see With One Voice, page 8) in a setting where children take leadership. Preparation is made for this service during the Wednesday Children and Youth program, which begins at 5:30 p.m. The children select which role they will assume in their worship, including call to worship, candle lighting, offering taking, and communion assistant. Worship themes and Bible Stories are coordinated with the education time, which reflect the scripture themes for the week. We must emphasize, however, that this worship is not for children only! ALL ARE WELCOME!
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Lent
Holy Week and Easter
Thanksgiving
Christmas
LentTHE ELEMENTS OF WORSHIPMidweek Lenten Worship, Wednesdays in Lent
- 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. - Shared Meal and Group Discussion on 'The Mind of Christ'
- 7:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.n. - Worship with Holden Village Evening Prayer, a sung liturgy
Maundy Thursday, 6:30 p.m. Community potluck followed by worship.Thanksgiving Eve WorshipGood Friday Worship, 1:00 p.m. (with communion) and 7:30 p.m. (without communion). Solemn worship.
Stations of the Cross, Saturday, 9:00 a.m. till 5:30 p.m. (private prayer). We’ve reclaimed for our own use this tool for meditation used by ancient Christians on their pilgrimages.
The Vigil of Easter, Saturday, at 7:30 p.m. In some ways, this is the most powerfully charged of the Holy Week and Easter services. Attendees hear traditional readings and experience the mysterious waiting for the resurrection. Though the service begins somberly, it concludes in celebration of the resurrection which has taken place at an indefinite moment during the Vigil. We celebrated Easter Vigil for the first time in 1999, and those attending insist that this must become part of our worship tradition at Christ Lutheran Church.
The Resurrection of Our Lord, Easter Sunday. This is THE church’s festival, full of joy. He is risen! He is risen indeed!
- 7:30 a.m. - Sunrise Meditation
- 8:30 a.m. - Breakfast and Fellowship
- 10:00 a.m. - Festival Worship
- 11:30 a.m. - Egg hunt
Back to Seasonal Worship heading
Back to topWednesday before Thanksgiving. 7:30 p.m. Worship with Women's Thankoffering Service followed by a Pie Social in the Fellowship Hall.
Back to Seasonal Worship heading
Back to topChristmas Eve, 5:30 p.m. Festival worship for all ages with singing and candlelight service. Children and adult choirs and bell choirs add to the richness of this service.Christmas Day, 10:00 a.m. Christmas Festival worship with Holy Communion.
Back to Seasonal Worship heading
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"Corporate worship expresses the unity of the people of God and their continuity with Christians across the ages. In the liturgical tradition are the gestures, songs, and words by which Christians have identified themselves and each other. The Lutheran Confessions set our liturgical life within that mainstream of Christian worship: 'We do not abolish the Mass but religiously keep and defend. ... We keep traditional liturgical forms' (Apology to the Augsburg Confession, 24)" — From the Introduction to the Lutheran Book of Worship, page 6Participants:
We all participate in worship, but the most important participants are the people who remain in their places in the pews throughout the worship, whose voices are heard in unison with the others, and whose prayers and meditations are said silently. The leaders in worship — the presider, the assisting minister, the lector, the preacher, the choir director, the choir, and the organist — are the participants whose roles are to facilitate the worship of God by the whole congregation. These leaders are your servants.The Liturgical Settings and Hymns:
We use a variety of settings to keep the ancient and holy words alive and fresh to all who speak and sing them. We use: Lutheran Book of Worship Setting I and Setting II; With One Voice “Light of Christ” (Setting 4); The Hymn Mass (poetical versions of the ancient texts set to familiar tunes) from Augsburg Fortress; “Now the Feast and Celebration” by Marty Haugen; “The Kentigern Setting” from the Iona Community in Scotland; “Even as Christ Has Loved Us” by Arlin Aasness; and a simplified setting for Advent with music from all of our sources. Our goal in the Sunday morning service is to vary the musical style — not only monthly or seasonally but also within each service — to appeal to all tastes in worship style and set the mood for the season or festival.The Environment:
The Liturgical Arts Committee has worked to draw attention to the seasons and festivals of the church year. We hope to inspire you and even make you curious about the season or festival through visual accents.The Gifts of Bread and Wine:The baptismal font is placed at the entrance to the Sanctuary (which we have begun calling the “Narthex/Baptistry”) to remind us of our first entrance into the Church of Christ in our baptism. It’s placement in front of the “For All the Saints” window with resurrection symbols reminds us that we are baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection.
We bring to the table the common things that become sacred, ordinary things that become extraordinary. Bread, whether one loaf or wafers, and wine remind us of our unity with Christ and all the saints of old, the saints here with us, and the saints of generations to come.