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Sunday Divine Service & Other Services

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At Gloria Christi we follow the body of historic liturgy of the Lutheran Church. We believe this is the most consistent with our confession of the faith. Both our early and late services follow traditional Lutheran liturgy in the hymns, order of service, and ceremonies. Our services come from Lutheran Service Book, the latest hymnal produced by the Commission on Worship of The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod.

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REGULAR SERVICE SCHEDULE
 
Sundays
 
8:00 AM - Divine Service (Holy Eucharist)
 
9:15 AM - Sunday School/Bible Study
 
10:30 AM - Divine Service (Holy Eucharist)
 
 
Wednesdays in Advent & Lent
 
7:00 PM - Vespers or Evening Prayer liturgy with sermon
 
* Check the monthly calendar for other festival or special occasion services during the course of the Church Year.

REGARDING ALTAR FELLOWSHIP AT GLORIA CHRISTI:
Ordinarily only those who are currently confirmed members of our Lutheran church body partake in the Lord's Supper.  Our church is not currently in fellowship with the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America).  We ask that visitors who wish to commune to speak with the pastor prior to the service. It is helpful if you can come early to do this. 
If there is not sufficient time before hand please wait until you can speak with the pastor. Instruction is available regularly and upon request for those who wish to become communicants in our congregation and fellowship. Our goal is that those who commune do so in unity, with instruction, and preparation.
(See I Cor. 4:1-2; Romans 16:17; Acts 2:42; I Cor. 10, 11; 2 John 9-11 et al.)

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON TRADITIONAL LITURGY AMONG LUTHERANS...

A QUOTE FROM THE FIRST MISSOURI SYNOD PRESIDENT
ON MATTERS OF LITURGY OR WORSHIP
 
The first president of the Missouri Synod worked long and hard to restore a common historic liturgy to the church when so many churches were following their own devices. C. F. W. Walther's efforts received some negative feedback. He responded in a publication that he edited for many years: Der Lutheraner, as in this example, translated from the July 19, 1853, issue, volume 9, number 24, page 163.

Whenever the divine service once again follows the old Evangelical-Lutheran agendas (or church books), it seems that many raise a great cry that it is "Roman Catholic": "Roman Catholic" when the pastor chants "The Lord be with you" and the congregation responds by chanting "and with thy spirit"; "Roman Catholic" when the pastor chants the collect and the blessing and the people respond with a chanted "Amen." Even the simplest Christian can respond to this outcry: "Prove to me that this chanting is contrary to the Word of God, then I too will call it `Roman Catholic' and have nothing more to do with it. However, you cannot prove this to me." If you insist upon calling every element in the divine service "Romish" that has been used by the Roman Catholic Church, it must follow that the reading of the Epistle and Gospel is also "Romish." Indeed, it is mischief to sing or preach in church, for the Roman Church has done this also . . .Those who cry out should remember that the Roman Catholic Church possesses every beautiful song of the old orthodox church. The chants and antiphons and responses were brought into the church long before the false teachings of Rome crept in. This Christian Church since the beginning, even in the Old Testament, has derived great joy from chanting... For more than 1700 years orthodox Christians have participated joyfully in the divine service. Should we, today, carry on by saying that such joyful participation is "Roman Catholic"? God forbid! Therefore, as we continue to hold and to restore our wonderful divine services in places where they have been forgotten, let us boldly confess that our worship forms do not tie us with the modern sects or with the church of Rome; rather, they join us to the one, holy Christian Church that is as old as the world and is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets.


A Lutheran Divine Service in Hamburg, 17th Century

FREQUENT CELEBRATIONS OF THE HOLY SUPPER
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me."  Revelation 3:20

As one can see from the schedule of when the Lord's Supper is offered, it can be received each Lord's Day for those faithful who wish to do so for the nurturing of faith. The weekly celebration of the Lord's Supper is consistent with the practice of the Apostles (see Acts 2:42; 20:7), the early and medieval church, as well as the intention of the Lutheran Confessions (Augsburg Confession, and Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article XXIV). While the Lord's Supper is offered every Sunday, we make no laws about how often one should receive the Lord's Supper. This is the way of our Lutheran Confessions and the way of the gospel. The gospel is always available but forced on no one.
 
At the outset we [the Lutherans] must again make the preliminary statement that we 1] do not abolish the Mass, but religiously maintain and defend it. For among us masses are celebrated every Lord's Day and on the other festivals, in which the Sacrament is offered to those who wish to use it, after they have been examined and absolved. And the usual public ceremonies are observed, the series of lessons, of prayers, vestments, and other like things.

Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article XXIV,1

WHAT IS THE SERVICE LIKE AT GLORIA CHRISTI?
 
Our way of worship is received.  Christians live from what they receive in Christ through His designated means of the Word and the Holy Sacraments.  They way of worship that we follow and adhere to is all about getting ready for these divine gifts, giving thanks for them and responding to them.
 
The historic liturgical forms or orders of service inherited from the generations and centuries of Christians who have gone before us in the faith stand as a testimony to the continuity of the church through the ages and the faithfulness of the Lord who shepherds His Church.   For this reason we seek to avoid forms of worship or songs that contradict or downplay that clear confession of the Lord's Word or that would undermine our heritage.  
 
The services at Gloria Christi follow the historic patterns of worship known by Lutherans and commended by our forefathers in the Lutheran Confessions.   We offer the time-tested and eternally relevant alternative to blended or "contemporary worship."   To be truly relevant, one must proclaim things which are eternal, confessing the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3).   Come and hear the good news and learn to worship Christ in reverence, joy, and awe, bowing down before the throne of the Lamb who was slain and yet lives.
 
 
WHAT TO EXPECT
When you come to services at Gloria Christi you can expect the historically-received liturgy of the Lutheran Church carried out with reverence and joy in the presence of the Triune God, with the confession of justification by grace through faith ringing clearly.

At Gloria Christi we regularly use the hymnal of our church for both liturgy and hymns. We are a biblical, creedal, liturgical, and sacramental church. We follow the Church Year, the liturgical calendar of historic Christianity. We sing time-tested as well as newer traditional hymns that are biblical and Christ-centered. Expect a service that is inspiring, reverent, and Christ-centered.

Some who visit Gloria Christi might think that some things like chanting the liturgy, or making the sign of the cross are "kind of catholic." Well, perhaps they are in the original sense of the word.  Even many life-long Lutheran have never been exposed to the old type of traditional Lutheran worship.   Our worship life reflects what we confess as Christians who see the church continuing through the centuries as a living and breathing body gathered around the Word and Sacraments of Christ. And so we see the continuity of the church throughout the world and throughout time, in heaven and on earth, expressed in the way of worship. At the same time we treasure our evangelical heritage from the Reformation, proclaiming boldly that we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, without the works of the law. As we say this we teach that a full Christian confession is both evangelical (gospel centered) and catholic (universal, whole, timeless). Therefore what we believe forms our way of worship - doctrine is not disconnected from practice.

While it may take some practice and learning if you are not used to a liturgical service, we assure you it is worthwhile, as are many things in life which take practice and instruction. Our pastor or other members would be glad to explain the format of the hymnal and other practices to you. Instruction for youth and adults is available for those who would like to learn more or become baptized, communicant members of our parish.

Practically speaking, the service is followed mainly from our hymnal (which contains both liturgy and hymns) and from an insert in the service bulletin - which provides the Scripture readings for the day and other changing items in the regular liturgy.

LITURGICAL RESOURCES
AND TOPICS

Why do we call the service "Divine Service"?

How Women Dress in Church - Interview on Issues Etc Radio Program

What's With Those Fancy Robes?

Lutheran Quotations on Vestments (PDF)

The Weekly Celebration of the Holy Eucharist

The Meaning and Practice of the Sign of the Cross Among Lutherans

What's With That Chanting? Is It Lutheran?

Communion of the Pastor in the Liturgy

Ashes on Ash Wednesday

May Absolution Be Called A Third Sacrament?

Are Crucifixes Un-Lutheran?

Staying With Wine Rather Than Grape Juice in the Lord's Supper

What Lutherans Say on Mary and the Other Famous Saints

Freestanding Altars in Lutheran Churches

The Passover Seder and the Lutheran Congregation (PDF)

Lutheran Service Book
our new hymnal, Lutheran Service Book

Gloria Christi Lutheran Church (LCMS)

1322 31st Avenue

Greeley, Colorado 80634

(970) 353-2554
 

Visits since 12 December 2006