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DIVINE SERVICES AT GLORIA CHRISTI:
Ordinarily only those who are currently confirmed members of our Lutheran church body partake in the Lord's Supper. We
ask that visitors who wish to commune to speak with the pastor prior to the service. If there is not sufficient time before
hand please wait until you can speak with the pastor. Instruction is available 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.
Sunday 8:00 AM
The Lord's Supper is celebrated every Sunday in the early service.
Sunday 10:30 AM
The Lord's Supper is celebrated every Sunday at the late service.
When the Lord's Supper is celebrated we use one of the 5 communion orders from Lutheran Service Book and when it is a
non-communion service we typically use Matins or on evenings we use Vespers, Evening Prayer or Compline from LSB.
FREQUENT CELEBRATIONS OF THE HOLY SUPPER
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.
OTHER SERVICES:
During the year we also observe midweek Vespers/Evening Prayer services during the seasons of Advent and Lent, along with
other festival observances for Christmas, Holy Week, Easter, Ascension and other feasts. Please call the church office for
more information on these special services.
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.
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.
CLICK HERE to learn more about the historically-received Lutheran liturgy as we seek to practice it at Gloria Christi.
HOW DO I GET TO GLORIA CHRISTI?
Visit Word AND Sacrament - a web page dedicated to presenting seekers with the historic Christian faith as offered through
the Lutheran Confessions and the Lutheran liturgy.
THE INTENDED LITURGICAL PRACTICE OF LUTHERANS FROM OUR
OFFICIAL CONFESSIONAL WRITINGS:
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
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| Painting of a Lutheran Divine Service in 17th century Hamburg |
IMAGINE A CHURCH...
"Imagine a church that is both evangelical - proclaiming the free forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus Christ
- and sacramental, centering its spiritual life in the regenerating waters of baptism and the real presence of Christ in Holy
Communion.
Imagine further a church that is strongly grounded on Scripture, but yet avoids the solipsism of individual interpretation
in favor of a comprehensive, intellectually rigorous and imminently orthodox theological system.
Imagine a worship service that features both strong preaching and the historic liturgy. Imagine that this is a historical
church with a rich spiritual tradition, but without legalism.
Imagine, in short, a church that has some of the best parts of Protestantism and the best parts of Catholicism. Finally,
imagine that this church body is not some little made-up sect, but one of the largest bodies of Christians in the world.
Such a church might seem like what many Christians, disaffected by both the vacuity of liberal theology and the shallowness
of American evangelicalism, are dreaming of. Such a church exists. It goes by the admittedly inadequate name "Lutheran"."
By Dr. Gene Edward Veith - author of The Spirituality of the Cross: The Way of the First Evangelicals (Concordia Publishing
House).
Both our early and late morning services at Gloria Christi are traditional liturgical services of the Lutheran Church. We
call them "Divine Service" because we believe that where two or three are gathered in Christ's name there He is
present among us with His gifts of forgiveness, life and salvation in His holy Word and Sacraments. The structure and reverence
of the service reflects this as we offer the historic Christian alternative to "alternative worship."
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. 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.
We encourage you to take advantages of the resources available to learn the basics of the liturgy, its terminology, practices,
and be immersed in the worship of the church as it has lived and breathed for centuries. As when one joins into an ongoing
conversation we listen for a while and learn the subject matter, learn who has been talking, and so we join in the great conversation
of the Lord and His Church in the liturgy.
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Click here to listen to an MP3 from Issues Etc program critiquing the attempt to join Lutheran doctrinal substance with non-Lutheran
(generic protestant) worship practices from Baptist, Methodist or charismatic churches (modern evangelicals).
Why do we call the service "Divine Service"?
Various Audio Downloads of Discussion on the Historic Liturgy and a Biblical Understanding of "Worship"
What's With That Chanting? Is It Lutheran?
What about those liturgical "robes"?
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| our new hymnal, Lutheran Service Book |
OUR SERVICES ARE CHARACTERIZED BY:
+ Being Christ-centered
+ Keeping Justification by Grace Through Faith Central (Ephesians 2:8,9; Augsburg Confession, Article IV; Small Catechism,
Second Article of the Apostles' Creed)
+ An Acknowledgment of God's Holy Presence Among Us (Hebrews 12:18ff; Isaiah 6:1-7; Revelation 4,5)
+ The Effectiveness of God's Word and Sacraments (see Isaiah 55:10-11; Romans 10:17; Titus 3:5; & Augsburg Confession,
Article V) in God's own Time
+ The Historically-Received Liturgy of the Lutheran Church (see Augsburg Confession & Apology of the Augsburg Confession,
Article XXIV). Lutherans have not historically understood themselves as a "new church."
+ an understanding that the Divine Service is chiefly what God does for us in the means of grace, and then ours is worship
in response to God's initiative in grace (Luke 22:27; Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article XXIV, 78-81)
+ an assumption of thorough catechesis (instruction) as the path to baptized, communicant membership (Matthew 28:19-20;
Acts 2:42; Romans 10:17)
+ liturgical practice that is indicative of historic Christianity in a genuinely Lutheran way (Matthew 16:13-20; Jude
3; Augsburg Confession, Article VII), and so reflect genuine catholic identity
+ consistent worship practices which unify the congregation, in all ages and backgrounds, in reverence, joy, and awe and
which teach and reflect our heritage in the Lutheran Confessions, the early church fathers, and Holy Scripture
+ variety which arises from the richness of the various customs of the Church Year calendar and the wealth of orders and
occasional rites in the Agenda (liturgical book of special rites).
+ preaching that is understood not to be "the pastor's message" or a pep talk but a exposition of the biblical
text, taken from the lectionary, that applies the law and gospel and is understood as the living voice of the Gospel, where
Christ Himself speaks, if the sermon is faithful.
+ that to be "Spirit-filled" means that the Word of God is taught faithfully and the holy sacraments are administered
in fidelity to the Word of Christ, not necessarily a mood, since the Holy Spirit works through the Word and Sacraments. To
be "Spirit-filled" is not about "spiritual gifts inventories" or group dynamics or so-called charismatic
phenomena by those who major in such things.
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| Rev. Paul Gerhardt, Lutheran pastor and hymnist |
Paul Gerhardt: A Christian Tested in Satan's Sieve
Biographical Sketch of Paul Gerhardt
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.
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