52 Weeks of Worship

Advent is part of the Christmas Cycle which, along with the whole liturgical year evolved into its current shape by the fourth century. The Christmas cycle includes Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany. As Easter is preceded by a season of preparation so is Christmas preceded by Advent.  Christmas begins the story of "God with us" and Advent (literally Ad – to, toward; Vent –coming) is the season that prepares us or helps us "come to or toward" Christmas. It is a season of hope during which we prepare to celebrate the first coming of Christ and anticipate the future coming of Christ. The Christian year follows Christ's life through to the birth of the church and so begins with focus on is birth. Christmas is a set day and Advent is its prelude, starting on the fourth Sunday before Christmas, and so begins the liturgical or Christian year. 

Our advent candles are blue because this is a season for hope, and blue is the color of hope. The antependia (pulpit hanging), the choir stoles, and the Fellowship Hall table covers are all blue for the same reason. Originally God's people hoped for a Messiah. Then Jesus fulfilled that hope at Christmas. Now we hope Jesus will come again even as we remember how he came the first time. The calligraphy in the front of the sanctuary is a quote from Revelation where the promise is made, "Behold He is coming!" (Notice there is blue in this creation by Graham Whitlow). 

The four blue candles on the Advent wreath represent the four Sundays of the Advent season and a 5th candle which is white will be added to the center to represent the coming of Christ into our world. As it says in Isaiah, "The People who have walked in darkness have seen a great light...for a child has been born to us....named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Additionally the four candles may represent another concept, which can vary from church to church and year to year. Often love, hope, joy, and peace are used. Traditionally "joy" is the third week (Gaudate Sunday in Latin). (When a wreath has 3 purple candles and one pink one, the third is the pink one to go with this joy theme). Mary's Magnificat (Luke 1: 46-55) is often the text for this 3rd week and it seems a good day for our children to have a Christmas pageant, and for our musicians to share a cantata as a joyful noise and gift of praise. 

In Matthew Chapter 1, we can read Jesus' Genealogy. We often talk about Jesus being a descendant of David. Jesse was David's father and a tradition began that illustrates Jesus' family tree and it has been called a Jesse Tree. This is probably rooted in the verse from Isaiah 11:1 which says, "A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots." The tree on the front of the pulpit hanging (antependia) is a small representation of a Jesse tree with a "rose" at the top representing Jesus. (It was designed by Alice Lieb) The ornaments on the Fellowship Hall tree are "Jesse Tree ornaments" and represent some of Jesus' ancestors –going back all the way to Adam and Eve. Look and see how many you recognize (these were designed and made by Betty Olhoeft and former member Dot Spuhler). 

Christmas is often celebrated as a season of time, rather than just a day.  Christmas begins with Christmas Day, December 25, and lasts for twelve days until Epiphany, January 6.  The one or two Sundays between Christmas Day and Epiphany are sometimes called Christmastide.

During Advent, we sing songs that emphasize expectation, longing, and hope, a preparation for celebration much as Lent is a preparation for Easter.  For Christmas, and during Christmastide, we celebrate the "Joy to the World" of the coming of Christ our Savior.

Epiphany means "to show", or "to make known" or even "to reveal" – today we might call that an "aha moment."   At Christmas, God came to be with us but he looked like an ordinary baby.  Through a series of "ahas" God's people begin to discover who this boy Jesus really is.  Epiphany marks the coming of the wise men bringing gifts to visit the Christ child; by doing so they first reveal Jesus to the world as Lord and King.  Epiphany marks the end of the Christmas season and the twelve days of Christmas.  The lectionary gospel texts between Epiphany and Lent are stories such as Jesus' Baptism that continue to reveal who Jesus is. 

Baptism is the sign and symbol of inclusion in God's grace and covenant with the Church.  It enacts and seals what the Word proclaims:  God's redeeming grace is offered to all people.  Baptism is God's gift of grace and also God's summons to respond to that grace.  God's faithfulness signified in Baptism is constant and sure, even when human faithfulness to God is not.  Because Baptism is God's action, not ours, it does not need to be repeated.

We can re-affirm our baptismal covenant through a simple ritual of Remembrance – a time and a way to become re-connected with the grace of God.

The liturgical calendar has seasons – not like Winter or Spring, but seasons of the Christian life.  We use five colors to identify different seasons:  White is used to display God's redemptive acts and is the color for Christmas and Easter and other "Big Jesus" days.  Purple represents penitence and preparation and is used for Lent.   Blue, representing hope, is used for Advent.  Red is for celebrations such as Pentecost where we celebrate the Holy Spirit.  And green is used in all other times known as "Ordinary Time" to show our continual need to grow closer to God.

Many of us, this writer included, find comfort in coming to the same place every Sunday – maybe even the same table in Fellowship Hall, or pew in the Sanctuary.   It can be easy to miss the subtle changes in our surroundings.  But if you look around you will see that the white of Christmas has been replaced with green – from the table runners and covers in Fellowship Hall, to the choir and pastor stoles, and the antependium in front of the pulpit in the sanctuary.  There is green (and all the liturgical colors) in the stained glass design of the sanctuary and it is no accident that the carpet in Fellowship Hall is green.   Let the green be a reminder that this is a season to grow closer to God.

The Presbyterian Church is organized as a representative democracy – for example, members elect elders to represent the congregation on session within each individual church.  The rules by which we operate are included in the Book of Order [which is technically part II of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Constitution; part I is the Book of Confessions, from which we have been reading short excerpts each week as our affirmation of faith.]  The Book of Order details our form of governance, the directory for worship, and rules of discipline.

The Book of Order identifies that each individual church will have an annual meeting, and may hold other meetings as needed.  The annual meeting is our opportunity as members to learn firsthand from our elected leaders about how we are doing – how we are growing in faith as disciples, and how we are serving our members, our community and our world as Christians.

Ordination is the act by which the church sets apart people to be presbyters (ministers of the Word and Sacrament or elders) and deacons; it is accompanied with prayer and the laying on of hands.  The laying of hands is a literal connection from Jesus Christ to his disciples, to ministers throughout the ages, and to our church leaders today – a true "social network" begun 2000 years before Facebook!

Ordination is perpetual; however, election to a specific office or board is for a specific term – which in our church is for three years.  Vacancies can be filled as needed. Installation is the term we use for bringing an ordained person into active service, such as an elder serving again as a member of session, or as a deacon on the board of deacons.

Jews mark days from sunset to sunset so their Sabbath is Friday evening through Saturday; generally we mark Saturday as their Sabbath.  God created the earth in six days and rested on the seventh.  These are the 7 days of creation with the assumption that Saturday Sabbath is the seventh day.  Jesus rose from the dead on the morning after the Sabbath.  So Christians began to mark Sunday as the holy day, like so many little Easters.  And because Jesus is the light of the world and was raised in the morning, Christians shifted the day to morning to morning instead of sunset to sunset.

This eighth day of creation, and first day of the week, is what has become known as the Lord's Day, the day of the resurrection.

Christ in his rising opens the way to new life for us and so for "making us a new creation" by his death and resurrection.

Most liturgical vestments have their origins in the street clothes of an earlier era.  The oldest is the alb, a long white garment derived from the ancient Roman tunic.  The alb has come to represent equality in ministry, and can be worn by any baptized liturgical leader.  The cincture is a rope belt worn with the alb.

The Geneva gown is black robe, once commonly worn in public by those with academic credentials.  The Geneva gown symbolizes scholarly training and learned preaching, a historical value and strength of the Reformed tradition.  The addition of three bars called chevrons to the sleeve signifies the doctoral degree.

A stole is a long band of cloth, generally color-coordinated with the liturgical season.  Its practical origin was a scarf, though it has come to be associated with the ordained ministry and the yoke of service to Christ.

Continuing in the tradition of the Reformers, in some instances pastors choose to wear contemporary street clothes to downplay the impression of clericalism and to emphasize the ministry of all believers.

The simple answer is that the ashes come from burning the palm fronds that were used for last year's Palm Sunday.  But this takes us to two more questions:  first, why ashes, and second, why palms?

In biblical times, people relied on wood fires for heating and cooking; keeping ashes under control was a major housekeeping task – one that might be neglected in times of sorrow.  Ashes became a symbol of remorse, repentance and mourning; today, a person might wear a black armband to signify that they are in mourning; back then people put ashes on their foreheads.  During Lent, ancient Christians mourned their sins and repented of them, and showed their sincerity by having ashes on their foreheads.

And the palms?  We can remember the rejoicing of the crowd as Jesus rode into Jerusalem and our own joy from our worship last year at Palm Sunday and Easter.  But the palms also can remind us of the crowd that turned on Jesus long ago, and our tendency to go back to our sinful ways during the long year.  We burn the palms and use them for our ashes as a tangible symbol that we have fallen short, but God give us a chance to use Lent for reflection and a chance to begin anew.

Depending on whether you are in Fellowship Hall or the Sanctuary this week, you find can purple in the Lenten banner, the pastors' stoles, the antependium and the choir stoles.  And of course in the sanctuary you can also find purple in the carpeting, and the beams overhead.

But why do we use purple for Lent?  Purple is the traditional color for the season of Lent because it symbolizes penitence and preparation (a useful albeit coincidental alliteration) along with the royal dignity of "Christ the newborn king."  Lent is a season of preparation and repentance during which we anticipate Good Friday and Easter.  Just like we prepare for other events in our lives – like a wedding or commencement – we use Lent as a time of preparation for marking Christ's sacrifice and the celebration of Easter.

Some congregations, including ours, choose to highlight the contract between Lent and Easter by omitting the singing of "Alleluia" during the Lenten season.

The omission of Alleluias during Lent goes back at least to the fifth century, and a custom of "burying the alleluia" developed in the Middle Ages.  In today's world, we can think of it as "giving it a rest" – just like after Christmas we put away our lights, crèche and star away.  We can anticipate putting them out again (at the right time) but we would not want them up all year! When we retire something familiar for a season, recovering its use has a way of making it new again.

So for now we put away our Alleluias, and look forward to Easter morning when we can sing "Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia!"

In 2014, Ash Wednesday is on March 5, and Easter is on April 20.  Do the math and you'll see that Lent is actually 46 days long.  Since Sundays celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, the six Sundays that occur during Lent are not counted as part of the 40 days of Lent, and are referred to as the Sundays in Lent, not of Lent.

The period of Lent has had, and still has, an emphasis on reaffirming baptismal identity, of knowing and living the faith.  During Lent, we have the opportunity to reaffirm who we are and always will be, in anticipation of Easter.

The practice of a forty-day preparation period began in the Christian church during the third and fourth centuries.  The number forty carries biblical significance based on Moses' forty years preparing for his ministry,  forty years of Israel spent in the wilderness and Jesus' forty-day fast in the wilderness.   Historically, forty has been used as a round number to designate a fairly long period of time in terms of human existence or endurance.    Though the earliest traditions are unclear, Lent apparently evolved as a time for training, particularly as a time of final preparation of candidates for baptism at Easter.  Lent also became a time for the renewal of the faithful.  In today's world, Lent continues to be a season of spiritual discipline and preparation, anticipating the celebration of the death and resurrection of Christ. 

Our Sunday morning worship is like a concentrated dose of worshipping God, to remind us of how we should be living our lives 24/7.   During worship, we remember that God calls the church to join the mission of Jesus Christ in service to the world.

Jesus called, commissioned and promised to be present to a people gathered in his name.  To each member, the Holy Spirit gives gifts for building up the body of Christ and for equipping it for the work of ministry.   God sends the church to exercise compassion in the world; to feed the hungry, comfort the grieving, care for the sick, visit the prisoners, free the captives, shelter the homeless and befriend the lonely.

And so our mission – "Whatever you did for one of the least of these, you did for me" becomes an extension of our weekly Sunday morning worship service.

Our church uses a type of palm called "eco-palm" to celebrate Christ's entry into Jerusalem before his crucifixion.    As Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, followers spread palm branches in his path, indicating that a dignitary was arriving in triumph.

These environmentally friendly fronds are made available by a partnership between the University of Minnesota and government agencies in Guatemala and Mexico.  Harvesters cut down individual palm branches instead of whole palm trees so that the trees stay alive to produce more fronds, thus helping to sustain forests in these areas.  Villagers are paid a fair price and rewarded for the quality of the palms they harvest, and the palms are bundled by women in the local communities rather than in a distant warehouse.

Christian churches are the largest consumers of palms in North America, with an estimated 25 million palms stems sold every year for Palm Sunday.  In 2005, a pilot project was begun under the premise that churches that were already tuned into fair-trade coffee would also support the idea of environmental and socially-conscious practices for harvesting palms.  The idea has grown – in 2009 over 2500 churches, including ours, purchased an estimated 640,000 eco-palm fronds.

he Easter lily, with its beautiful trumpet-shaped blossoms, symbolizes purity, virtue, innocence, hope and life – the spiritual essence of Easter.   The lily also reminds us that a bulb decaying in the soil produces a new bulb, stem, leaves and flowers, rising in glory above the dark soil in which the process of death and the release of life are inseparable.   Churches traditionally use lilies at Easter to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ and hope of life everlasting.
The large painting of lilies hanging in the sanctuary was created by our own Alice Lieb, and serves as a reminder each year of the promise of new life that comes to us each Easter.

White symbolizes purity, holiness and virtue, as well as respect and reverence.  You'll find that white is used for all of the high holy days of the liturgical year, including this Easter season, as well as for baptism, marriage, ordination and dedications.
In our worship this week and throughout the season of Easter, you will find white runners on the tables in Fellowship Hall, white stoles worn by our choir, and a white antependium hanging in front of the pulpit.

One day out of 365 is hardly sufficient to celebrate the great mystery of our faith – that Christ is risen from the dead.  So the season of Easter lasts seven weeks, spanning the fifty days from the Sunday of the Resurrection to Pentecost Sunday.   This idea of Easter as a season of 50 days is patterned after the ancient Jewish festival of seven weeks that extended from the beginning of the barley harvest (on the second day after the beginning of Passover) to the end of the wheat harvest, at the Festival of Weeks.  The Festival of Weeks later came to be called Pentecost ("fiftieth day") by Greek speaking Jews.
The symbolic value of numbers also plays a meaningful role in the length of the season.  In ancient Israelite culture the number seven represented wholeness or completion; a period of seven weeks suggests fullness squared.  The season of Easter is therefore, a "week" of weeks, and is intended to be an extended time of joy and celebration in the church.

Members of the Affirmation ministry do both the preparation and clean-up of communion.  Preparation begins the day before, with bread cut and wrapped for use the next day.  Both wheat-based and gluten free bread are available.
And how do they fill the little cups of grape juice used in the Sanctuary?  Newlonsburg has a special pitcher designed just for this purpose; it has a squeeze-bulb on top that allows for easy portion-control into the small cups.
The Affirmation ministry is responsible for all aspects of our worship, including preparation of communion.  If you are interested in joining the Affirmation committee, we would love to hear from you!  Affirmation@newlonsburgchurch.org

Baptism is the sign and symbol of inclusion in God's grace and covenant with the Church.  It enacts and seals what the Word proclaims:  God's redeeming grace is offered to all people.  The practice of baptizing infants has come to signify for us that God's love and care for us precedes our understanding.
Confirmation in the Presbyterian Church is the opportunity for individuals to make public their personal profession of faith and their acceptance of responsibility in the life of the church.   Our young people confirm their answers to the baptismal questions their parents answered on their behalf when they were infants.
Follow along from the Book of Order as our confirmation class:

Professes their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior,
Renounces evil and affirms their reliance on God's grace,
Declares their intention to participate actively and responsibly in the worship and mission of the church.

Our Book of Order (read: the constitution for the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A.) defines the order of worship to include Gathering around the Word, Proclaiming the Word, and Responding to the Word.  It is in the Responding part that we both give thanks for life and life's transitions, as well as lift up prayers of intercession and supplication.  And so in our Joys and Concerns, we commemorate important events in our lives and the life of our church, and we also pray for guidance and support, wisdom and assurance, and comfort and healing for those in need within our extended church family. 

This week in worship we have the opportunity to celebrate our graduating high school seniors – we get to learn what they are doing next, and maybe hear a funny story or two about their memories of their time here at Newlonsburg.  We've watched these kids grow up; some were baptized here and sat on the steps with Marnie for Small Talk; others joined us as their families moved to our church, and still others came to know us through their involvement in Lost Sheep.
As members of this church we take on a responsibility at the time of baptism – to nurture our children in their faith.  Eighteen or so years later, we can still nurture these young people by praying for them at this milestone of graduation.  As a congregation we will gather around each of our seniors and surround them with our prayers as they commence the next season of their lives.

The word "Pentecost" means "fiftieth day", and occurs 50 days following Easter Sunday.  Pentecost has its roots in a Jewish harvest festival of Shavuot, also called Pentecost, which is celebrated 50 days after Passover.
According to the Day of Pentecost story in Acts 2:1-13, God gave the gift of the Holy Spirit to empower witnesses to the resurrection.  The Holy Spirit appeared as a burning fire in the house where the apostles had gathered.  A power – the unseen power of God – moved among them and gripped them.   The book of Acts tells the story of the outcome of Pentecost's new creation:  people witness in word and in deed to the risen Christ.
So the red that you see in our sanctuary this week symbolizes the fire of Pentecost – the red of the fabric art decorating the chancel, the red of geraniums in the sanctuary, and the red that so many of us are wearing to celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church and to each of us.

Unlike other days in the church's liturgical calendar, Trinity Sunday celebrates a doctrine of the church, rather than an event.  On Trinity Sunday we celebrate the mystery of God's being as the trinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Trinity Sunday helps us synthesize all we have celebrated over the past months:  Christmas and Epiphany celebrating God's taking flesh and dwelling among us in Jesus Christ, Easter celebrating Christ's death and resurrection for us, and Pentecost, celebrating God the Holy Spirit among us.  So it's a fitting transition to that part of the year when Sunday by Sunday the work of God among us is unfolded in a more general way.

The name "Ordinary Time" sounds mundane, but this is not to imply that these weeks represent an unimportant part of the Christian year – quite the opposite is true.  Ordinary Time is a reminder that Christian life is an everyday vocation and is not reserved simply for special occasions.  The word ordinary derives from the Latin ordo, ("rule" or "order") and the liturgical term "ordinary" means that which is standard, normative, usual or typical.
The liturgical year has two periods of Ordinary Time:  the first is from January 7 (the day after Epiphany) through the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, and the second is from the day after Pentecost to the day before the first Sunday of Advent.   Both periods are recognized as seasons for growth, and the green color of Ordinary Time is a good reminder of this growing season for us as Christians.

Announcements are important for maintaining community but can interrupt the flow of the worship service, so we have chosen to have them at the very beginning of the worship service.

If you've missed some details, or want to learn more about an announcement, there are some other great ways to stay connected – there's the weekly bulletin and the monthly newsletter to start.  And if you've tossed either of those, this websitehas links to the bulletins and newsletters.

We may tend to use the words synonymously, but there's a subtle difference that, among other things, broadens the definition of our offerings of "self and substance."

The Christian life is an offering of one's self to God.  In worship we are presented with the costly self-offering of Jesus Christ, are claimed and set free by him, and are led to respond by offering to him our lives, our gifts and abilities, and our material goods.

Collection can connote the gathering of currency to pay the church's bills and do good works; offering expands that concept to offer a portion of all of the blessings God has given us.  Our offering is not only represented by our money, but all of our gifts that we share.

Doxology comes from the Greek "doxa", meaning glory, plus "logos", meaning word or speaking.  It's a short hymn of praise to God in Christian worship services.  The tradition derives from a similar practice in the Jewish synagogue, where some form of the Kaddish ends each section of the service.  Among Christian traditions a doxology is typically a sung expression of praise to the Holy Trinity.

The doxology that we sing, "Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow" was written in 1674 by Thomas Ken, an Anglican Bishop, and was originally the final verse of two hymns used for morning and evening worship.   It is sung to the tune "Old 100th", a hymn tune written over one hundred years earlier in 1551; the tune was originally associated with Psalm 134 but its name comes from a later association with the 100th Psalm.

Antependium, literally meaning "to hang before", is the decorative piece of fabric that is hanging at the front of our pulpit in the sanctuary.  Traditionally it is the same color and fabric as the vestments worn by the clergy.  The color of the antependium follows the liturgical colors – so in this period of Ordinary time, you will see the green cloth to symbolize growth.

For Ordinary time, the symbols are three interlocking circles, signifying the trinity.  Other symbols you'll see on antependia throughout the year include the cross and crown, on white; the Chi Rho (the monogram of Jesus), also on white; a Jesse Tree for Advent and a cross with grape vine on the purple antependium.

The Gloria Patri, so named for its first two words in Latin, is a short hymn praising God and declaring faith in the Holy Trinity.   It is also known as the Lesser Doxology, to distinguish it from the Greater Doxology, Gloria in Excelsis Deo.  The lyrics have their roots in the 2nd century, and the Trinitarian language comes from Matthew 28:19, the great commission.  The tune we sing was composed by Henry Wellington Greatorex in 1851.

Why do we sing the Gloria Patri, along with the Doxology, most weeks in worship?  In the study of the human brain, scientists find that musical activity involves nearly every region of the brain that we know about, along with every neural subsystem.  At a deeper level, the emotions that we experience in response to music involve structures deep in the amygdala, the heart of emotional processing in the brain cortex.   Melodies and lyrics are firmly lodged in our heads and hearts – we know that for those with dementia, familiar music and lyrics remain when all other memories fade away.  And so if it is music that is stored most deeply within us, why not encourage those memories to be the hymns  "Glory be to the Father", and "Praise God from Whom all blessings flow?"

The Christ candle (also known as the Paschal candle) is lit for worship each week to serve as a reminder that Christ is the light of the world, and also as a reminder of his presence as we worship.

The use of the Paschal candle is traced back to the Easter Vigils of the fourth century.  In our current liturgical practice, modern Paschal candles are often adorned with the cross and inscribed with the date of the current year.

Sanctuary, Chancel, Narthex, Nave – these may sound like book titles or prescription medications, but they are the traditional names for parts of a church.  "Historical" church denominations Lutherans, Catholics, Presbyterians, etc – still bear the stamp of early Christian worship and so we use those traditional words to define our worship space.

Originally during worship the leader sat at one end of a rectangular room on a raised platform, and the rest of the people stood.  (Pews were invented about the time of the Protestant Reformation, because along with Protestantism came some very long sermons.)  The word sanctuary can mean either the raised platform or the entire worship space.  The chancel specifically means the raised platform at the front of the church.  The place where worshippers sit is often called the sanctuary, but more technically it is called the nave; it is considered the "ship of faith" and is named as such because a traditional nave had a keel shape to its vaulted ceiling.  The narthex is the entrance or lobby area – with an original purpose to allow those not eligible for admittance to the nave to still hear the service – that is now simply the point of entry into the church.

The phrase "psalms, hymns and spiritual songs" is a reference to Ephesians 5:19-20; "Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.  Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

So what's the difference among the three?  Psalms are the actual psalms from scripture, often accompanied by an instrument.  Hymns are those songs that have been specifically written for the purpose of praise to God, adoration or prayer.  And spiritual songs are those that come to us directly from the Holy Spirit.

And so from Colossians 3:16; "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sign psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to Go."

After Small Talk, parents may take their young children to one of three special places where the children are cared for during worship.  The youngest children (babies and toddlers) may go to the nursery, which is right around the corner from the sanctuary.  Pre-schoolers (about age two to five) may spend their time in the Log Cabin Room at the end of the education wing, where they enjoy a bible-based story and craft along with playtime.   Children ages four through second grade are invited to attend "Children and Worship" in the Room 105 in the Education Wing; this service follows the adult order of worship and involves a storyteller.  This program uses "Young Children at Worship", based on Montessori methodology using hallmark biblical stories.

All of these programs are staffed by teams of volunteers.

Song unites the faithful in common prayer; singing is a response which engages the whole self in prayer.  As a congregation, our combined voices become what is called the great choir; our group of singers that lead us is often known as the chancel choir  (In the sanctuary our choir sits in the chancel; in Fellowship Hall, our music leaders are also be called the praise team.)  The choir, along with other music leaders and musicians, enhance and assist the whole people of God in their praise of God.  In addition to leading the congregation, they also pray on behalf of the congregation with introits, responses, and anthems.

This is in no way implies that our choirs are not also "great"; they create truly beautiful music and are great people too!  If you are considering a move from the great choir of the congregation to our chancel choir, bell choir or 8:30 music team, contact our choir director or 8:30 music director to learn more.

Our choir director or 8:30 music director select the music for us each week.  Listen to the lyrics of our hymns each week, and you'll find that the themes of the scripture and sermon are reflected in the selected hymns, with the overall goal of having the music enhance our worship.   And as you listen to the music throughout the worship service, you'll hear a variety of styles of music – contemporary and traditional, fast and slow, so that we are able to experience a variety of emotional experiences in worship.  Real-life logistics matter too – enough time to learn the music, enough copies of the music for the choir, and the talents of specific musicians all factor into the week's music selections. 

World Communion Sunday, observed on the first Sunday in October, is a time when many Christian denominations celebrate our oneness in Christ in the midst of the world we are called to serve.   World Communion Sunday originated in the mid-1930s (here in Pittsburgh, at Shadyside Presbyterian Church) at a time when North Americans were experiencing the economic upheaval of the Great Depression, and many were concerned about the instability in Europe and the possibility of another world war.  A group of Presbyterian ministers met to pray and talk about the church's role in such a time. Rediscovering the unifying power of Christ in the Lord's Supper, they reaffirmed that in Christ all Christians are one, regardless of nationality, race, or ethnicity. From their meeting came the first World Communion Sunday in 1936.  In the years that followed other denominations began to celebrate this special Sunday. 

The pastor, with the concurrence of the session, sets the pattern for our weekly worship.  The Book of Order suggests the following five major sections which you can find in our worship each week:

Gathering around the Word, including the call to worship, a prayer or hymn of adoration and praise, and perhaps a prayer of confession.
Proclaiming the Word, including scripture, an anthem, and a sermon.
Responding to the Word through singing a hymn or saying a creed of the church, sharing joys and concerns, and gathering tithes and offers.
Sealing of the Word through the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, and
Bearing and following the Word into the world including the Benediction.

The concept of ushers goes back to the Old Testament, with positions known as "Doorkeepers" or "Gatekeepers".  Jesus' disciples could be considered ushers, in the sense that they prepared the way for Jesus, kept order among those listening to Christ, and cleaned up after a service, such as the Feeding of the Five Thousand.

Today our ushers serve the church before, during and after worship.  Their duties range from greeting people and handing out bulletins, to assisting those who need a little extra help entering the church or finding a seat, to straightening the Sanctuary or Fellowship Hall after the worship service has ended.

Are you interested in joining this team?  Contact the deacon responsible for ushers and the deacon will be happy to tell you more. 

Martin Luther wrote a protest of the sale of indulgences and other clerical abuses in a document commonly known as the Ninety-Five Theses, which is widely regarded as the primary catalyst for the Protestant Reformation.  Luther insisted that since forgiveness was God's alone to grant, those who claimed that indulgences absolved buyers from all punishments and granted them salvation were in error.   From this catalyst, reformers called the church back to faithfulness around several other issues as well – issues such as the prominence of scripture, and worship in the language of the people.

Luther's writing was posted on October 31, 1517 and was quickly translated from Latin into German, printed, and widely copied, making the controversy one of the first in history to be aided by the printing  press.   Reformation Day is a religious holiday celebrated in remembrance of the Reformation; it is now held on the Sunday on or before October 31.

In the Reformed tradition, All Saints' Day (November 1) has an emphasis on the sanctification of the whole people of God.  We give glory to God for the ordinary holy lives of the believers in this and every age.  It is a time to claim our kinship with "the glorious company of the apostles...the noble fellowship of the prophets...the martyrs."(from the Te Deum prayer and also similar to a line the Great Prayer we use at Communion).  It is a time to express our gratitude for all who , even in dark times, have kept the faith.  As Hebrews 12:1 says, we are a "Great cloud of witnesses.".  That is something to celebrate and something for which to thank God. 

Our church greeters, with a handshake, a smile and a greeting, are demonstrating hospitality to all who enter our worship space. As part of our church's responsibility to offer hospitality, our greeters demonstrate that all are welcome at Newlonsburg. Organizing the greeters is the responsibility of the Board of Deacons, with Lynne O'Connor scheduling the greeters eachweek.

The biblical basis for hospitality is clear in both the Old and New Testaments. God's people remember that they were once strangers and refugees who were taken in by God (Deuteronomy 10:19). And in Romans 12:13 we are reminded to "Share with God's people who are in need.Practice hospitality."

"To welcome the stranger is to acknowledge him as a human being made in God's image; it is to treat her as one of equal worth with ourselves – indeed, as one who may teach us something out of the richness of experiences different from our own."

-Ana Maria Pineda, from the Valparaiso Project on the Education and Formation of People in FaithOur church greeters, with a handshake, a smile and a greeting, are demonstrating hospitality to all who enter our worship space. As part of our church's responsibility to offer hospitality, our greeters demonstrate that all are welcome at Newlonsburg. Organizing the greeters is the responsibility of the Board of Deacons, with Lynne O'Connor scheduling the greeters eachweek.

The biblical basis for hospitality is clear in both the Old and New Testaments. God's people remember that they were once strangers and refugees who were taken in by God (Deuteronomy 10:19). And in Romans 12:13 we are reminded to "Share with God's people who are in need.Practice hospitality."

"To welcome the stranger is to acknowledge him as a human being made in God's image; it is to treat her as one of equal worth with ourselves – indeed, as one who may teach us something out of the richness of experiences different from our own."

-Ana Maria Pineda, from the Valparaiso Project on the Education and Formation of People in Faith
The biblical basis for hospitality is clear in both the Old and New Testaments. God's people remember that they were once strangers and refugees who were taken in by God (Deuteronomy 10:19). And in Romans 12:13 we are reminded to "Share with God's people who are in need.Practice hospitality."

"To welcome the stranger is to acknowledge him as a human being made in God's image; it is to treat her as one of equal worth with ourselves – indeed, as one who may teach us something out of the richness of experiences different from our own."

The festival of Christ the King ends the marking of Ordinary Time after Pentecost, and moves us to the threshold of Advent, the season of hope.  The day centers upon the crucified and risen Christ, whom God exalted to rule over the universe.  The celebration looks back to the Ascension, Easter, and Transfiguration, and points ahead to the appearing in glory of the King of kings and Lord of lords.