About Our Worship
We are excited that you are considering worshiping with us! This page will familiarize you with our worship experience. Our prayer is that you will encounter the Living God as you worship with us and be transformed by the experience.
Worship is a defining moment in the life of Imago Dei MCC. Since we are a diverse people and each of us experiences God in different ways, our worship is no less diverse than we. Our 10:30AM service is a blend of traditional and contemporary styles.
The Order of Worship
Prelude: This is a time when we start to focus on the service and to concentrate on taking this time to allow us to join with God among friends. Music will usually be playing and we are encouraged to take our seats and prepare for the service.
Welcome and Announcements: The pastor shares news of upcoming events, meetings, celebrations and other news and needs. If you have any news you’d like to have shared with the congregation, pass it on to the pastor to be announced as well.
Call To Worship: This reading printed in the bulletin helps us to focus our hearts and minds on worshiping God. It usually reflects the message of the day and may come from different sources. The leader will begin reading the call to worship and the congregation responds as shown.
Songs of Praise: One or two songs will be sung to help bring us together as one Body of Christ. Rise as you are able and join in!
Passing The Peace: This is a brief time of greeting your neighbor with the Peace of Christ in your heart.
Invocation: This is a brief message printed in the bulletin that we read out loud together. This is to further draw us together as one voice, one body and to invoke (invite) the Holy Spirit to join us.
Reflecting Upon The Word of God: This is a time for listening to Biblical scriptures and other contemporary readings to help guide us through our life.
Lessons For Life: The Pastor uses this time to teach on and about the Scriptures and its meaning and application in our lives today. The Pastor, through the power of the Holy Spirit, challenges the congregation to listen, study, pray and apply God’s word in our daily lives.
Song of Response: Immediately following the sermon, this is a time of singing and meditating on the message of God’s word.
Responding to God with Offering & Prayer
The offering is a time for giving back to God a portion of what God has given to us. It is putting our faith into action! Imago Dei MCC believes in the Biblical principle of tithing and recognizes that your giving is a personal matter between you and God. A prayer is offered and the ushers take the collection plate. An offertory song is played as the plate is passed. After the collection plates are gathered, they are taken to the altar and we offer these gifts up to God while singing the Doxology.
Prayers and Praises: Prayer is the lifeblood of Imago Dei MCC. We believe in the power of prayer and we practice an active prayer life. In this part of the service, the prayer leader offers prayers of thanksgiving, concerns and petitions from our world, our country, our community, and our congregation. All are encouraged to offer up their own concerns and prayers so that we may join in praying with you as a congregation. We normally sing a Prayer Hymn after they are expressed.
Holy Communion: When Jesus took the bread and the cup during the Last Supper, He made a new covenant with all people. We celebrate that covenant with the sharing of the Communion elements of bread (wafer) and cup (non-alcoholic grape juice). At Imago Dei MCC, as at all MCCs, we believe that this table belongs to God and all are invited to share in these gifts. You do not need to be a member of this church or any other church to receive God’s gifts of love. Communion has several different parts. Preparation is a time of meditation to prepare our hearts to receive the gifts. We respond in song to show our gratitude. The Invitation is printed in the bulletin. This is a responsive reading led by the celebrants. The Words of Institution is where the celebrant reenacts the word recorded in scripture of what probably occurred during the Last Supper with Jesus. The Affirmation of Faith is when the congregation recites with the celebrant the Mysteries of Our Faith which is printed in the bulletin. The Consecration is when the celebrant asks the Holy Spirit to bless the elements and bless those who receive them.
Coming Forward To Receive: Our servers will serve you the elements and offer a short personal prayer. You may receive Communion with a friend or individually. The ushers will guide the congregation to the communion servers by seating rows.
Hymn of Thanksgiving: We respond to God’s gift of love through song.
Closing Hymn: This last song also known as the recessional hymn, closes our worship service.
Benediction: A blessing is given which sends us out into the world to live and work as God’s witnesses of mercy and grace. We are reminded that God goes with us.
