At
Grace, we realize that gathering together to receive God's gifts in the
weekly Divine Service is the primary purpose of a congregation. It is
here that the Lord blesses us through the "Means of Grace", that is, in
His Word and Sacraments.
The Divine Service is the chief service of the week, held every Sunday at 7:45 a.m and 10:30 a.m.
During the Summer months, we also extend an opportunity for the same Divine Service on the Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
These Thursdays are the same service as the following Sunday. Though
Sunday is still the preferable day for Christians to gather (i.e. "The
Lord's Day"), we offer these Thursdays so that members who are out of
town for the weekend can still conveniently receive the Word and
Sacrament.
We also offer the traditional Advent
and Lenten services, without the Lord's Supper. We observe various
other festivals and occasions such as Ascension Day, Thanksgiving,
Christmas, and New Year's Eve.
Our
worship "style" at Grace is unapologetically traditional. We strive to
follow the rubrics of the hymnal fairly closely, with few deviations.
This honors both the fellowship of our synodical brothers and sisters
in striving for unity of practice, while it also guards against
anyone's personal preferences infringing on the orderly worship life of
the congregation.
We use Lutheran Service Book. We rotate weekly between Divine
Services 1, 3, 4, and 5.
We offer the Lord's Supper at every Divine Service.
We insert a "Catechism Time" between
the Gospel Reading and the Hymn of the Day. This allows us to
catechize and re-catechize both children and adults in the basics of
the faith.
We also offer an array of special music from our various choirs -
Sr. Choir, Children's Choir, Sunday School Choir, Handbells and other
special selections. During the festival half of the year, almost every
service features some special music.