In worshiping God, we don’t want to slip into a mindset of being entertained. A remedy for this consumerism comes from the pattern of worship in the ancient church, which follows a “liturgy.” This Greek-derived word means “a community work” and has always been used to describe what Christians do when we worship together. Everyone is actively involved — standing, singing, speaking prayers, and even moving towards the Table together. Most people in our church were new to these set patterns of liturgical worship when they joined us, so embrace the awkward first steps; we understand. The course of the service, as well as the songs and prayers said together, will be projected on the screen.

On Sundays, you will see the pastors at Christ the Shepherd wearing collars around their necks. This is a way of marking the pastors out for you, so that you know who you can approach for prayer or for other spiritual needs. It’s a part of our Reformational Anglican identity and is in no way meant to indicate that the pastors are better than or more important than anyone else.

The celebration of the Lord’s Supper is part of every Sunday gathering. This memorial sharing of bread and wine is for all who are in Christ, so if you’ve been baptized and trust in the grace of Jesus for your salvation, please join the meal by coming forward when the invitation is made. If you’ve not accepted a place in Christ’s kingdom through baptism, or you’re not sure about the way we do things, you are welcome to come forward for a simple blessing. Just place your arm across your chest, and the pastor will pray a blessing on you. The signal for receiving Communion is a hand held out flat. While the custom of the Church is to see Communion as a rational sacrament, for those able to understand that bread is a sign, we recognize that genuine Christians have different convictions about the participation of children, so we leave that to the discretion of parents. Parents can help indicate a child’s way of participating — for receiving bread or a blessing — by guiding them to make the appropriate signal.

Creed comes from the Latin credo, meaning “I believe,” and the Nicene Creed is a statement from the early Church of what all Christians believe. It’s been in constant use since 325AD and is used around the world today. The word “catholic” does not refer to the Roman Catholic Church; instead, it means the universal or worldwide faith, delivered once for all by the apostles and prophets through the Scriptures. When we state the Creed we affirm that we believe and root ourselves in the gospel rather than the pluralism that dominates our culture today.