Worship Schedule
Sunday Worship
Calvary has three worship services
every Sunday morning, each with its own features. All are services of Holy Eucharist,
also known as "Holy Communion", "Lord's Supper", or "Mass".
7:30am Service
The 7:30 service is a quiet, low-key service.
There is music only on a few special Sundays. People who attend this service
include young couples without children, older couples whose children are grown,
a few families with their first young child, grandchildren from time to time,
singles, visitors and newcomers to the area. Most members of this congregation
join in the coffee fellowship that follows the service.
9:00am Service
The 9:00 service is oriented toward
the presence of children, and has a lively pace. Children and young people regularly
participate in the service by reading the lessons and psalms, bringing the offering
forward, and singing. Features of this service include frequent sermons for
children, simpler hymns and contemporary music chosen for easy participation
by worshippers of all ages. Staffed nursery care is provided for infants and
young children; preschoolers typically attend "Children's Church"
during the first part of the service, and then join their parents in church.
During the second part of the service, we welcome and encourage all people,
adults and children to come forward to our altar for Communion or a blessing.
11:00am Service
The 11:00 service is a more traditional
service with hymns led by the Adult Choir. On most Sundays an anthem is sung
to include a worship experience with a period of musical spiritual reflection.
The pace of the service is a little slower and the atmosphere a little more
formal, and on special occasions this service may include incense and bells.
A good number of families and singles prefer the tone of this service, and some
families also find that attending Christian Education at 10:00 and then worshipping
at 11:00 fits their schedule best. There are always children present. Adults,
adolescents, and older children participate as acolytes, readers, and ushers.
Staffed nursery care is provided for younger children during the 11:00 service
as well.
Special Services
In addition to regular Sunday worship, there are number of special services
at Calvary throughout the year.
On a Sunday between Christmas and Epiphany, Calvary’s
children present a pageant that tells the story of Jesus’ birth. Familiar
Christmas carols are interspersed with scenes from the journey to Bethlehem,
the stable with the animals gathered around, the visit of the shepherds and of
the Magi.
At the Ash Wednesday service, worshipper’s foreheads
are marked with ashes (made from the previous year’s palm crosses) to
signify the beginning of the penitential season of Lent. During Lent, we
decorate the altar with ferns and greenery, but no flowers, we sing different,
quieter versions of the service music, and we omit the word
"alleluia" from the service. Church members write their Lenten
intentions (acts of self-denial or spiritual nurture) on slips of paper and
place them in a basket on the altar.
The Palm Sunday service begins with a special liturgy out
in the church yard, after which the congregation processes into the church
carrying palm branches to symbolize Jesus’ triumphant entry into
Jerusalem. Later in the service, the mood turns solemn as members of the
congregation re-enact the Passion and Crucifixion of our Lord, and the chilling
cry of "Crucify him! Crucify him!" reminds us all of what is to
come.
On Maundy Thursday, we celebrate Jesus’ institution
of the sacrament of Holy Communion and remember his calling us to the service
of others, exemplified by his washing the disciples’ feet at the Last
Supper. At the end of the service, in a very moving and symbolic ceremony, the
church is stripped of candles, flowers, decorative hangings, Eucharistic
vessels and crosses. Even the large cross over the altar is covered with a
veil. The bare church prepares us for the solemnity and sadness of Good Friday.
In the parish hall, a vigil area is set up where church members take turns
watching with Christ throughout the night. A large labyrinth, painted on canvas
by the young people of Calvary, is spread out on the floor; many people walk
the labyrinth while they pray or meditate during the night, as Christians have
done for centuries.
The Easter Vigil is one of the most ancient ceremonies in
Christianity. In the early Church, people wishing to become Christians were
baptized and confirmed in a service that began at sundown on the night before
Easter and lasted all night, concluding with Holy Communion at sunrise on
Easter morning. At Calvary, this tradition is continued. We begin outside the
church with the traditional striking of the new fire, from which the three-foot
long Pascal candle is lighted. Each worshipper lights his or her own small
candle from the Pascal candle, and then all process into the church by
candlelight. Midway through the service the candles are extinguished, the
lights of the church are turned on, and the beautiful white altar hangings and
Easter lilies are revealed as the congregation joins in a joyous hymn of praise
to celebrate the end of Lent and the glory of Jesus’ resurrection.
