Worship

Worship at South Arm United Church

Worship is the central act of faith within Christian community. More of us gather to sing and pray for that brief time on Sunday than at any other time of the week. Our reasons for gathering are as many and varied as we are: for the comfort of being surrounded by others; for a bit of peace and quiet in the midst of a life which has gotten too frenetic; to connect with long-time friends; to meet new friends; to not feel alone; to enjoy the music; to sing with gusto; to pray in silence; to listen for wisdom; to be captured into hope; to ask our questions; to wonder.
At South Arm we believe that all who join us in worship are God’s beloved children. We do not have to believe anything in particular to be a part of this community. We do not have to check our intellect at the door to worship God here. We do not have to stand when others stand, or speak when others speak. Even if we’ve never been to Christian worship before, we will greet you warmly, and try to make the experience as user-friendly as possible! Our goal is not to make you a follower of Jesus “just like us” but to walk together in a way that respects each other and values the person God is calling us to become. In the United Church of Canada, we celebrate the diversity of ways with which the Creator has both blessed and challenged our world.

Children at South Arm United Church

We delight in the gifts of children in our midst at South Arm. In fact, our faith community has a long history of celebrating the gifts offered among us by children and youth. This has helped to shape our approach to worship to a significant degree. At each worship experience:

• we strive to have two lay leaders, a younger and an older person, because we believe that the generations of our life learn best when we are together in sharing leadership;
• we offer child care for those two and under in our narthex (the area just to the east of the sanctuary, behind the glass doors and large windows). For families with younger children, we have found that this closeness and visibility allows for greater comfort and connection between the congregation and the children;
• we build a Learning Together time into the first part of our worship, during which we usually invited the children and youth to come to the front, sit on the steps and participate in a conversation or story before leaving for Church School;
• we schedule regular “cross-generational” experiences — especially planned worship during which all the generations of the Church gather together under the sign of God’s love, the Cross.

Worship Begins at South Arm United Church …

with singing led by our South Arm United Church Praise Team. Actually, this usually kicks off about 9:50, so it’s a bit before the “official” start time of 10:00am, but it’s really hard to tell where preparation for worship ends and “official” worship begins. These songs are lively and filled with God’s spirit, so plan to arrive early enough to engage your voice and heart in song! Then settle in for worship that can last anywhere from 60 to 75 minutes (although it’s more often the latter!).

Worship Style at South Arm United Church

Our approach at South Arm to worship comes closest to what is called “blended worship.” We sing some traditional hymns, some modern hymns, and include some even more modern worship songs along the way. We are blessed with the lively worship ministry of our Praise Team, the Chancel Choir, our Gospel Choir, and numerous musicians on a variety of instruments.
Our worship is friendly (i.e., non-formal) and often quite interactive, with our ordained minister choosing more often than not to wander away from the pulpit during the “sermon” time.
In recent months South Arm has moved away from the series of readings called The Revised Common Lectionary (RCL), and had been experimenting with The UnCommon Lectionary (UCL). The biggest difference between them is this: whereas the main goal of the RCL was to place as much of scripture as possible before the congregation over a three year cycle, the main goal of the UCL is to place the key stories for Christian formation before the congregation once a year. With the huge surge in the busy-ness of all our lives, the UCL seemed a logical choice for us. For now.
We are committed to building inclusive community as we worship together at South Arm United Church. While this is a multi-facetted commitment, here are some of the things we can expect on any given Sunday morning:

• that hearing assistance devices are available for all who need them (please speak with an usher/greeter);
• that large-print copies of the bulletin are available for those with visual challenges (once again, please speak with an usher/greeter);
• that the scriptures will be adapted from “The Inclusive Bible” an egalitarian translation published by Rowman and Littlefield in 2007, which strives to limit the impact of gender exclusive references to the Divine and to the people of God, as well as to address sensitively the issue of social hierarchy;
• that the language of traditional hymns will be respected as the testimony of our forebears in the faith;
• that options for inclusively adapting hymn language will be pursued;
• that the traditional language of the church will appear, as our inclusive community includes those from a variety of backgrounds and cultures for whom the traditional language has great meaning;
• that guest preachers/worship leaders will use the language for God and faith which has the most meaning for them as our sisters/brothers in God’s family;
• that the language, metaphors and images used by our ordained minister might reflect the United Church’s commitment to inclusivity.

If This Is the First Sunday of the Month …

then the gathered community will be invited to share in the sacrament of Holy Communion. Don’t be put off by the capitalization of those two words, “Holy Communion.” In our tradition, communion is a meal shared among all the followers of the way of Jesus, and it is “Holy” only because it is done in remembrance of the last supper Jesus shared with his disciples before he was crucified. It’s a reminder of God’s decision to draw close to us in Jesus, and of God’s desire that the bits of bread and grape juice draw us closer to one another. At South Arm we welcome any who want to join us as we celebrate communion. There are no secret codes which must be learned, no membership cards which must be produced, no documents which must be signed to verify what we believe or do not believe about communion. When the time comes, and all are invited to participate, and only if you feel comfortable to participate, follow the ushers guidance to go to one of the communion serving stations, take a piece of bread and dip ii into the grape juice. Feel free to eat it right away, or after a few seconds, or hold it until you’ve returned to your seat. There’s no right or wrong way, just your way.

Technology and Worship at South Arm United Church

Worship at South Arm has become more technologically adventuresome over the past few years. We have a wonderful sound system which we are learning to use to greater advantage as time passes. We have a great screen on which to view our worship in PowerPoint. Virtually everything that we need for worship is placed on the screen, but bulletins, bibles and copies of our hymnals (Voices United and More Voices) will always be available for those who prefer to hold the text in their hands. We hope soon to add the capacity to show and hear clips from popular movies to our worship!

Baptism at South Arm United Church

Baptism is the second of the two sacraments which are celebrated in our tradition. Other traditions have many more, but in the Reformed tradition we have just two Communion and Baptism. Why these two? Because scripture plays a normative role for us, and these are the only two events in the live of Jesus which the first generation of Jesus’ followers insisted on retaining for future generations. Baptisms happen as the need arises throughout the year.

After Worship at South Arm United Church

We gather for a few moments of conversation over coffee, tea, or juice. It’s a great opportunity to meet one another, especially for first-time guests to be introduced to the staff of South Arm.