Liturgy

Worship at Christ the King Church is guided by The Use Of The Means Of Grace,  a statement on practice commended for worship in assemblies of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

Lutherans worship in communion with much of the western Church with inherited patterns. Such worship is called liturgy, a Greek word for public action. In a public assembly Christians gather by the power of the Spirit to hear and proclaim the word of God through scripture reading, preaching, and song, and to receive the gracious gifts of forgiveness and life from the Triune God through the sacraments of baptism and communion. Lutheran worship is primarily an occasion for God to act—to speak, to feed, to wash, to forgive, to love—and for God’s people to respond to those actions—with praise, with prayer, and with actions on behalf of our neighbors and world through collections of money and other resources. This worship in word and sacrament strengthens us to be God’s people in the world.

Christian liturgies are comprised of repeatable patterns that are made new by changeable elements corresponding to the seasons and days of our calendar, through ritual texts that surround our ceremonies, and through the embodiment of gesture and presence. Lutheran worship seeks to involve the worshipper in enacting the signs of God’s love and mercy through singing, praying, proclaiming, and serving.

Christ the King Church is a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The ELCA has commended for the worship of its congregations Evangelical Lutheran Worship, a book of worship and a hymnal, published in 2006. This book of service orders, calendars, prayers, songs, and other worship materials connects us to the worship practices of othe Lutherans in North America and to our ecumenical partners.