One Church.  Many Ways to Worship.

The word, "worship" comes from the Old English word, weorthscipe, which means "worthiness" or "respect."  So, when Christians come to church on Sunday, they are saying that God is worthy of respect.

At Community of Grace, we take worship of the One who loves us so, pretty seriously.  We believe that God is worthy of our respect and we do that through singing, praying, preaching and taking communion. 

But there isn't one way to worship.  Through the history of Christianity, people have sought to worship God in various ways and here at Community of Grace we honor that diversity.  Sometimes we will sing age-old hymns and sometimes we will sing songs that are as old as the 1990s.  We honor that history of Christian worship which spans two millennia.  But church isn't supposed to be a museum; we make the Grand Tradition of worship relevant to the 21st century.

At Community of Grace, we have three distinctive ways to worship.  These include:

• Grace @ Worship (First and Second Sundays)- This is our regular, liturgical worship, but then with Community of Grace, nothing ever is really regular.  On this Sunday, you will come and sing an opening hymn, hear appointed texts for that Sunday and hear a sermon from one our pastors who is wearing a robe and stole in the seasonal colors of the church.  After the sermon, we come together in prayer, with the pastor sharing the concerns of the community and giving the opportunity for others to share their cares.  After the prayer, everyone offers peace to each other, by shaking hands or hugging each other.  Communion is offered and a final hymn is sung. Throughout this experience, you are hardly a spectator.  You are participating in the worship, communing with the God of the universe and with each other.

• Grace @ Prayer  (Third Sundays)- On this Sunday you will spend a fair amount of time alternating between sitting in silence and singing.  This service allows people to just sit and listen to what God might be saying.  We start with a brief opening and then sing a song over and over.  The there is silence.  Then more singing, and more silence.  Some reads Scripture, and then there is more singing and silence.  Communion is usually done without words.  The style might change a bit, but the overall emphasis is the same: contemplation.  We use methods as varied as Taize, Anglican Evening Prayer to Lutheran Vesper and Compline services. 

Whatever the style, the point remains the same: to a respite from our busy and distracting lives to sit and listen to the God of history.  If you need that oasis from a stress-filled life, please join us on third Sundays.

• Grace @Song (Fourth Sundays)- Cantor Dan Adolphson leads this service that will focus on the arts.  Dan is still working on this service, but with the "Maestro" at the helm, you know it's going to be good.  Come and find out!

• Grace @ Fellowship (Fifth Sundays)- Since this is Minnesota, you can't expect to not have some event where food is involved.  When we have a fifth Sunday, we meet at our usual time and have a short communion service.  Afterwards, we either go to someone's house or to a local restaurant.  Community of Grace is just that: a community and love to come together and share our lives together.