What Are Your Church's Services Like?

[DC Al Fine]

In my case it's relatively high church for a conservative Protestant group, which is just the way I like it.

Call to Worship (Usually a responsive Pslam)
Opening Prayer
Hymn
Prayer (Confession of Sin)
Assurance of Pardon (Short piece of scripture, John 3:16 etc.)
Hymn

Old Testament Reading
Hymn
Prayer (Thanksgiving/For the World)
Offering
New Testament Reading
Sermon
Hymn

Creed
Lord's Supper
Hymn
Doxology
Benediction

[7,052,770]

Wait, you aren't Catholic?  Then why the Hell do you love to accuse liberal Catholics of not "really" being Catholic?

[Hifly]

I'm a fan of Anglican evensong.

[falling apart like the ashes of American flags]

The format is generally this:

Song(s)
Break/Greeting
Sermon
Song(s)
Announcements

The amount of songs before and after the sermon varies greatly, sometimes it's just one before or after (hence the (s)), and sometimes there's some sort of activity in regards to the sermon, up to the sermon giver. And at the end of a sermon series we have communion, usually the last thing before the announcements.

[H. Ross Peron]

I attend services with my youth ministry at a Presbyterian church (although I think its affiliated with the Christian Reformed Church) which usually aren't to my tastes as the style is standard modern Evangelical:

Praise songs
Greeting
Bible reading
Sermon
Offering/Praise song
Announcements
Lord's Prayer

[Oldiesfreak1854]

Hymns (usually about two or three by request)
Opening Hymn
Opening Prayer
Announcements
Offering
Prayer Requests (people offer their praises and prayer requests and we then pray)
Children's Story
Sermon
Closing Prayer
Closing Hymn
Benediction

The total service usually takes about an hour and a half, with about an hour of that usually dedicated to the sermon.  At some point during each quarter (13 weeks), the sermon will be shorter and we will have communion.  We separate the men and the women and go into separate rooms for a foot washing, and then we return to the sanctuary for bread and the cup (the actual Lord's Supper/communion.)

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Welcome from the Minister

Chalice Lighting (which may involve either a simple reading by the lighter or a responsive reading led by the lighter)

Opening Anthem (sung by all standing)

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow:
Praise him, all creatures here below:
Praise him, ye heavenly hosts above:
Praise him, my soul, for all his love.

Praise God, the Love we all may share:
Praise God, he Beauty everywhere:
Praise God, the Hope of Good to be:
Praise God, the Truth that makes us free.

Call to Worship (sometimes just a few words, sometimes a musical performance by one of our members)

Opening Hymn (sung standing, varies each week)

Affirmation of Faith (recited standing)

Love is the doctrine of this church,
The quest of truth is its sacrament,
And service is its prayer.
To dwell together in peace,
To seek knowledge in freedom,
To serve human need,
To the end that all souls shall grow
Into harmony with the Divine -
Thus do we covenant with each other
And with God.

Sharing of Joys and Concerns (members and guests come to the front give them lighting a candle from the chalice flame)

Offering (combined with the kids leaving for children's class)

Message (what most places would call a sermon)

Closing Hymn (sung standing, varies each week)

Extinguishing the Chalice (done by the minister with either a simple or responsive reading)

Departing Verse (most often "Go Now In Peace" but it sometimes varies)

Go now in peace, go now in peace;
May the love of God surround you
Everywhere, everywhere
You may go.


Incidentally, if you compare the Affirmation of Faith at the UU church I go to in Newberry to the Statement of Values of the UU congregation in Columbia, you'll see why I choose to make a lengthier drive to Newberry instead of to Columbia each Sunday.  The one in Columbia is far more a social and political club than it is a church.

Love is the doctrine of this congregation,
The quest for truth is its sacrament,
And service is its prayer.
To dwell together in peace,
To seek knowledge in freedom,
To serve others in community.

As you see, besides replacing faith with values, they've stripped out all mention of God or the divine. Incidentally, I suspect that if the one in Columbia uses "Go Now In Peace" they probably replace "love of God" with "spirit of love" as is apparently common among UU congregations.  Mine at least still thinks it's a church, not simply a congregation.

[TJ in Oregon]

Catholic Mass:

Opening Hymn/Procession
Greeting
Confiteor/Kyrie
Gloria
Old Testament Reading (or Acts or Revelation in certain seasons)
Psalm
Epistle
Alleluia
Gospel
Homily
Creed
Collection/Presentation of the Gifts
Preface to Eucharistic Prayer
Hosanna
Eucharistic Prayer
Consecration
Our Father/Lord's Prayer
Sign on Peace
Lamb of God
Communion
Concluding Blessing
Recessional Hymn/Procession

[DC Al Fine]

Love is the doctrine of this church,
The quest of truth is its sacrament,
And service is its prayer.
To dwell together in peace,
To seek knowledge in freedom,
To serve human need,
Tp the end that all souls shall grow
Into harmony with the Divine -
Thus do we covenant with each other
And with God.

That has got to be the most Unitarian sounding piece of liturgy I've ever seen

The total service usually takes about an hour and a half, with about an hour of that usually dedicated to the sermon.  At some point during each quarter (13 weeks), the sermon will be shorter and we will have communion.  We separate the men and the women and go into separate rooms for a foot washing, and then we return to the sanctuary for bread and the cup (the actual Lord's Supper/communion.)

It's an interesting contrast between low and high church. Low churches seems to spend much more time on the sermon. Whenever I attend a church like your's Oldiesfreak, I feel like I've barely sat down and they're starting the sermon. I imagine you feel the opposite way in a high church.

[DC Al Fine]

Wait, you aren't Catholic?  Then why the Hell do you love to accuse liberal Catholics of not "really" being Catholic?

Well, correct me if I'm wrong here, but I think in our disagreement,  I called somebody non-Catholic because either they didn't believe in the resurrection or they had completely severed ties with the church, not because of their liberalism. If you find the post contradicting that version of events, I'll certainly recant.

More to the point though, membership in a group is hardly a prerequisite for being able to decide who is and isn't part of a group. I'm not a socialist, but I can certainly determine who is and isn't a socialist on the forum.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Love is the doctrine of this church,
The quest of truth is its sacrament,
And service is its prayer.
To dwell together in peace,
To seek knowledge in freedom,
To serve human need,
To the end that all souls shall grow
Into harmony with the Divine -
Thus do we covenant with each other
And with God.

That has got to be the most Unitarian sounding piece of liturgy I've ever seen

Actually, Universalist, not Unitarian. It was a Universalist church before the merger in 1961 and the original text was written by a Universalist minister and published in 1933.  The original version is:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Apparently changing the sixth line to degenderize it is one of the most common changes made by various congregations and churches.

I admit, it is interesting being a strongly Abrahamic theist in a church that accepts practically all beliefs.  By UU standards, I'm something of an archconservative!  But by even mainline standards I'm quite liberal in my theology.

[falling apart like the ashes of American flags]

The total service usually takes about an hour and a half, with about an hour of that usually dedicated to the sermon.  At some point during each quarter (13 weeks), the sermon will be shorter and we will have communion.  We separate the men and the women and go into separate rooms for a foot washing, and then we return to the sanctuary for bread and the cup (the actual Lord's Supper/communion.)

It's an interesting contrast between low and high church. Low churches seems to spend much more time on the sermon. Whenever I attend a church like your's Oldiesfreak, I feel like I've barely sat down and they're starting the sermon. I imagine you feel the opposite way in a high church.

Adventists are still relatively high church. I mean what he described is downright complex compared to what I did.

[Fascism Must Be Defeated]

Mine is a UU church as well, although more like the one in Columbia that True Federalist describes. They've taken the references to God out of the various lines.

[Oldiesfreak1854]

The total service usually takes about an hour and a half, with about an hour of that usually dedicated to the sermon.  At some point during each quarter (13 weeks), the sermon will be shorter and we will have communion.  We separate the men and the women and go into separate rooms for a foot washing, and then we return to the sanctuary for bread and the cup (the actual Lord's Supper/communion.)

It's an interesting contrast between low and high church. Low churches seems to spend much more time on the sermon. Whenever I attend a church like your's Oldiesfreak, I feel like I've barely sat down and they're starting the sermon. I imagine you feel the opposite way in a high church.

What's interesting is that the sermon doesn't usually start until about a half hour after the service begins.