Appreciation for Those Who Regularly Attend Sunday Services

From Rev. Eric Carswell
March 4, 2014

I know there are other priorities and concerns that call for attention Sunday mornings and I’m grateful for those of you who regularly attend the Sunday services (including the online Cathedral services). I hope you have a sense of both gaining from attendance and also of giving by adding to the quality of the congregation by your attendance. Each Sunday morning we host four Sunday services, each with a defined audience and quality.

• Young Children’s Service: For the very young, Phil Schnarr has been overseeing simple worship service taking place in the Cathedral Council Chamber at 9:35. The room has an almost family-sized scale with the children and adults often being no more than 30 feet from the Word and the minister (and some much closer). It has three songs in total and a talk aimed to bring delight and simple understanding to toddlers through the earliest grades of school. This service lasts 15-20 minutes and following it there is a simple art project related to the subject of the service provided by Diana Synnestvedt.

• Informal Family Service: Solomon Keal is the pastor for the service that takes place at Heilman Hall at 9:30.  This is a family-style service with song-leaders and contemporary music that touches many people’s hearts. The lessons and talks are intended to provide interest and understanding for all ages. Following the close of the service, the children are invited to get refreshments while there is an opportunity for the adults to comment on the subject of the lessons and talk. This can both focus and expand on the meaning of the service. All told this service may go a little over half an hour but not much beyond that.

• Cathedral Family Service: The rich beauty of the Cathedral sanctuary and the hymns led by organ provides the setting for a service that has had appeal to families and many adults. The talk, while in some ways aimed for the children, also presents a message that provided spiritual food for adults in a direct and applied level. This service is almost always about 25 minutes long.

• Cathedral Adult Service: Also in the Cathedral sanctuary, the adult service has the quiet reverence and other qualities of worship that have been familiar for generations. The sermons include a deeper reflection on New Church ideas with a strong emphasis on how these can affect the way we live our lives.  This service is usually less than 50 minutes long.

I hope one of these services serves you even if it isn’t the perfect setting or form for you.