What to Expect When Worshiping at First
What Is Worship Like?
What should I Wear?
What Happens After I Worship?
If you are visiting for the first time or you are not a regular church-goer, this short guide is for you.
What Is Worship Like?
Worship at First follows a traditional pattern that dates from the early church. It involves the whole person in the "worship of the people" (the "liturgy").
There is singing and responsive readings, prayers and greetings, candles and colorful pastoral garb, sitting ,standing and kneeling, words about the Word and an open invitation to the Lord's Supper, offerings and closing exhortations to go forth and serve the world.
Don't worry if this may be new to you. We all use a printed Worship Booklet to guide us through the service – with references to hymn numbers in the red hymn book (Evangelical Lutheran Worship), and other worshipers will happily help the newcomer.
A large-print version of the Worship Booklet is also available. Just ask the usher.
What Should I Wear?
People of every walk of life are part of our community and our attire reflects that. Come as you are. You will see people in jeans, dresses, suits, shorts, high heels and flip-flops. (We are on an island!)
What Happens After Worship?
Following the Sunday worship service we assemble in the Parish Hall for coffee, light treats, and fellowship. Please join us!
What About Children In Worship?
Worship IS for all ages! Children are fully welcomed into worship, including a special time to come forward for the “Children’s Message” .
Let us remember though that children are children. There are times children will need some “space” – please considering going with your child to the Narthex (entrance area just outside the sanctuary) if you child needs a “space.”
A staffed nursery is available for the younger worshippers – please ask the ushers to help you to the nursery. Also, activity bags are available for our younger worshippers.
How do I become a member of First Lutheran Church of Galveston?
How wonderful! We rejoice that you are asking this question! And, we want to help you in becoming a member of First.
Here is where to begin:
1. Come and be part of us exploring what First is like and discerning if First is the faith community that you are being drawn to become part of.
2. Speak to the Pastor about your interest in membership.
3. Participate in a new member’s class—these classes help those new to the congregation to better understand First. If you are new to the Christian faith or have been away for some time, Pastor will invite you to a longer process of preparation to help you grow in your faith.
4. Church membership is a commitment to the Christian faith and to this faith community. Such commitment includes a willingness to worship, give, and serve to the best of one’s ability.
Contact the Pastor at 409-762-8477 to begin the process.
What Sacraments Do We Practice?
We emphasize God’s grace working through us, and have 2 central sacraments: Holy Communion and Baptism.
We practice Holy Communion (The Eucharist) as our chief form of worship every Saturday evening and also Sunday morning.
Baptism is the foundational sacrament which brings us into the Church. We are joined to the death and resurrection of Christ and made children of God.
Who Was Martin Luther?
Watch this 3 minute informative and entertaining video on how Luther ignited the reformation of the church and established the principles of freedom and grace of God on which we are based today.
About the Filmakers
Max Mönch and Alexander Lahl are Berlin-based documentary filmmakers, and Philipp Seefeldt is a Berlin-based animation artist. This video they produced and description they wrote were posted in the NY Times on February 6, 2018:
“We had to make a decision: Who, exactly, is our Luther? And can we boil him down to three minutes of film? It might have to do with our personal backgrounds in this country that we chose to talk about the Luther who invented freedom. We were able to get at the core of Luther’s concept of spirituality, which was all arranged around his idea of freedom. In the 16th century, God was an angry and punishing God, someone people feared more than anything else — especially because they were too weak to follow his commandments.”
“And this is where Luther comes in: Studying the Bible, he found something that uncovered the truth of who and what God really is. Luther conceived the idea of grace and concluded: Everybody can be saved! All you need is your own spiritual access to the idea of God and a strong belief. And by translating the Bible so that it could be read by the public, that is what Luther did: He set us free. If people could understand God by themselves without a mediator, they would be free to make up their own minds. Spiritually free. So, inner belief was born, and with it a new way to defy external authorities. Luther demonstrated such defiance himself, challenging the pope and the emperor.”
Source: New York Times (Read full article)