Worship
Whatever your past experience with church, you are welcome here.
Sundays @ 11am
Radical hospitality is one of our core values. All means All. Really.
Therefore we seek to create worship where all will encounter the Divine at some point during our communal gathering. Worship involves all of our senses. Music and the spoken word are woven in a seamless experience of encountering God. Sermons are usually presented in multiple parts connected by litanies and music carefully chosen to reinforce the message for the day. Lay persons are utilized in a variety of roles in worship.
We follow the liturgical calendar and have seasons of preparation before our festival seasons of Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost. Special services occur throughout the year inviting us into more contemplative practices of worship and prayer.
Communion - The Bread of Life and The Cup of Blessing - is served once a month. We offer both bread and a gluten free wafer option along with juice using intinction. Ours is an Open Table to which all are invited and all are welcome without question or qualification. No one is turned away regardless of where you are on your faith journey. We believe that is as Jesus intended.
You will always find “a place at the table” at Centenary.
Throughout our time of worship, we draw upon the wealth of many traditions, styles and perspectives in our effort to express the boundless identity of the Divine. Worship for us becomes a state of mind, the catalyst for action within and beyond our walls.
Worship at Centenary is central to community building,
as we seek to rediscover the mysteries of our faith.
Unable to be present Sunday?
No problem. Pastor Sara prerecords her sermon earlier in the week and various music selections are added, some from our in-person worship and some from a variety of sources.
“Where words fail, music speaks.”
-Hans Christian Anderson
Music may be the most powerful tool the Spirit has to touch our hearts and reveal the Divine in our midst. At Centenary we are exceedingly fortunate to have Rev. Kadar Jones as our Minister of Music. In that capacity he offers his own exceptional musical skills while also leading and coordinating a host of gifted musicians in our community of faith. He is joined by Jim Penndorf who provides accompaniment for the choir and shares his many musical gifts. The Centenary Band also adds variety to our repertoire on a regular basis, and our Children’s Choir provides a treat for us on special occasions.
Worship leads us to action.
In worship we reflect on our commitment to the teachings of Jesus through today’s lens, focused on compassion, love, and social justice for all. We are a people called to action, to live out the lessons of Christ in all that we do. Our work toward a more just and compassionate society is done both through the ministries of the church, as well as through our non-profit, Centenary Community Ministries, Inc. known as CCMI.
Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not take care of you?’ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’
Matthew 25:45-46
