Our Services

Services

Here at Emanuel, we have two weekly Sunday morning services :  both services follow the ancient form of the liturgy and include weekly communion.

8:30 AM Traditional Worship
This service is nominally ‘Traditional’, but at Emanuel this includes a rich variety of music and instruments.  The primary book for worship is Evangelical Luthran Worship (ELW) , but we also use liturgical material from several other sources including With One Voice.  The service is primarily led from the organ, but some hymns are also led from the piano.  Emanuel is richly blessed with musical resources, so you will probably also experience some combination of vocal choirs, bell choirs, trumpets and brass, flutes, and strings.

10:45 AM Contemporary Worship
This service is nominally ‘Contemporary’, but at Emanuel this includes a mix of ethnic, jazz, blues, gospel, rock, praise music, and traditional hymns.  Music is led by the New Day Singers, a group of 5 to 10 instrumentalists and vocalists.  A typical week might include piano, guitars and bass, percussion, a solo instrument, keyboard, and 4 vocalists.   We use a multitude of sources for hymns and liturgical music, much of which is printed in the weekly bulletin.  The vocal, brass, and bell choirs also participate regularly at this service.

Holy Communion
The Eucharist is celebrated at all Sunday morning services. 

• We trust that Christ is the host of this Holy Meal.  All who are baptized in any Christian tradition (including children of any age) are welcome to receive the bread and wine.  Please come to the Table of the Lord!

• Two chalices are offered for intinction (dipping), one with white grape juice and a second with red wine. The common cup is offered with red wine only.

• Children are welcome to receive communion at any time : we have one-year olds  who receive and others whose parents desire for them to wait until a later age.  Lenten Communion training classes are offered, but these are meant to be ‘instruction along the journey’ – they are in no way required before communion can be received. 

Children not yet receiving communion are invited to come to the table for a blessing.  

Communion and Children
All baptized Christians are welcome to receive Communion at Emanuel.

Young and old gather together at one table.  Christ comes to us through the bread and wine just as he came to us in the waters of baptism.  In this sacrament the crucified and risen Christ is present, giving his true body and blood as food and drink.  We do not fully understand the mystery of how God uses water, bread and wine to give us grace.  We simply come trusting God’s promises. 

The whole Body of Christ comes to the table to be fed and receive strength and forgiveness of sins.

In the early church a baptismal candidate communed immediately after baptism.  The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has restored the intent of this practice by recommending that children be communed as well as adults.  The Use and Means of Grace is a published statement from the ELCA on the practice of word and sacrament. (1997)

Learning about our faith is a lifelong process.  Families are strongly encouraged to bring children during Lent to a formal education experience on the practice of Holy Communion.