Well, this morning we attended our first Lutheran service, and all I have to say is "how I have missed liturgy!" 
. We had a really great experience. The church we attended is a small LCMS church in our new town and not far from where we are living. This church has a young and energetic pastor. They have two services, one contemporary and one traditional, and today we went to the traditional one. Oddly enough for Lutherans (or from the info I've gathered from you guys here) we had lots of people come and talk to us and welcome us. In fact, this afternoon we marched with the church in a city parade where we handed out candy and frisbees that invited people to the church (talk about a warm welcome!). When we first arrived (we actually got there 30 mins. early to "scope" the place out) we were invited to coffee hour and we chatted with a lot of people and had juice and danishes. I looked through the order of service and in it there was an invitation to the Eucharist for anyone who professed Christ as Lord and who believed in the true body and blood. I asked one of the elder members of the congregation about this and explained to him that we were not yet Lutherans but were practicing and believing Christians and he said that we were welcome at the altar to receive communion, so we did. After the service we talked extensively with the pastor and he said that was fine for us to have done so as long as we agreed with the criteria in the bulletin about the Sacrament. I know that the LCMS website does not approve of this, but I felt so much more welcomed being allowed to partake so I'm very glad that things worked out the way that they did. The service itself was actually more of a "low" liturgy, at least from my experience in the Episcopal church, but that's fine with us--we're not too big into "high" church anyway. In September we, along with several other people, are going to start our intro class. There's a lot left that we don't know about this church, but I really think we are going to like it. There are lots of young families and kids, which, from my experience, is always a good sign for a growing and thriving church. We're very excited about this and feel that God really is leading us at this point. I am looking forward to the newness of everything wearing off a bit. I always have such trouble remembering everyone's name! Anyway, that's it for now. I just wanted to tell everyone that we will very soon be "real" Lutherans with you guys. 
Yay God!
Hope everyone is having a wonderful Sunday! We're soon off to a festival at the Greek Orthodox cathedral nearby--they are having a celebration in honor of Saints Constantine and his mother Helen. No need to worry. I've spent too much time reading my Lutheran catechism to switch now. I do love learning about our other brothers and sisters in Christ, though. And they have great food.
. We had a really great experience. The church we attended is a small LCMS church in our new town and not far from where we are living. This church has a young and energetic pastor. They have two services, one contemporary and one traditional, and today we went to the traditional one. Oddly enough for Lutherans (or from the info I've gathered from you guys here) we had lots of people come and talk to us and welcome us. In fact, this afternoon we marched with the church in a city parade where we handed out candy and frisbees that invited people to the church (talk about a warm welcome!). When we first arrived (we actually got there 30 mins. early to "scope" the place out) we were invited to coffee hour and we chatted with a lot of people and had juice and danishes. I looked through the order of service and in it there was an invitation to the Eucharist for anyone who professed Christ as Lord and who believed in the true body and blood. I asked one of the elder members of the congregation about this and explained to him that we were not yet Lutherans but were practicing and believing Christians and he said that we were welcome at the altar to receive communion, so we did. After the service we talked extensively with the pastor and he said that was fine for us to have done so as long as we agreed with the criteria in the bulletin about the Sacrament. I know that the LCMS website does not approve of this, but I felt so much more welcomed being allowed to partake so I'm very glad that things worked out the way that they did. The service itself was actually more of a "low" liturgy, at least from my experience in the Episcopal church, but that's fine with us--we're not too big into "high" church anyway. In September we, along with several other people, are going to start our intro class. There's a lot left that we don't know about this church, but I really think we are going to like it. There are lots of young families and kids, which, from my experience, is always a good sign for a growing and thriving church. We're very excited about this and feel that God really is leading us at this point. I am looking forward to the newness of everything wearing off a bit. I always have such trouble remembering everyone's name! Anyway, that's it for now. I just wanted to tell everyone that we will very soon be "real" Lutherans with you guys. Yay God!
Hope everyone is having a wonderful Sunday! We're soon off to a festival at the Greek Orthodox cathedral nearby--they are having a celebration in honor of Saints Constantine and his mother Helen. No need to worry. I've spent too much time reading my Lutheran catechism to switch now. I do love learning about our other brothers and sisters in Christ, though. And they have great food.
