How long are services and what happens?

[Sala19]

Hi, I grew up in an atheist family. And I think it would be beneficial for her to join a church. I was wondering how long services were, what happens and what we should do? Unfortunately the church's website wasn't that helpful.

 

[Baby Cottontail]

Hi, I grew up in an atheist family. And I think it would be beneficial for her to join a church. I was wondering how long services were, what happens and what we should do? Unfortunately the church's website wasn't that helpful.

Hello there. I see that no one has answered your post yet. I will make an attempt to do so.

The answers to your questions are going to vary from congregation to congregation, so I can only speak for my congregation. Our contemporary service is about an hour long, but it can vary depending on how long the sermon is, if there are any baptisms, and or other events. The traditional service is a bit longer, maybe an hour and and fifteen minutes to an hour and a half total length. Again, it will vary depending on circumstances.

As to what happens, that is going to depend a lot on the worship style of the service. For example, the church I attend has two services every Sunday -- a contemporary one and a traditional one. Our pastor likes high church for the traditional service (very formal, very similar to Roman Catholic services). Other congregations will have a less formal traditional service.

I am going to break this up into two posts. I will start by describing what happens in our contemporary service.

In our contemporary service, we offer breakfast and orange juice or coffee that you can take back with you to your seat. Everything that you need to follow along with the service is found in a bulletin that you receive when you first come in. All of the words that you need to see are also projected on a screen.

Someone from the congregation gets up to speak and offers a warm welcome to everyone in attendance. We then have a time for announcements -- what is going on in the church. Then we sing a contemporary worship song. The words for this are projected on the screen. You stand up and sing the words. Everyone else is singing too, so no one will notice if you are not familiar with the song.

Then we have a joys and concerns time. People share good things and bad things. People share any prayer concerns that they have. You do not have to say anything during this time. Then a prayer is offered up in response to the prayer concerns. This is printed in the bulletin and is on the screen.

After that, we sing another song. At that time, the offering is taken as well. You don't have to worry about putting money in the offering plate, but if you want to give some, that is fine. After that, then we sing another song.

Following the third song, someone from the congregation reads the Scripture (the Bible passage) that will be preached on later. Then the children are asked to come forward, and we have a children's message. This is a short talk that is given specifically to the children. The children then go back to their seats. The pastor then delivers a sermon/homily/message/talk. The pastor talks about the Scripture that was read earlier.

Our church has communion/Eucharist every week, but not all United Methodist Churches do. In the United Methodist Church, communion is open to all people. You don't have to be a member of the church to partake in it, though you do not have to.

So, following the sermon we have communion/Eucharist. There is a a loaf of bread at the on a table in the front of the room. There is also a cup with grape juice in it. (Some United Methodist Churches may use wine, but ours uses grape juice). The pastor says some words inviting us to prepare our hearts for communion. Then we make a confession of sin to God (this confession is printed in the bulletin and is also projected on the screen). We read it all together. Then there is quiet pause for you to offer any confessions to God that you want to. You are praying silently at this time.

After that, the pastor declares the gospel that our sins have been forgiven because of Jesus' death on the cross. Then we respond. (Our response is printed in the bulletin and is on the screen).

After this, we greet one another by exchanging a sign of peace. This usually consists of shaking hands with others in the congregation and saying, "peace be with you." You don't have to do this if you don't want to, but it is a time for people to greet you in Christian love.

Then we return to our seats and the pastor prays over the bread and the cup. Then we pray what we call the Lord's Prayer. The words to this are projected on the screen. After he is done, he invites everyone who wants to to come forward and receive the bread and the "wine." The pastor then takes the bread, and our associate pastor takes the cup. We form a line and one by one we go up to the pastor. We are supposed to hold out our hands and let the pastor place a piece of bread into our hands. The pastor will say something like, "the bread of Christ broken for you," and your response is, "Amen." Then we go over to the person holding the cup and dip the bread into the grape juice. Then the person holding the cup will say, "The blood of Christ, the cup of salvation." And you again respond, "Amen." Then we eat the bread. Afterwards, we return to our seat.

When everyone has been fed, then we pray a closing prayer together, which is printed in the bulletin and is projected on the screen.

Then the pastor gives a blessing, and the service ends.

After the service is over, you can talk to the pastor or anyone in the congregation. It is a fellowship time.

If you do not want to partake in communion, you can either remain in your seat, or you can join the line. When you reach the pastor, you can cross your arms in the sign of an X (fold your arms over your chest so that your arms form an X. Each of your hands will be on a shoulder, and your elbows will be down). This will indicate to the pastor that you do not want to partake, but that you want a blessing.

This may be more formal than some church's contemporary services will be. However, there shouldn't be a lot of variation. They may or may not have communion every week at whatever church you visit. If they do have communion, it may be different from how my church does it.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

I will talk about the traditional service in the next post.

 

[Baby Cottontail]

Hi, I grew up in an atheist family. And I think it would be beneficial for her to join a church. I was wondering how long services were, what happens and what we should do? Unfortunately the church's website wasn't that helpful.

Now, for the traditional service, here is how it goes -- you go up to an usher and are given a bulletin. Then you find a seat. You wait quietly for the service to start. There is usually an organ playing music. You are supposed to use this time to prepare your heart for worship. You can pray silently during this time, if you wish. During this time, you should take a look around and look at your pew. You will find a couple books -- there is a hymnal, a Bible, and a small supplemental hymnal. You will need to make sure that you have a hymnal because you will need it for the service.

Then someone from the congregation gets up and gives a welcome message, welcoming all who come. Then announcements are given. This is followed by the Joys and Concerns time. (See my above post about the contemporary service).

After the joys and concerns are finished, we have the processional. This is where things begin to differ between the contemporary and traditional services. Three children lead. Two of them are carrying candle lighters, and one is carrying a cross. (Some churches might have a child carry a Bible instead of a cross). The candles up front are lit by the children carrying the lighters. When they are done lighting the candles, all three children take their seats. The pastor, the associate pastor, and lay liturgist come forward and kneel before the altar. They pray. Then they get up and take their place. The choir also follows, taking their seats. The choir sings.

Then the liturgist for the week leads everyone in the Call to Worship. This will be found in your bulletin. The bold parts are the parts that you are supposed to say. Everyone says them together. Following that, we have our first hymn. The hymn is found in the hymnal, which is probably on the back of the pew in front of you. If you did not take one earlier, you can pick it up now. The hymn number is printed in the bulletin, as are the verses numbers that you are to sing. The name of the hymn is also given. The hymns are listed by number, so open to it. (It might be easier to locate each hymn when you arrive. Mark it with a piece of paper so that you can easily find it when it is time to sing). Everyone sings together.

In our bulletin, bold means that the congregation (including you) should read or sing something out loud. If it is starred in addition to being bolded, then you should stand if you are able. In general, we stand for all hymns. So, if it is time to sing a hymn, you should stand up. Don't sit down when it is over unless everyone else does.

After the opening hymn, we have an opening prayer. Everyone remains standing for this, and everyone reads it together. The prayer is printed in the bulletin.

Following the prayer is the Gloria Patri, which for our congregation is printed in the bulletin. The congregation you attend may not have it printed, but they will give the hymn number so that you can locate it in your hymnal. This is sung, "Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Amen." (We then sit down)

Then we have a children's moment time (see my write up about that in the contemporary service). After the children's moment, the kids in our congregation are sent to junior church, which is led by a member in the congregation. Not all churches have junior church. In some congregations, the children stay with the parents for the whole service.

After that, the liturgist reads what is called The Lesson, which is usually a passage from the Old Testament. After the person is done reading, then they will say, "The Word of God." The congregation's response is "Thanks be to God." This is printed in your bulletin.

Then we have the Psalter. This is usually a Psalm. In our congregation, it involves singing and reading responses. We sing part of the Psalm. (This is printed in our bulletin). Then the liturgist will read a couple lines. Then we respond by reading a couple lines. (These are printed in the bulletin and are indicated). After we have gone back and forth with the liturgist with the responses, we sing the verse that we started with together again.

Following this, the pastor will read from one of the epistles (a letter, usually from the New Testament). The pastor says "The Word of God." And our response again is, "Thanks be to God."

We then stand up again and sing another hymn. The same deal as before -- the number is in your bulletin along with the name and verses to sing.

Everyone remains standing for the reading of the Gospel. This reading is taken from Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. The pastor reads it. Once again, the pastor says, "The word of God." Our response is, "Thanks be to God." Then, we sing alleluia, which is printed in our bulletin. (I don't know how many United Methodist Churches sing "alleluia" here, as we never did before our current pastor came).

Then we are invited to sit down. The pastor gives his homily/sermon.

After the sermon is done, we recite one of the creeds together. This is printed in our bulletin, although the church you attend may not print it. The page number to the creed will be given in your bulletin, though. You stand up for this part.

After that, we sit down again, and we have what is called the Prayers of the People. The pastor will list a series of things to pray for. For each item listed, he/she will say "Holy God...." and then the congregation response is "Hear our prayer." This is also printed in the bulletin.

Then, we will start the communion part of the service. (Again, not all United Methodist Churches have communion every Sunday). The pastor will read an invitation inviting all to communion. Then the congregation responds by confessing our sins. This is a spoken response that is printed in the bulletin. Then there is a chance for you to silently confess your sins to God, same as with the contemporary service.

There is a time for the passing of the peace, same as with the contemporary service. (see my above post to read how this works).

Then we sit down and the ushers come forward and pass around the collection plates. Special music is performed during this time sometimes, although it may just be the choir singing. Again, you don't have to put money in the plates, although you are invited to do so if you wish.

Then the ushers present the plates to the pastor in a prayerful manner, while the congregation sings the doxology. The doxology is printed in the bulletin for us, but your congregation may just put the page number of where you can find it in the hymnal. We stand for this. "Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; praise him, all creatures here below; praise him above, ye heavenly host; praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen."

After this, the pastor prays over the offering. Then we sit down again.

Then the pastor leads us in the communion liturgy. This may be spoken or sung. My pastor likes it sung. The pastor will read some words out loud. A variation of these can be found on page 8 or 9 of the hymnal. You can kind of follow along, and you can find the spoken responses there.

For us, the pastor sings a sentence, and then we respond by singing a sentence. Then the pastor reads more, then we sing more together. Again, the pastor says more things and prays over the bread and "wine." This happens two more times. Then we pray the Lord's prayer together, which is found in our bulletin and also the hymnal.

Then the pastor breaks the bread, and people are invited to come forward to receive. In the formal setting, the ushers come to each row of pews to let each row know when they can come forward. That way people aren't standing in a huge long line.

See my previous write-up about what you are supposed to do during communion -- how you are to receive it.

Once you have received it, you may either immediately return to your seat, or kneel at the altar to pray for a bit. After everyone has been fed, then we sing a closing hymn together. Again, the hymn number, verses, and name are printed in the bulletin. We stand for this and for the rest of the service.

Then the choir sings a recessional. The children who carried the light into the service carry it back out. The person who carried the cross in carries it back out. The pastor and the liturgist and the choir exit.

The pastor gives a "going forth" blessing, and the service is over.

Let me know if you have any questions about this. I went through both bulletins to the services to tell you the order of events.

 

[Baby Cottontail]

Hi, I grew up in an atheist family. And I think it would be beneficial for her to join a church. I was wondering how long services were, what happens and what we should do? Unfortunately the church's website wasn't that helpful.

I hope that all of that was helpful to you. The important things to remember is to make sure that you get a bulletin. That will give you the order of service, help you find hymn numbers, etc. People will be friendly, and no one will judge you for not being familiar with the service. If you need help, feel free to turn to someone sitting next to you, or an usher, and they can help you along.

You might even contact the pastor of the congregation you are planning on going to before you go. He/she could walk you through the service and answer specific questions about that congregation.

Feel free to ask questions on here, though, as well.

 

[faroukfarouk]

I hope that all of that was helpful to you. The important things to remember is to make sure that you get a bulletin. That will give you the order of service, help you find hymn numbers, etc. People will be friendly, and no one will judge you for not being familiar with the service. If you need help, feel free to turn to someone sitting next to you, or an usher, and they can help you along.

You might even contact the pastor of the congregation you are planning on going to before you go. He/she could walk you through the service and answer specific questions about that congregation.

Feel free to ask questions on here, though, as well.

Here's an observation; I'm not a Methodist, although there were Methodists in my family. I was in London England once and saw a monument to John Wesley at the Museum of London, the spot where at another now disappeared building John Wesley testified to have had his 'heart strangely warmed' in conversion.
I expect you heard about this?

 

[Sala19]

I hope that all of that was helpful to you. The important things to remember is to make sure that you get a bulletin. That will give you the order of service, help you find hymn numbers, etc. People will be friendly, and no one will judge you for not being familiar with the service. If you need help, feel free to turn to someone sitting next to you, or an usher, and they can help you along.

You might even contact the pastor of the congregation you are planning on going to before you go. He/she could walk you through the service and answer specific questions about that congregation.

Feel free to ask questions on here, though, as well.

Thank you, it was really helpful .

 

[Baby Cottontail]

Thank you, it was really helpful .

You are very welcome. Let me know if you have any further questions.

 

[Baby Cottontail]

Here's an observation; I'm not a Methodist, although there were Methodists in my family. I was in London England once and saw a monument to John Wesley at the Museum of London, the spot where at another now disappeared building John Wesley testified to have had his 'heart strangely warmed' in conversion.
I expect you heard about this?

Yes, I have, thanks