A Word About Style ...
From our origins, Lutherans, like Roman Catholics and Episcopalians, have worshipped by following a liturgy. A liturgy can be simply described as an orderly pattern, where certain words and musical elements are repeated each week at the same time in the service. Other parts of the worship, like scripture readings, prayers, and hymns or songs, are different every week. Our liturgy follows essentially the same ancient pattern used in the Roman Catholic Mass, even though our music may be different.
At St. Mark's we also work to keep freshness in our liturgy by changing texts and musical settings throughout the seasons of the church year. The scripture lessons we read and preach about also follow a widely accepted pattern, known as a lectionary. This means that on most weekends, the scripture readings you hear are identical with those read in Catholic, Episcopalian, Methodist, Presbyterian, and United Church of Christ congregations around the world.
Holy Communion is offered at every regular weekend worship service all year long. All baptized believing Christians are welcome to commune. Communicants come forward and stand in front of the altar in each aisle. There they receive a small piece of bread. An assistant offers a cup of wine, which may be received either by dipping a corner of the bread into the cup or by drinking from the cup. For those with health concerns related to alchohol, a cup of white grape juice is available at the station nearest the choir. We believe that the body and blood of the living Christ are truly present in the bread and wine of communion offering us life and hope for a new beginning each day.
