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You are welcome in the name of Jesus!

Services Resuming June 21, 2020

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

As we make preparations for the resumption of services at our parish we should recognize that everything will not immediately go back to normal. As we gather together we must also continue to ensure that the safety of our members remains a priority, and we must also consider that everyone’s risk tolerance is somewhat different. Therefore we must find the right balance between the need to gather to receive Word and Sacrament and opening the building in a way that still minimizes any risk of transmission, while recognizing the concerns of our parishioners.

Guidelines for the start of services:

• If you are not feeling well for any reason, and especially if you are experiencing respiratory symptoms or fever, please stay home! This is the not the time to come to church if you are not feeling well!

• While our Lord desires all to come into His presence and receive His gifts in the Divine Service, if you are uncomfortable returning to a public service for any reason, or you are considered high risk, please feel at peace to stay home. The sermon and bulletin will be posted on our website as usual and I am working on recording the service for our YouTube channel as well (although that might take a few more weeks).

• We are asking all of our members who are able to wear face masks for the service. We will have disposable masks available for those who do not have one.

• Hand sanitizer is available in the vestibule when you enter and at the back of the church.

• Practice social distancing by staying 6 feet away from others not in your household. and sitting in alternate pews. Please refrain from handshakes and hugs from those outside your household during this time.

• Bulletins will be available as you come in, please take them with you. Also, the hymnal you use for the service will be yours for the foreseeable future. In order to avoid the need to clean hymnals after every service please take it with you and bring it back to church for services.

• The coffee hour is cancelled, and all other parts of the church will remain closed, again to reduce the need to sanitize those areas week to week. Bible study remains suspended at this time.

• Extended conversations and socializing are best done outside the church, and please remember to social distance!

Click here for information about livestreams and devotional materials while services are suspended.

Click here for the Christ Lutheran Church YouTube channel.

Christ Lutheran Church is a place where God gives His gifts to His people.  We follow the traditional liturgies of the Christian church and strive for the clear preaching of God’s Word, focusing on the forgiveness of our sins for the sake of Christ Jesus.  We draw attention to the spoken and sung Word rather than projected pixels and emotional anthems, and  we partake of the true Body and Blood of Christ in Holy Communion every week.

We Believe

…in the Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost;

… that all people are in bondage to sin, death, and the devil, and are unable to make themselves right with God;

… that Jesus Christ is true God and true Man; that He lived a perfect life for us, shed His blood for us on the cross to pay for our sins, and that He rose from the grave on the third day;

… that the Holy Spirit delivers Christ’s forgiveness, life, and salvation to us through the Preaching of the Gospel, Holy Baptism, Holy Absolution, and the Lord’s Supper.

… that in order everyone may obtain saving faith, Jesus instituted the Office of the Holy Ministry to continue His forgiving presence in His gifts of Preaching and the Sacraments;

… that Jesus will come again on the Last Day to judge the living and the dead and to give eternal life to all who believe in Him;

… that the Bible is the inspired Word of God and that the Book of Concord (the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church) and the three ecumenical creeds are a correct exposition of the Word of God.

Worship

Worship is like having one foot in heaven with the other here on earth.  What brings heaven into our earthly worship is not dependent on the elaborateness of the service or the sincerity of our devotion.  Rather, it is because of the One who is present in our worship that we experience heaven on earth.  If worship is “heaven on earth,” then it stands to reason that what we do and say in worship should in some sense give us a foretaste of that great feast to come.

The worship service at Christ Lutheran is liturgical, which means that our worship service is an action, something is happening.  Who is doing this action?  The real actor in the liturgy in our Lord Jesus Christ, who brings the gifts of Word and Sacrament to His people.  It is Christ who speaks and acts through the church for the salvation and sanctification of His people.  Created and moved by the Holy Spirit, the church then responds with praise and thanksgiving.  It is God who initiates and motivate the church’s worship, which is the liturgy.

Click here for an overview of the parts of the liturgy we use at Christ Lutheran Church.

Contact Pastor Radford

Pastor Radford is usually in the office Tuesday through Thursday during the morning, or is available by appointment.  He would be happy to speak with you.

The pastor is always available for individual  Confession and Absolution, please contact the church office.