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We journey with God, to serve with love

Our Worship Services

What do our service styles mean?

Worship is one of the most important things that we do here at Bethlehem.  We gather weekly to give thanks, to pray for our community and world, to receive the sacrament of Holy Communion, and to be enriched by God's word.  We use the basic liturgy of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and our services range from traditional liturgy and music to more modern styles and contemporary songs. Over the summer of 2014, our special worship taskforce (called VIEWorship) experimented with several worship formats and music styles.  From that summer we have moved on to offer three varied services.  We're confident one will become a favorite of yours. 

Here is a description of and times for those services:

 

Celebrate! Worship (Saturdays at 5pm):

Celebrate! is our answer to a contemporary worship service at Bethlehem. Though we hear the Word of God and celebrate Holy Communion, our focus is less on some of the traditional elements of worship and more on song, prayer and a more relaxed liturgy. You will likely hear more contemporary songs, as well as as a monthly respite featuring the Holden Evening Prayer or a Taize Prayer service.

 

Traditional Worship (Sundays at 8:30am**):

At our Traditional service, you will hear mostly organ music instead of piano; the choir will participate on occasion; traditional components like the "Kyrie," "Great Thanksgiving" and Psalms will often be chanted; and leaders will wear more traditional dress (i.e. alb, stole, etc), along with using the pulpit and altar rails. Our projector and screen will be used minimally. Please note the recent change to 8:30am

 

Modern Worship (Sundays at 11am):

Not unlike the Traditional service, the Modern worship will be structured in its liturgy but will allow for freedom and flexibility with music and style. Piano and other instrumentation will likely be used more frequently than the organ, and leaders and components will be slightly more relaxed in dress and formality. This is the worship service most commonly known by Bethlehemers in the past.

 

Jubiliee Sundays (10am on the "5th Sunday" of the month):

Four times per year there are 5 full weekends in the month. On those weekends, Bethlehem holds ONE worship service for the entire weekend. This is designed to get the whole Bethlehem family (and guests) "Under One Roof" to worship and spend quality time afterwards getting to know each other. The Sunday Jubilee service starts at 10am, followed by a community luncheon at about 11am. The worship style will vary slightly, but will contain  elements from each worship type. Please note that on Jubilee Sunday weekends there is no Saturday evening worship. The Jubilee Sundays for 2018 are: April 29, July 29, September 30, and December 30.

We hope that you find a style that is both worshipful and comfortable to you.

 

See you soon!

 

 

Bethlehem Lutheran Church
1050 Peninsula Drive
Traverse City, MI 49686-2799
Phone: 231.947.9880