If you would like to worship in person at St. Peter’s, first of all: welcome! In October 2023, we completed the renovation of our Fellowship Hall and parking lot, so find a spot and come in through the nearest entrance. The main entrances are the circle entrance facing 1431 and the covered west entry, but you can also enter through the Fellowship Hall or east entry doors.
Worship times and parking
We worship at 8:30 and 10:45am, and the Sunday school hour starts at 9:40. There is parking all around the building, and a ramp is available at the main covered entrance and the circle entrance facing 1431. When you’re in the building, you’ll be greeted by volunteers who can direct you to the sanctuary, point out the restrooms and nursery, and give you a bulletin which you can use to follow along with the service. The words we use in worship are also displayed on a screen.
Worship style
We follow a worship flow of Gathering, Word, Meal, and Sending, which includes confession and forgiveness, hymns, scripture readings, prayers, a separate breakout time for young children, sermon, and holy communion. The music follows a hymnody tradition, except for the fourth Sunday of the month when music is led by our house band in a more contemporary style. We also have a choir and bell choir which regularly provide special music in worship. We are blessed wonderful music and musicians.
St. Peter's practices a very participational form of worship. People of all ages help lead worship each week, from youth reading scripture, to someone sharing a musical talent for a prelude, to people helping serve communion, to those faithfully working behind the scenes in the A/V booth for our online worshippers. It's important to us that worship be cross-generational. One of our guiding values is that each of us has gifts for sharing.
Holy communion
We believe that Jesus is the host for holy communion, and he invites everyone to partake of the bread and wine (or grape juice). When we get to this part of the worship service, a pastor and assistants will come stand in front of the pews, and ushers will come forward to guide people. There are usually two stations for holy communion. A pastor or assistant will place a piece of bread in your hands and say, “the body of Christ, given for you.” If you prefer a gluten free wafer, please let the pastor or assistant know. Then you will step to the side and dip the bread in either the wine or grape juice, whichever you prefer, and you will hear the words, “the blood of Christ, shed for you.”
You may also come forward to receive a blessing instead of bread and wine/grape juice. If you would prefer a blessing, just cross your arms in front of your chest when you come forward. If you are not ready to receive holy communion or a blessing, you can also stay seated in the pews.
Children in worship
We love having children in worship, and we take seriously our role of sharing God’s Word with them and making them feel welcome. There is a station in the narthex (a.k.a. lobby) where they can pick up a bag with kid-friendly items they can use and play with in the pews. If an alternate space is needed, our nursery is close by and is staffed with an attendant at the late service. Parents can drop off their child(ren), if needed. At the early service, parents can stay in the nursery with their child(ren) and still hear and see worship. We also have a children's breakout time for children from pre-k through elementary. Before the scripture readings, these children are invited forward for a blessing and then sent with an adult leader to a classroom to hear a story from the children's Bible. They return after the sermon.
Attire
You may dress in whatever is comfortable for you. You’ll see people in jeans, suits, dresses, even shorts.
The most important thing
The most important thing is that you bring a heart and mind ready to experience God’s love. All the other details pale in comparison to that.
