In-Person Worship

We are currently meeting at 10:30am for our in-person worship.

Here is information about what our in-person worship service is like:

Here at Evergreen much of what we do in worship will be familiar: we read scripture, sing, have a sermon. Yet some of what we do might be a little different: we talk to each other, we explore different prayer practices, we eat together. The elements of our worship varies from week to week. Read on to see how our values guide our worship:

We value personally engaging our faith in worship:
Faith is not a spectator sport.  As much as possible we are work to make the parts of worship about the congregation doing rather than only receiving because we learn not by merely watching others, but also by doing ourselves. So the congregation, read scriptures, responds back to the sermon with question or discussion, engages in prayer practices, and gives their offerings. Our pastor and leadership team also welcome input from the congregation about topics, scriptures, beliefs, or questions they would like to engage in during worship. Also we have coloring sheets available for all ages during worship, for those who engage best when they have something for their hands to do.

We value building community:
One of the greatest epidemics in our world today is loneliness and disconnection, and God made us for connection and relationships. Since worship is our main activity together we want to make sure we are connecting with each other in worship.

We are casual:
We believe in doing worship well and we also believe in not taking ourselves too seriously, because worship is about God, not about us getting everything right. This means we might change a song on the fly because one isn’t working; it means kids are welcome to make the noises that kids make; and it means we don’t sweat it if we make a “mistake” because worship isn’t about getting everything right. It’s not like we can only worship God when everything is perfect. “Mistakes” in worship remind us that we worship God right in the middle of our imperfect, messy lives.

We like lively music:
Our music is led by guitar and/or piano. We sing contemporary music, hymns,  and gospel.

We welcome all God’s children to worship together:
God made us and loves us all. Some of us make more noise, or have trouble getting around, or aren’t good at sitting still. We have a special place for children in worship called a pray-ground that you can read more about here. If you have a child or family member or friend with special needs, you are welcome here. And if we are not yet set up to accommodate that need, please talk to us so that we can make those adjustments.

Overall:
If you are looking for the type of worship that you can just sneak in the back, not talk to anyone, not do much and leave, then this isn’t going to be the right place for you. But if you are the type of person who gets bored only listening, who zones out listening to others pray, or who really wants to find your people, makes some friends and find a place to belong, then this might be the place for you. This does not mean that our worship is only for extroverts. We will vary what we do in worship week to week so that some elements might appeal more to extroverts and some to introverts.  No one will ever be forced to share, or forced to pray out loud, or forced to do anything really.