We’re Glad You’re Here

Have a look around! Our sanctuary is expanded from the main pew section into two chair seating areas and a balcony for a total of 275 seats, give or take. There is reserved seating near the entrance for parents of infants and toddlers, just in case you need to take them out.

Our Worship Service

Below is  some info about worshipping at Village Church. As Anglicans, our worship is vibrantly liturgical, meaning we participate together through a worship journey in 5 movements: Entering God's Presence, Hearing God's Word, Responding to God's Word, Celebrating the Lord's Supper, and Going Out into the World. This is a pattern drawn from the earliest centuries of Christian worship. Our music is blended, from ancient hymns to theologically-rich, modern songs. Our service lasts about an hour and 20 minutes.

Entering God's Presence

• We acclaim the Lord together with an opening hymn, procession of the cross, and blessing - reminding us that Jesus is right here with us as he promised.

• We are reminded of Jesus' weighty summary of the Law (Matthew 22:37-40), commands to love the Lord and our neighbor. We ask for God’s loving mercy, then glorify him with an ancient song, the Gloria.

• With the Church around the world, we pray an appointed daily prayer called the Collect.

Hearing God's Word

• We read from the Old Testament, a Psalm, a NT Epistle and the Gospel every Sunday, all of which come from a 3-year cycle of readings called a lectionary.

• A sermon is preached on one or more of the readings, usually about 25 minutes.

Responding to God's Word

• After the sermon, we proclaim our common faith with the words of the Nicene Creed (325 AD).

• We pray responsively together, called the Prayers of the People.

• We confess our sins and hear God's forgiveness proclaimed over us, along with 4 short verses of Scripture called "the Comfortable Words."

• We "Pass the Peace." This is a time of greeting, but also an opportunity to be reconciled if there are conflicts, which is necessary for coming to Communion.

• Children come in from their classes during this time and return for Communion.

Celebrating the Lord's Supper

• We present the Bread & Wine, along with our monetary gifts, as the fruit of our labor - and we sing the Doxology in praise.

• Holy Eucharist - We retell the Gospel story through the blessing of the Bread & Wine, which is all about thanksgiving for our salvation. The Greek for thanksgiving is eucharisteo. This includes two or three liturgical songs and lots of encouraging responses.

• As Jesus instructed, we bless, break, take, eat and drink, knowing that Jesus himself gave us this sacrament, a holy act as a physical sign of a spiritual reality, by which we tangibly receive of him personally and remember our union with him as members of his Body, the Church.

Going Out In Peace

• We thank the Lord for feeding us with spiritual food, nourishing us with both Word and Sacrament.

• We receive a blessing and are then commissioned yet again to “go into our world in peace to love and serve” in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Receiving Communion

Everyone is welcome to come forward. Baptized Christians are invited to receive. Others may simply cross their arms over their chest and the priest will bless you. To receive the bread, place one hand on top of the other and hold them out. (In communion, we receive a gracious gift. We don't take it. This gesture symbolizes that reality.) You can eat the bread immediately or wait and dip it in the chalice. If you receive the chalice separately, please help the chalice-bearer guide the chalice to your lips. Children are welcome to receive, but they should also be baptized. We trust the faith and conscience of parents when deciding whether their children should receive. But we do ask that you help your very little children as they dip their bread.

Connect & Grow

Growing in Christian faith and community isn’t a linear process. It’s a lifetime - and a rhythm of intentionality and commitment through the ups and downs. Life together at Village Church finds its center on Sundays at the Table and then moves both weekly and annually around a culture of connection. Click the circle graphic to visualize some of the details. We have Small Groups, classes and ministry teams that unite our lives and engage our shared beliefs as a local family connected to a broader global and historical communion. This includes our children and teens. Twice a year, we host Alpha, a great onramp to community, especially if you’re still trying to figure out what being a Christian and part of a church is all about. But it also provides some great foundations for faith as it’s been lived in Christian community for 2 millenia.

In short, who we are and everything we do is renewed in our worship together around the Table Jesus has set for us and we are setting for his glory every Sunday and holy day in the Christian year. But our culture and community is about sharing many smaller “tables” with one another and with the world God loves, continuing in faith to be the Church God called.

Exploring Christianity?

If you would like to know more about the Christian faith, you're welcome at Village Church. We'd love to get to know you and hear your questions. We want to listen to your story and tell you ours - why we've come to believe the life of following Jesus is the best and most beautiful one imaginable in a world that’s so glorious and so ugly at the same time. And if you’re looking for a place to explore with others, we have one. It’s called Alpha. Check it out.

Lastly, we hope what you notice about Village Church, above all else, is that our worship seeks to put Jesus at the center. He came to this broken world as “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1). He came to make us truly free and full of hope. That's what we're all about.