Do you want to add a family worship time in your home? Do you already have a family worship time, but need some help and fresh ideas? Trinity hosted a weekend conference on family worship a while back and we would love to share the messages and notes with you. Click on the link at left to find the resources you have been searching for!
Sunday Christian Education
Trinity offers Sunday School classes for people of all ages. Nursery is offered for children under 2.
"You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them; and that from childhood you have known the sacred writing which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." - 2 Timothy 3:14-17
Our Theology of Worship
When questioned by a clever young lawyer as to which of all the laws is the greatest law, Jesus immediately responded, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength." (Mark 12:30)
Quite simply, we believe that worship is the process by which we express, develop, and maintain that kind of love. In worship we discover the manifold ways that God loves us and we respond to him with our love--imperfect though it is.
Throughout the Bible, when people are in the revealed presence of God or before Jesus in the Gospel accounts the word used for worship literally means to bow down or humble oneself before Him. In the Epistles, however, as the literal presence before God will be in the future, the word for worship means to serve. So our all-heart, soul, mind, and strength love expressed in worship is through our bowing down with humility to serve the King. A summary definition of worship that we embrace is expressed by Dr. Bruce Leafblad: "Worship is communion with God in which believers by grace, center their minds attention, and their hearts affection on the Lord, humbly glorifying God in response to His greatness and His word."
The other important biblical instruction for worshippers is found in the words of Jesus to the Samaritan woman at the well. "True worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks." (Mark 4:23) This serves as a warning to us that it is possible to have vain and false worship. How careful we must be to pay attention to the sincerity of our words and actions as we gather to offer songs, prayers and words of worship.
Worship should not take place in our lives only on Sunday mornings. It should begin as a daily part of our private devotional life, and be a regular part of our family devotional gatherings. However, Eugene Peterson says so well the reason that we gather each week to do this corporately: "Worship is the strategy by which we interrupt our reoccupation with ourselves and attend to the presence of God--not because he is confined to time and place, but because one's self-importance is so insidiously relentless that if we don't deliberately interrupt ourselves regularly, we have no chance of attending to him at all at other times and in other places."
Our Practice of Worship
Little defines the distinctive of a church more than the practice style of its services of worship. While Presbyterians are generally known for worship that focuses upon the Word of God and reflect the Reformed traditions of theology, there is wide variance in music and liturgy even among Presbyterians. What are the experiences of worship practice in worship that can you expect when you attend Trinity Presbyterian?
Liturgy
Our order of worship is carefully planned and written in detail in a beautifully printed bulletin each week. (An archive of services is available from this year and last year.) The service is created by the minsterial staff according to a general theme that is drawn from the text and focus of the sermon of that week. It is highly participatory for the congregation as they sing and read scriptures, prayers and creeds. Within this there are numerous opposing issues to which we seek balance:
We desire the worshipper to realize both the transcendant wonders of God as well as the imminence of his holy presence among us.
We believe the service should have both vertical and horizontal verbal expressions... speaking to God and to one another.
It should have great dignity and reverence yet offer warmth and intimacy.
There will be times of celebration and pageantry as well as informal, spontaneous worship.
We desire to challenge worshippers to use their minds as well as their emotions.
We will enjoy occasional moments of complete silence mixed in the times of elation and celebration. <>Music
The congregational music at TPC is largely drawn from the PCA Hymnal, The Trinity Hymnal. Although this hymnal predominately includes the historic hymns and songs of the last several centuries of Protestant worship, there are a large number of new hymns and songs. We also supplement these with a constantly growing list of even more recent carefully chosen songs that meet our convictions of what qualities should be in the songs we sing as our offerings of praise to God. These include texts that focus more on the attributes and character of God than on our personal experiences with God. The melodies must be singable and attainable by both young and old, and composed according to high standards of excellence of accepted professional compositional practice. We believe it is optimal and entirely possible to balance or converge the older music with the new.
The music is led by a choir and the instruments of piano and organ, regularly supplemented by various acoustical instrumentalists from the church body including guitar, cello, flute, brass instruments, etc. We believe that the music should be majestic and joyful but not overpowering with percussion and electronics. We encourage spiritual singing with enthusiasm and hold high the New Testament instructions to the church:
"Speak to one another with Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." (Ephesians 5:18-19) "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God." (Colossians 3:16)
Although we occasionally use small ensembles or soloists, we believe the Scriptural pattern of the choir is the ideal for worship leadership. This is because the focus is not on individuals and their personalities but upon a microcosm of the congregation itself. Nor do we want heavily amplified voices to compete with the congregation's ability to hear themselves singing. Over the choir stalls in a British Church in Cornwall is inscribed:
"Amor, nonclamor, ascendit in aures Dei." "Love, not loudness, riseth to the ears of God."
Rather than focusing on their performance the choir seeks to serve as both an aural and visual encouragement to the congregation in their worship. When they sing an anthem it is to use the gifts and training of their music to proclaim the truth of God as does the Pastor in his message or perhaps to speak on behalf of the congregation in worship toward God. (Link for an extensive statement of the Biblical history of the choir)
Dress and Vestments
As a church with the full range of demographic characteristics, both age and social economics, people come to worship in an equally wide range of dress. However, a form of business casual would probably describe the average choice by the congregation. The ministers and choir wear robes to minimize the distractions of personal tastes and as a reflection of the dignity and order that scripture suggests for those who lead in worship.
Communion and Baptism
We celebrate the Lord's Supper together monthly on the first Sunday of each month and in our monthly Sunday evening service. It is open to all who have professed faith in Jesus Christ and become a Christian--not just members of Trinity Presbyterian Church.
We offer Infant Baptism to families who are believers as well as believers baptism by sprinkling for older individuals. These are offered as requested by those seeking to be baptized.
Children in Worship
We believe that children should begin learning to worship at an early age. Therefore we encourage parents whose children are 4 years of age and older to have their children beside them in the worship service. At the point of the sermon, however, we dismiss all children between the ages of 4 through first grade to a wonderful program called "Celebration Chapel" just down the hall from the sanctuary. Here they will continue with music and teaching that is age-appropriate.
Sunday Evenings
Our monthly Sunday evening service offers a contrast to the Sunday morning service by being very informal and more horizontally focused. This includes a great time of participatory singing, an extended time of receiving prayer requests and praying for them individually by name, a brief Pastoral meditation from God's work that is strong in application for daily living, and a unique approach to Communion that emphasizes the Community of communion.