stlc elements

What’s it like to worship at Saint Thomas?

Sunday morning worship at St. Thomas follows the same pattern almost every week. We begin with prayer and singing, then hear three readings from the Bible and sing or read a Psalm together. There’s a sermon, more singing, and a time of shared prayer with prayers for the church, peace among nations, faithful care of creation, healing, and other matters of concern to the members.

At the end of the Prayers of the People, we greet one another with the Peace of Christ. Then comes the Offering. We offer bread and wine to share. Some people make an offering of money. Some people make an offering of their hopes and intentions, or even their questions and doubts. There’s often an offering of music as well.

After we give thanks together for all these offerings, we begin the service of Holy Eucharist.
The invitation to share in the bread and wine comes from Jesus, not from us, and everyone is welcome to come forward and share it. Through sharing in this bread and wine, we are connected to Christians all over the world and throughout time. After everyone who comes forward has received, there are a few more prayers and blessings, more singing, a dismissal, and some closing music.

Worship that follows this pattern is usually called liturgical worship and the service itself is called a liturgy . As liturgical churches go, St. Thomas is middle-range – our worship is dignified and orderly, but not starchy or formulaic. If liturgical worship is new to you, you may find it takes you a few weeks to become accustomed to it – but Christians have worshiped this way for many hundreds of years, so we hope you’ll take time to give it a chance. We come every Sunday to be part of the Church, the Body of Christ, to be fed in Eucharist by the Body of Christ, and to carry the Body of Christ into the world we live in every day.