WORSHIP

Worship is an opportunity to gather together in the presence of God to practice loving God, loving others, and loving ourselves. As we pray together,  sing together, hear lessons from the Bible together, experience the sacraments together,  and offer our gifts to God together, we grow in our understanding of the ways that God's grace is on the move in our lives, our community, and within ourselves. Worship is a time to remember how loved we are by God and to practice and recommit ourselves to loving others.

We love music at UMCE! Our choir sings most Sundays from September to May and we also enjoy having special music offerings throughout the year. We include a variety of music in our worship services from traditional hymns to contemporary songs, and our music team provides wonderful leadership!

At UMCE, we believe that diversity is a gift from God that helps us to appreciate and celebrate the depth and breadth of God's creative love. We try to create a worship experience where people of all ages, abilities, gender expressions, sexual orientations, theologies, and ideologies can experience God in community with folks who are similar and folks who are very different. Our sanctuary is accessible to people of all mobilities and is equipped with hearing assistance for those who need it. You can expect to hear language that is inclusive of all people and the many and varied expressions of God.

Kids are a special and important part of our church family at UMCE. We include a special moment for our youngest disciples during the worship service and invite them to spend time in Sunday School following that time in worship. Kids ages kindergarten-5th grade are part of our EverKids Elementary Sunday School program, and those kids ages 6 months-Pre-K are invited to be part of our Early Childhood program. For those kids who prefer to stay in worship, we have a special area, the Prayground, with books, puzzles, and quiet toys for kids to use during worship in our sanctuary. You can find more info about kids' ministry at UMCE here.

Along with reading scripture, praying, doing good in the world, worship is a way that we grow closer to God on our journey of faith. Worship is one of the ways that we experience the presence and movement of the Holy Spirit in our lives. In the United Methodist Church, worship includes two sacraments -Baptism and Holy Communion. At UMCE, our Communion table is open to all people, regardless of age, membership status, or anything else - anyone who wishes to join Christ at the table is welcome. To find out more about Communion in the UMC, click here. Find out more about Baptism here.