Happy Easter Season!  

Now that “Alleluia” is back in our worship services and we are singing a hymn of praise again since Lent is over, we have begun our next phase of worship renewal.  Some of you may have noticed that we have been learning sections of liturgy during all of our services.  Here’s what’s going on:

6pm & 9:30am worship services have been learning their own version of Divine Service 1 (page 151).  As things settle down from this learning period, you 6 & 9:30 worshipers can expect to join your voices with the 8 & 11 folks every first Sunday of the month, singing (and speaking some parts) the same service.  Of course musical styles will vary, but we wanted to have one Sunday of the month where all of our services are lined up.

8am & 11am worship services just began three weeks of learning Divine Service 2 (page 167).  The words are the same as Divine Service 1 but with different music.  Some of you may recognize the music if you worshiped at other churches who did what was once called “Divine Service 2 Setting 2” in the old blue hymnal.  Pastor Billy grew up doing this service and as some of you noticed, he really enjoys singing it!  We hope you will too!  Once we work through this service, and after some festival services we will discuss in a moment, our 8 & 11 worship services will follow a simple pattern:

1st Sunday of the Month – Divine Service 1
2nd – Divine 2
3rd – Divine 3
4th – Divine 4
5th – We’ll save this info for our next update!

Remember our goal is simplify worship at Trinity in a way that allows us to worship together and focus on Word, Sacrament, praise, and prayer – not on what’s coming next or if we should stand or sit or sing or whatever.  Beginning mid June, armed with the half sheet of paper handed to you as you come in to worship, you will be able to fully prepare for your worship service and enjoy the service.

Sometimes things will be different – but you’ll always know ahead of time!  At Trinity we have decided to do a few things different throughout the church year.  On these special days, we will be writing special services around the festival we are celebrating.  Our promise to you: When we write a special service, we will place a paper copy in your hand.  We want you to know what the service is about, have some time to prepare for prayers and songs, and not be distracted by wondering what’s coming next.  Here are some examples of our special services:

Ascension Sunday – This service is normally celebrated on a Thursday, 40 days after Easter.  We let our sister church Ascension Lutheran in Casselberry offer that service to the circuit and we allow it to take over our Sunday worship.

Trinity Sunday – This Sunday comes around every year, but we at Trinity always celebrate it the first Sunday in June.  We also make this one of our three combined worship services.

Pentecost Sunday – Sometimes referred to as the birthday of the church, this Sunday is one of the oldest festival days – almost as old as Easter. (Save 50 days!)

Saint Festival Days – The church has declared many feasts and festivals that occur on a specific day of the calendar year.  We celebrate these days when they land on a Sunday.

Pre-Thanksgiving Combined Worship – We gather the Sunday before Thanksgiving as a congregation to worship as one and to eat!

There are a few more examples, but you get the idea!

One last thing to mention!  Sermon series continue!  In fact, after Pentecost, we will begin a pretty long sermon series looking at the rock stars of the Bible.  More on that to come, but prepare yourself for some great worship this summer!

God’s blessings to you as you do His work in the world and don’t forget to gather for worship every weekend!  It’s the best thing you can do for yourself, your family, and your neighbor this side of heaven!

Peace!

– Your Worship Team

(Pastor Moore, Pastor Billy, Lisa Moore, Josh Brink)