Wide Open Worship
Liturgy [lit-er-jee]: an ancient Greek word referring to the gathering of Christians to worship. Literally, “the work of the people.”
Welcome
As United Methodists, in our Wide Open Worship (WOW) we intentionally seek to be open and responsive to God’s presence in our everyday lives. WOW is a service of Christian worship that conveys modern interpretations of traditional worship. Through fresh and multisensory expressions we proclaim a message over 2,000 years old: Jesus Christ is risen from the dead! Through our prayers, preaching, singing, giving and celebrating God’s gifts of Baptism and Communion, we seek to enter into the presence of God to offer our lives in service to God and neighbor.
The call to follow Jesus is much too dangerous to be attempted alone. God gives us the gift of Christian community to share our lives, love and strengthen one another, and give hands and feet to the work of the Holy Spirit - who is active in and through each Christian. Christian fellowship is not only encouraged as a time within the service, but coffee, juice and refreshments are provided before and after worship for us to break bread together.
Our music helps to create the space of worship. As we lift our voices, instruments, and hearts in praise to God, we are joining with the faithful in all times and places to proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord. At WOW, music is present throughout our service giving voice to our sung prayers of praise. We are led in song each week by a worship team of committed members under the direction of Chance Perdue, our WOW Worship Minister.
Because we believe that the primary activity of Christian life is prayer, we lift our voices heavenward throughout our service through songs, spoken words, and silent contemplation. We make room in our gathering to speak to God and allow God to speak to us.
We believe preaching truly happens when God’s Holy Spirit is heard in our midst through the spoken word prepared each week by Nathan Carden, our Associate Pastor. We believe God’s word is alive and at work in the world when the spoken words of a sermon are given flesh and bone in our lives – so the Holy Spirit makes us the Body of Christ for the transformation of the world.
We expect each week that we will be called to a new and deeper level of Christian holiness. We seek to create space and time for communal prayer and encounter in response to God’s initiating love. This most often takes the form of a time of singing and prayer following the sermon and Holy Communion.
In the confidence of God’s promise never to leave us or forsake us, we are sent out to share God’s love in service to the world.
