Worship

Sunday Worship

Jarrettsville: 9:00AM (Sunday School for children at 10:15)

Ayres Chapel: 10:30 

Hospitality and Greeting

When you enter our churches there are greeters located just inside the door to welcome you. They will welcome you with a smile and hand you a bulletin which contains our order of service and announcements. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel welcome to talk to a greeter!

Family and Child Friendly Worship

Children of all ages are welcome and encouraged to attend worship with their families. During the service, both Ayres Chapel and Jarrettsville offer a special "Children's Time" where the kids have the opportunity to come forward and hear a child friendly message that relates to the scripture and the sermon for that particular week. We welcome the sounds that come with bringing children to worship! We believe it is the sign of life in our congregations.

Music

Both congregations offer a variety of music during worship. Ayres Chapel has music and singing led by acoustic guitar, and tends to be a mix of both contemporary and traditional worship music. At Jarrettsville there is music played by organ and piano, as well as a beautiful choir that sings our offertory song each week. Special music is welcomed and offered at both churches.

Dress

Come as you are! There is a wide range of dress at both churches, and there is no one way to dress at either. Froms suits and ties to jeans and t- shirts and shorts. We don't judge you by what you where to church. We are just glad that you came!

Scripture Reading and Sermon

Throughout the service, different people in the congregation will rise, come to the pulpit and read the assigned scripture readings for the week. We follow the readings from the Revised Common Lectionary, which means we read a passage from the Old Testament, The Epistles, and the Gospels each week. We read all three texts, but typically the pastor or guest speaker only preaches about one ot the texts. We read all three because we believe that hearing the Word of God is important, and it is good for each of us to become familiar with as much scripure as we can. The sermon follows the reading of the Gospel, and lasts about 15 minutes. The purpose of the sermon is to help the congregation understand the scripture, and to apply what God is teaching us in the scripture to our current lives.

Prayer

There is a time during worship each week where we can offer our Joys and Concerns to God. This is a time where people speak freely and name their prayer concerns out loud. There is also time provided for silent prayer and reflection. Lastly, we offer collective prayer petitions that offer prayers for our world, for our nation, for our community....and many other concerns. We conclude our prayer time each week by praying The Lord's Prayer.

Holy Communion

Both churches celebrate Holy Communion on the 1st Sunday of each month. The Jarrettsville-Ayres Chapel Cooperative Parish celebrates an "open table" which means that everyone is invited to come and receive the gifts of grace offered at the Lord's Table. The "open table" means that regardless of what denominational background you come from, no matter how young or old you are, or no matter how long you have been away from the church you are invited and welcome and encouraged to receive. Come...all are welcome!