Celebration Worship and Music Ministry
A special message from Marissa Letscher, Celebration Worship Leader
We celebrate something special at our 11:15 a.m. worship; a re-imagined, re-casted kind of worship, which we call, Celebration Worship. The purpose of worship is not to prove the Christ it celebrates, but to bring us so in tune with God’s reconciliation through Christ that his death and resurrection become a lived experience; in other words, we make God’s saving action real here and now by telling and acting out God’s story in worship! We celebrate. Just as we do on Easter Sunday morning, with joyous hearts, the thick smell of spring flowers in our nose, the melodies of resurrection victory in our ears – we celebrate. Every Sunday morning, that’s how we ought to experience worship – engaged, active, experiential, and celebratory.
Furthermore, our worship ought to draw its expression from contemporary (read: “relevant”) culture. For we are not the church of another age – we are the church of today, and we must provide worship opportunities that engage the people of today. So we lean in, we listen, we draw from our community, our culture, our context. We create and shape worship with pattern, sound, and language that rises out of the culture, and goes back into the culture sanctified, and trans-formative.
Finally, our worship ought to be extraordinary. Which means simply that our worship is inspired, resonates deeply with the community, uses familiar patterns and forms and yet seeks something new every week. Most of all extraordinary worship means that the worshiping assembly is open to the surprise of the Holy Spirit. Extraordinary worship is inspired worship - it is adoration that takes full advantage of the spiritual gifts that are God’s contribution to the worship life of every community. It is extraordinary because the worshiping body itself is extraordinary.
So we invite you celebrate with us. Come worship with us in engaging, experiential, extraordinary ways, so that we might be transformed together as the community of God.
We celebrate something special at our 11:15 a.m. worship; a re-imagined, re-casted kind of worship, which we call, Celebration Worship. The purpose of worship is not to prove the Christ it celebrates, but to bring us so in tune with God’s reconciliation through Christ that his death and resurrection become a lived experience; in other words, we make God’s saving action real here and now by telling and acting out God’s story in worship! We celebrate. Just as we do on Easter Sunday morning, with joyous hearts, the thick smell of spring flowers in our nose, the melodies of resurrection victory in our ears – we celebrate. Every Sunday morning, that’s how we ought to experience worship – engaged, active, experiential, and celebratory.
Furthermore, our worship ought to draw its expression from contemporary (read: “relevant”) culture. For we are not the church of another age – we are the church of today, and we must provide worship opportunities that engage the people of today. So we lean in, we listen, we draw from our community, our culture, our context. We create and shape worship with pattern, sound, and language that rises out of the culture, and goes back into the culture sanctified, and trans-formative.
Finally, our worship ought to be extraordinary. Which means simply that our worship is inspired, resonates deeply with the community, uses familiar patterns and forms and yet seeks something new every week. Most of all extraordinary worship means that the worshiping assembly is open to the surprise of the Holy Spirit. Extraordinary worship is inspired worship - it is adoration that takes full advantage of the spiritual gifts that are God’s contribution to the worship life of every community. It is extraordinary because the worshiping body itself is extraordinary.
So we invite you celebrate with us. Come worship with us in engaging, experiential, extraordinary ways, so that we might be transformed together as the community of God.
Leadership
Our Celebration service is planned and directed by our worship staff members, Marissa Letscher and Russ Moore, who work together to provide our congregation with a meaningful and quality worship experience each week.
Feel free to contact them, with your questions or comments about our service and music ministry... Marissa Letscher Celebration Worship Architect and Service Leader Russell Moore Director of Contemporary Worship Music |
Our Music
Music is an integral part of our special worship service. All music heard is CCLI licensed, and carefully reviewed and chosen by team leadership for use at our worship services throughout the year. Special music arrangements are also created for our musicians and singers.
A wide variety of music is heard each week, including songs from the Evangelical Lutheran Worship, that connect us to our Lutheran heritage as well as popular and uplifting praise songs by top Christian recording artists, such as Chris Tomlin, Watermark and Casting Crowns. For your convenience, song titles and info is listed in our worship bulletins to enable you to find them in iTunes or other popular online music source. |
Our Team
Our praise team is comprised of church program staff and dedicated volunteers from our congregation who help lead our worship service each Sunday morning through song and the reading of scripture. A core group ten musicians and singers serve each week utilizing the following musical instruments; Acoustic grand piano, Electronic keyboard/synthesizer, Bass guitar, Drums/Percussion, Acoustic and Electric guitars.
For church-wide events throughout the year, special musical arrangements are often used, which may require additional instrumentation such as strings or reeds. During these times, additional musicians are called upon upon to serve, so if you play an instrument and have a love of contemporary Christian music please let us know by filling out our online form at the bottom of this page.
Full team rehearsals are held once during the week, with a review and sound check on Sunday mornings prior to the worship service. Volunteer musicians and ensemble singers serve from September through May with every third Sunday off and a recess for the summer months. During this period, our songs and music format remain the same, but the worship service is delivered in an "unplugged" style, led by church program staff on piano and acoustic guitar with lead vocalist.
For church-wide events throughout the year, special musical arrangements are often used, which may require additional instrumentation such as strings or reeds. During these times, additional musicians are called upon upon to serve, so if you play an instrument and have a love of contemporary Christian music please let us know by filling out our online form at the bottom of this page.
Full team rehearsals are held once during the week, with a review and sound check on Sunday mornings prior to the worship service. Volunteer musicians and ensemble singers serve from September through May with every third Sunday off and a recess for the summer months. During this period, our songs and music format remain the same, but the worship service is delivered in an "unplugged" style, led by church program staff on piano and acoustic guitar with lead vocalist.