Sunday Worship
Sunday worship resumes August 24
Sunday worship at Pres House is a place where you can bring ALL of who you are. You don’t need to be a Presbyterian — or even a Christian — to find yourself among friends on Sunday! We’re also an open and affirming community, which means LGBTQ+ folks participate and lead in worship.
No two worship gatherings at Pres House are the same. We like to be creative, try new things, and be responsive to what’s happening in the world around us. However, here are some things you can expect nearly every Sunday (click/tap to expand):
Music is a powerful way we can connect with God and each other. We strive to include a variety of music in worship, including contemporary music, hymns, Taize, Gospel, and global worship songs. Our music team is composed of students from the Pres House community & led by Kenneth Hoversten, our music director.
For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them. Matthew 18:20
Two+ is a great way to get to know who you’re sitting with! We pose a question to everyone — sometimes funny, sometimes serious — and then we get in groups of two or more to discuss. We also arrange the chairs in the chapel in clusters of four, so when you sit down, you already have a Two+ group!
Each week, you’ll hear a message that’s rooted in Scripture and delivered with passion. We won’t tell you what to believe, but we will invite you to encounter the Bible with fresh eyes and ears as we seek to hear from and respond to God’s Word for us today. And we know you spend a lot of time in lecture every week, so we keep our sermons short (around 15 minutes).
FYI, our pastors aren’t the only ones who might enter the pulpit on a Sunday. You’ll hear sermons and stories from students too. You also might find that the sermon ends with an embodied activity, or that instead of a sermon, we’re doing something creative together. No matter what, we make space in every Sunday worship gathering for reflection on faith and life.
We believe that God speaks through all people, not just the preacher. We put that belief into practice through our Responding time.
During Responding, everyone grabs post-its and pens to write down a response to the sermon for the day (don’t worry; we give you a prompt to make things easier). Once everyone’s finished, we collect all the responses on a whiteboard in the chapel and then post them in our study lounge for folks to read and reflect on throughout the week.
We share communion (also known as “The Lord’s Supper”) every Sunday. Communion is a ritual meal modeled after the last meal Jesus ate with his disciples. Christians have been sharing communion during their gatherings since the very beginnings of the church; it’s a practice rich with meaning — and flavor!
During communion, you’ll be invited to come to the front of the chapel, where a pastor or worship leader will tear off a piece of bread for you (don’t be shocked if the piece of bread is bigger than you’re expecting; that’s on purpose). You can then dip your bread into the cup if you’d like, or you can take the bread on its own. We use grape juice instead of wine, and gluten-free crackers are available if needed.
We also practice open communion, which means anyone is invited to participate.
If you’ve never taken communion before, don’t worry; we explain everything during the service!
Every part of worship is great, but this is probably our favorite. Local churches bring home-cooked meals for us to share together downstairs in Lower Hall. Through this regular rhythm of breaking bread with friends, we experience the tangible grace of Jesus, who invites all people to his table. And as an added bonus, we keep all the leftovers in the kitchen upstairs for folks to eat throughout the week! Once you start rummaging around in the kitchen, you know you’ve really found a home.