What to Expect

When you come to visit Saint Pauls for a service, you'll find that our service is liturgical, which is to say that it follows an order of service that will feel quite familiar if your background is in the Roman Catholic or Episcopal/Anglican tradition. Within the set structure of the liturgy, every week brings different readings, selections from the psalter, prayers, and hymns, and always the Holy Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Christ. 

We have several names for our service, "Eucharist" and "Mass" being two, but you will also hear our service referred to as "Divine Service," a translation of the German Gottesdienst (God's Service). When we use the words "Divine Service," we confess that, in the worship service, it is primarily God serving us with His gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation in His Word and Sacraments.

Holy Communion

The Lord’s Supper is joyfully received every week here at Saint Pauls. At the altar, our Lord Jesus Christ delivers His true body and blood into our mouths. His gift of body and blood, given in, with, and under the bread and wine, bestows tremendous benefits, forgiving our sins, strengthening our faith, binding us to the Lord, and uniting us with each other. In this is life and salvation.

All members of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod have publicly confessed this sacred gift and its blessings, and so are encouraged to commune. Other guests wishing to join our confession and receive this Holy Sacrament are asked to meet with the pastor in the weeks before communing for the first time.

When you have examined yourself according to Christ’s bidding (1 Corinthians 11:28), come to His Supper rejoicing, just as Jesus asks, knowing that our Lord meets you at His altar with joy.

Those coming to the altar for a blessing rather than the Holy Sacrament are asked to cross their arms over their chest.