Worship & Music

Sunday Worship Schedule

7:30 a.m. A Simple Service of Holy Eucharist

Get a gentle start to your day at this simple service of spoken prayers, scripture readings, a sermon and a shared Eucharistic meal. This is a warm service where community and welcome are felt. The Peace of the Lord is shared between everyone at the service and sometimes those gathered are invited to circle the altar as we share a simple meal of bread and wine together. People of all ages are welcome in worship.

9:30 a.m. Full Choral Family Worship Service

This friendly, warm and energetic service welcomes people of all ages to make a joyful noise! The choir, organ and occasional drum or horn helps. At this traditional Episcopal worship service, we don’t shy away from inviting God’s revelation to come among us through world music or contemporary hymns and prayers. A chanted Eucharist sits comfortably beside a South African hymn, for instance, as we all gather in the generous diversity that is the community of faith.

10:45 a.m. Christian Education for ages 3 - Adult

Nursery Care

(offered during the 9:30 Worship Service)
While people of all ages are welcome to participate in worship, nursery care is available for children 5 and younger. If you or your child would be more comfortable, feel free to use the nursery. Parents are invited to pick up their child midway through the service, during announcements, so that the whole community can celebrate Holy Communion together.

Music Ministry

Music is an integral part of the worship experience at Church of the Holy Nativity. Music is offered for the glory of God in a wide variety of music styles -- jazz, gospel, traditional, contemporary and contemplative. All are invited to consider prayerfully how their musical talents can be used at Holy Nativity. All God’s people have a place in music ministry!

Choir

Vital to Holy Nativity's music program is our Choir. The choir sings from September through the first week of June. The Choir leads the parish in worship through the singing of hymns, canticles, psalms, anthems and other service music. The Choir seeks voices from high school students to retirees— anyone who enjoys singing! Choir rehearses on Wednesday evenings at 7:30 p.m. and sings for the 9:30 a.m. service on Sundays. The Choir presents the annual “Lessons and Carols” on the third Sunday of Advent. The Choir also presents music during Advent, Christmas Eve, Lent, Easter and special church events in the year.

Instruments

Several times during the year, instrumentalists are invited add their talents to enhance our worship services. We have provided contemporary, jazz and gospel music for services. Anyone with the gift of playing an instrument is encouraged to “make a joyful noise” in worship.

Summer Special Music

During the summer months, volunteers provide special music for services. Solos, duets, trios, or any combination of singers/players are encouraged to share their talents. If you have an interest in the music ministries, please contact Marianne Thompson.  ^†

Taizé

Four times a year, Holy Nativity invites people to come together to meditate and pray through music. Through simple songs, readings, candlelight and silent prayer, Taizé worship becomes a way of listening to God. Simple songs are sung by the congregation and accompanied by cantors and instruments, such as clarinet, piano, guitar and flute. The songs use simple phrases repeated over and over, until the songs become prayer, a mantra.

Taizé began in France as an ecumenical community of brothers from Catholic and Protestant faiths who fled to France from different European countries during WWII. Brother Roger wrote and found simple music that helped calm the refugees and enabled them to sing in their own languages. May this calm and beautiful service be a blessing to you. For more information, visit the Taizé website.

Worship Events

To augment our generous and warm worship services, Holy Nativity has fun offering special worship events to the surrounding community. Such worship events include: a fall Pet Blessing, where all are welcomed to bring furry, feathered or amphibian friends for a blessing; St. Nicholas Day, where children bring Christmas gifts for homeless families and give them to St. Nicholas himself, our special visitor for the day; a U2Charist which incorporates the deeply theological music of U2 into a traditional Eucharist service in order to raise awareness about and funds for the Millennium Development Goals; and Bless My Ride, where all rides are welcome for a blessing at this tail-gate meets “cruze nite” style worship service.

 

^†  Please call the church office (630-323-6820) for individual ministry contact information.