Sunday Schedule Study Course 8:30 a.m. (when in session) Choir Rehearsal 8:30 a.m. (Sept. - May) Worship 10:00 a.m Children's Church 10:15 a.m. Fellowship & Refreshments and occasional special events follow Worship (full meal once each month)

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A major facet of our worship each week is the reading and hearing of Scripture. As part of our discipline, we use and follow a version of the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL), which is used by many English-speaking churches and denominations around the world.

The RCL is also linked to the calendar of the Christian Year, which is how we keep time in the church. This calendar differs from the civil calendar. The Christian Year is based on the life of Jesus Christ. The civil calendar is based on the dates and holidays observed in American Secular Society.

A Lectionary is an ordered list of Scripture readings arranged so that about 2/3 of the Bible is read during worship over a 3-year cycle. The parts that are omitted are mostly duplications (The books of Chronicles and Kings largely duplicate each other and there are a number of stories in other books for which two or more versions are given.), genealogies (who was parent of whom, etc.), and such. The Lectionary scheme each year moves from the anticipation and promise of a messiah, to the birth, life, death, resurrection, ascension, and return of Jesus Christ. The RCL provides a set of coordinated readings for each Sunday of the year, one each from the Hebrew Bible (sometimes called the "Old" Testament), the Psalms, the writings (sometimes called "epistles" or "letters") of the Christian Apostles, and the Gospels.

Here is one version of the RCL used and followed by Pastor Ron in planning for worship and preaching. CLICK HERE

Here is another version of the RCL accessed on the UCC site. CLICK HERE
The only difference in the two versions is that one uses the term "Sunday in Ordinary Time" and the other uses "Sunday of the Year" for Sundays outside the Christmas and Easter Cycles.

Our main worship service each Sunday morning is formal, but not stuffy, and has an order and a pattern which is in harmony with the long tradition of Christian worship, going back at least to the 2nd century. The basic pattern is:

• Gathering: we enter and sing songs of praise, reconcile with God and each other.
• Word: we hear readings from Scripture and hear the readings interpreted, receiving a challenge and encouragement to find meaning and direction for our lives.
• Thanksgiving: we pray for ourselves and each other and give thanks to God for blessings we've received. In gratitude, we bring God's Tithes and our offerings so that our work may continue and grow. We also gather at the Lord's Table to feed each other and be fed by our Lord in the meal which testifies to our unity.
• Departing: as we prepare to leave, we receive a blessing and word of strength for the week ahead. We go forth with a song on our lips.

The United Church of Christ is an interesting blend of traditions, inheriting both a Reformed and Evangelical tradition, with set forms and directories, and a Free Church and Congregational tradition, with few forms. Yet in the last century, building on the spirit and liturgical ferment growing out of Vatican II, the UCC was in the forefront in developing an official Book of Worship, though its use is encouraged but not mandated. In the years since there has been such a significant "convergence in worship" that worship resources, texts, and rites have been shared far and wide, across denominational lines. Today we not only access and make use of the official UCC Book of Worship and Hymnal, but also worship books from other denominations as well, including the United Methodist Church, Presbyterian Church USA, Episcopal Church, Church of England, Anglican Churches of Canada, New Zealand, and Australia, and others besides.