At the beginning of June we met after worship to discuss and direct the Board of Ministers regarding our worship services in the fall. Before we started, though, we had two questions to answer:

Why do I come to worship?

How do I hope to experience God in worship?

So, as you read those questions, what do you think? And is "worship" a noun or a verb for you? Reach back for those parts of grammar that you didn't think made any differance when you were in 4th grade (noun: word for a person, place, or thing; verb: word for an action, occurrence or state of being) and you'll find that worship can be both a noun and a verb.

Noun: Worship is the place where we come together as the people of God in a particular time.

Verb: Worship is what we do as the people of God.

But this isn't just an interesting bit of word play. The ways that people responded to the word "worship" in their answers is a guide for forming our fall worship plans. This summer several people are working on behalf of the board and the congregation to create worship that is both a noun and a verb, even more than being traditional and New Vision or 8:30 and 11:00. Your answers tell them that there are equal numbers of people who come to worship for personal renewal and connection with God, for fellowship in the company of believers, and to praise and thank God for all things. You've said there are relationships that interact worship: ours with God, our with others, and God's with us. You've written that your experience of God's presence is often in Holy Communion, music, prayers, God's word, in quiet meditation and Christian fellowship. These are the gifts of God for the people of God and there's a banquet of opportunities for us in forming worship and doing worship. Your responses are helping strycture the initial format for this fall.

The Holy Spirit gathers us, week after week, and we come to worship - time, place and action. We come with hopes and needs, sometimes celebrating, sometimes longing to know that we're not alone, always expecting that God will be true to the promise to be with us. You know how much it means to you, how it forms you for the week and days ahead, how God can be touched and known in this place in so many ways. Please keep the work of the worship and Sunday morning groups in your prayers, and invite your neighbor to come with you to worship. God is here and meets us with forgiveness, love and life. There just isn't better news than that.

See you in church!