Worship and Being Church
The Augsburg Confession says: "The Church is the assembly of saints in which the Gospel is taught purely and the sacraments are administered rightly." This sums up what worship at ULC is all about.
In the Divine Service our Lord gathers His Christians to Himself to give them the gifts of forgiveness, life and salvation. He is truly present bestowing these priceless gifts by means of the Gospel Word and Sacraments, things which He has instituted for this very purpose. According to the Scriptures encountering Christ and receiving these gifts is the whole reason Christians gather together as a Church and is a participation in and a foretaste of heaven itself.
Because worship is all about receiving Jesus, everything that happens in the service focuses on the places where Christ is present with His blessings. Every part of the liturgy, every ceremonial action, even the sights, sounds, and smells are intended to point us to Him.
This is the reason that ULC is a liturgical congregation. The liturgy, passed down through the millenia, is more than tradition and more than aesthetics. It is used because it is so centered on Christ and the giving of the Gospel. While the specifics of the liturgy are nowhere commanded in the Scriptures, the entire thing gets its shape from the worship of the New Testament saints and from the heavenly pattern shown forth in both the Old and New Testaments.
Because we believe our Lord is truly speaking in the preaching of His Word and physically present in Holy Communion, we conduct our worship with the utmost reverence. You will find no happy-clappy, folk-band, foolishness here. Christ does not come to entertain you. What you will find is serious, authentic, joyful, Christian worship. In other words, you will find Christ and His grace here. This is why we gather together and worship the way we do.
Many ask why everyone is not invited to partake of Holy Communion at ULC. In the apostolic church (as seen in the Book of Acts and elsewhere in the New Testament), the people who communed together were of one accord in the faith. The Church is one body. In that body there ought not be division of belief. To quote St. Paul, there is one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism. Because we believe all that the Scriptures teach concerning participation in the Sacrament, we commune only with those who are unified in the faith with us and whose public confession of faith matches our own. Practically speaking, this means one must have both a right personal faith and be a member of a church that teaches and holds the same doctrine as we do.
We do not withhold communion from people out of any sense of pride or out of a holier-than-thou mentality, but out of a concern for unity and true fellowship in Christ. If you are a member of another church body that teaches differently than we do and therefore cannot commune with us, please know that we are pleased to have you in church with us, take part in activities, attend bible classes, and be a part of whatever else we have to offer. We love you in Christ and pray for a time when we all can dine together at our Lord's table.
If you are one who is able to take communion with us, please introduce yourself to our pastor before coming up for communion and tell him that you would like to partake. Our pastor will inquire at the communion rail if he sees someone he does not recognize. Please do not be offended. He is merely doing that which he is required to do as the steward of the mysteries of God in this place (I Cor. 14:1-4).
ULC's Official Communion Statement
To Our Visitors
+ Regarding the Doctrine +
of Closed Communion:
University Lutheran Chapel practices Closed Communion. If you are not a member of a congregation of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, we kindly ask you to refrain from communing. We do so not to make you feel unwelcome or inferior, but because the Scriptures clearly teach that those communing together be unified in their confession of the Faith. In this Sacrament we are not only joined to Christ our Head who is present in His body and blood, but are also knit together with one another as His Body, in which Body there should be no division of belief. Should you have questions or concerns about this Biblical and historic practice, please speak with our pastor. If you are a member of a sister LC-MS congregation, please announce your intention to commune to our pastor before the service.
Q. When is church?
A. Church services are held every Sunday at 10:00 a.m. (Holy Communion) and every Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. (Evening Prayer or Vespers). We also have services on many saints' days and on most Christian holidays and feast days.
Q. Who should come to church at ULC?
A. Everyone is invited to worship with us at ULC. We want the whole world to hear the Gospel of Jesus and know that they are forgiven and saved in Him.
Q. Can I take communion at ULC?
A. You can if you are a member of a congregation of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod and hold the Christian faith in unity with the Lutheran Church. Others should speak to our pastor and read the communion section on this page before coming forward at communion.
Q. Why do people bow and genuflect?
A. The Scriptures teach that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow. Bowing and genuflecting (or kneeling) is an ancient posture of worship, a gesture of humility and of giving honor to the one being worshipped. People traditionally bow and genuflect at specific points in the service, for example, at the confession of sins, during the speaking of the creed, and at holy communion.
Q. Why does the pastor sometimes read the Gospel from the middle of the congregation?
A. On festival days the Gospel book is carried in procession to the middle of the nave (where the congregation sits) where it is read or chanted. This ceremony signifies the incarnation of Christ, his coming down out of heaven to be among the people and to save them.
Q. Why does everyone sing everything?
A. Because we are in the presence of Christ, every action is elevated to a higher and more beautiful level. Poetry, especially when it is sung or chanted is the way in which we elevate speech above the common or mundane. (This is why people sing love songs, for instance.)
Q. Why isn't Contemporary Christian Music used at ULC?
A. We don't use CCM music for lots of reasons. It is generally music that focuses more on the emotions than on the Gospel, that mirrors the culture of this world rather than the culture of Heaven, that claims to praise Jesus but does not really do so (praise is always about telling what Jesus has done), that focuses on the individual's internal piety rather than on the Faith that saves. We could go on and on here...
Q. Does ULC ever use instruments other than the organ?
A. Yes! We have had people play guitar, marimba, trumpet, string bass, trombone, saxophone, tympani, recorder, flute, and many other instruments in worship. We encourage you, if you play an instrument, to make use of your talents here by playing during the worship service. Our choir director would love to hear from you!
Q. Why does ULC sometimes use incense?
A. Worship is intended to encompass the whole person, body and soul. Ideally, every sense should be incorporated in the experience and pointed to the places where Jesus is present. Hence, there is art for the eyes, music for the ears, water for the touch, bread and wine for the tongue, and incense for the nose. Why incense and not some other smell? Because incense is the smell most closely associated with Jesus in the Scriptures. He is given incense at his birth by the magi. He is anointed with incense and perfume before His passion. He is buried with incense on His body. Incense is used in the church, then, to indicate the places where Jesus is present - the Holy Gospel, Holy Communion - and is offered up with our prayers as it is Christ who makes these prayers pleasing to God the Father.
Q. Why does the pastor dress up in vestments?
A. Vestments help cover the man and proclaim Christ. Vestments are a sort of uniform, indicating that the person wearing them is not acting as a private citizen, but as one who has been given a certain role and authority to act in it, almost like a police officer's uniform or a military uniform. Here the office is that of speaking and giving the Gospel in the stead and by the command of Jesus.
Q. Why do the musicians and choir perform from the back?
A. Music is used in the Church to beautify the worship and assist the congregation in singing the praises of God. Music is never used in church simply for the sake of entertainment, or for personal glory. The musicians perform from the back so as not to take center stage but rather to give Christ all glory and keep the focus on Him and on the altar where He gives Himself to us.
Q. Where can I learn more about the way Lutherans worship?
A. Speak to Pastor Kind. He loves to talk about liturgy and worship. You can also get a copy of his book About Our Liturgy (for free if you are a college or university student)