The principal worship service of the Lutheran Church is traditionally called the Divine Service. The name emphasizes that Christian worship begins with God’s action toward us. God gathers His people around His Word and Sacraments to give the gifts Christ has won for them: forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. The congregation responds to these gifts with faith, prayer, praise, thanksgiving, and service.
Word and Sacrament
The Divine Service is centered on God’s Word and the Lord’s Supper. We hear readings from Holy Scripture and confess the Christian faith together. In the sermon, the pastor proclaims God’s Law and Gospel, calling sinners to repentance and announcing the forgiveness and salvation given in Jesus Christ.
The service also includes Confession and Absolution. We confess our sins before God, and the pastor speaks Christ’s forgiveness to the congregation. In the Lord’s Supper, Christ gives His true body and blood under the bread and wine for the forgiveness of sins. Trinity ordinarily celebrates the Sacrament each Sunday.
The prayers, hymns, Creed, offering, and other parts of the service surround and respond to these gifts. Together they give the congregation a common pattern of hearing God’s Word, receiving His promises, confessing the faith, praying for the Church and the world, and being sent again into daily life.
Why We Use the Historic Liturgy
Trinity worships using the historic Lutheran liturgy found in Lutheran Service Book. Most Sundays we use Divine Service Setting Three or Setting Four, with hymns and sung portions accompanied by organ or piano.
The liturgy is not valuable simply because it is old. Its value lies in how thoroughly it is shaped by Scripture and how clearly it places Christ’s gifts before the congregation. Its repeated texts and patterns also join our worship with generations of Christians who have confessed the same faith before us.
Not every Christian congregation must use identical ceremonies. Lutheran teaching distinguishes the Gospel and Sacraments, which Christ has given to His Church, from human ceremonies that may vary according to time and place. At Trinity, we retain the historic liturgy because it serves the clear proclamation of Christ and gives the congregation a stable, common form for receiving His gifts and confessing the faith together.
Worshiping with Us
Visitors are welcome at the Divine Service. You do not need to be familiar with Lutheran worship before attending. The order of service is provided, and those around you are accustomed to helping guests follow along.
Trinity practices closed Communion. Those who receive the Lord’s Supper at our altar are baptized Christians who have been instructed in the faith and who share our confession concerning Christ’s gifts in the Sacrament and the doctrine taught at this altar. Ordinarily, this common confession is publicly recognized through active membership in a congregation of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod or another church body with which the LCMS shares altar and pulpit fellowship. Visitors who are not yet in that fellowship are still warmly welcomed at the Divine Service but should refrain from receiving Communion. If you have questions about our Communion practice, the pastor is glad to speak with you about our confession and the path toward altar fellowship. More information is available on our Holy Communion at Trinity page.
