When you come to worship at Union, you’ll be warmly greeted and handed a bulletin. With that bulletin, the red hymnals you’ll find in your pew, and the screens up front you’ll have what you need to participate in worship.
You’ll find worshipers at Union wear what’s comfortable for them in worship. Some are in dress pants and blouses or button-down shirts, others are in jeans and polos, others in dresses or skirts.
Lutherans worship using a liturgy, a back-and-forth pattern between the pastor or worship leader, and the congregation. Sometimes we speak and sometimes we chant. Everything is printed, so you can participate as fully as you’d like. You’re also welcome to simply soak in the moment.
In worship, we will pray together and hear up to four readings from the Bible. Then the pastor will preach a sermon, where we can connect what God is doing with our every day lives. Most weeks will also have a special time for children to come forward and hear a lesson tailored to their age and experiences.
The offerings that are received each week go to support ministries within Union and out in the world. Funds go toward supplies for worship and Christian education, salaries, and building maintenance. They also support the South Carolina Synod and the ELCA, including World Hunger, campus ministries, Lutheran Disaster Response, and much more.
On the first Sunday of the month and Festivals of the church, Union celebrates Holy Communion. As we receive the wafer of bread and the sip or dip of wine, we give thanks for the real presence of Jesus in those elements. We believe that God is the host of this meal and welcome all baptized Christians to share in it, no matter what their denomination.
We believe that the church is the body of Christ and that we aren’t complete without everyone. Some of us have the wiggles and the giggles and some of us don’t stand up or hear as easily as we used to. Some of us are in the choir and some make the most joyful noise we can and hope for the best. Whoever you are, God loves you and there is a place for you in worship at Union.
