Pilgrim United Church

At Pilgrim United Church in Colwood, you will find worship that is joyful and relevant to your life.

Before Service

When you arrive at the Church, you will be greeted at the door. Newcomers are always welcome. Everything you need to know about our Sunday morning service is listed in the bulletin you will receive from one of our greeters. We call this the "Order of Service." It's a play-by-play description of everything that will happen during the service.

Generally, when something is written in boldface type in the Order of Service, that means that the entire congregation is to speak the words in unison. Words in upper or lower case may be spoken by the Minister or Lay Leader, or they could be provided as information. Have a look at a sample bulletin.

As you enter the Sanctuary, a member of our Hospitality Team will greet you and be happy to answer any questions. For those who wish to do so, you are welcome to light a candle for a special prayer.

During this time, you can enjoy the music, visit, get a cup of coffee, or find a seat. There are no special seating arrangements, so don't worry about taking someone else's seat. Sit where you or your children will be most comfortable. And please feel free to bring your drink in with you.

For children, we have a craft table at the front of the Sanctuary and a play space with puzzles and toys to the right as you enter the Sanctuary.

Our Services start with a calmer time to deliberately enter this time together with God. We light a candle to symbolize Christ's presence among us. And we usually have some time of silent preparation (or as silent as a multi-generation community gets). We believe that God is always with us, but that this is a time when we are with God together, and with intention. If there are things we may say or do together, these will be noted in the bulletin.

Music and singing are integral to our worship service for the whole family. The words for most songs are projected on the overhead. If you like to see the music, there are hymn books on most chairs where you can look up many of the hymns by the number announced with the song.

Music is a wonderful way for us to engage with God. It opens us to God's urgings on many different levels. At Pilgrim we enjoy singing old favourites and learning new hymns/songs. We presently have 5 lead singers and accompaniment on the organ, piano, and from other instruments from time to time.

Our Music Group rehearses Sunday mornings from 9:45.am. to 10:05a.m. We welcome new members including singers and instrumentalist. If you are interested speak to any of the Music Group or just show up at 9:45a.m. Sunday morning.

Another aspect of our music is our connection with Daniel Lapp's gospel choir The Joy of Life. Several (8 at the moment) of our congregation sing in the choir. They join Pilgrim a few times a year with Daniel on the piano.

Prayers

Prayer is the way in which we interact with the Holy.

Prayer can take many, many forms. Most often in our worship together we use spoken prayer. We might use prayer to centre ourselves in an attitude of worship.

We sometimes make a prayer of confession to name the ways we (or the world) gets separated from God's love and presence. In this time we also pray for and proclaim God's unquenchable love and welcome.

We also consider our encounter with our sacred stories -- the Bible -- as an act of prayer.

The Prayer of Dedication follows the offering, and represents the moment of thanksgiving to God for the gifts of our time, talents and treasures that we have just presented .

The Prayers of the People follow the themes of thanksgiving, asking for special care and blessings for those in need, for the wider world, our own land, our neighbourhood, as well as for ourselves in the week to come. Usually, this prayer concludes with the Lord's Prayer.

The Commissioning and Benediction at the end of the service sends all who gathered forward to meet the day and the world empowered by the Holy.

Drama and Theme Conversation

Part way through our worship time, our younger members usually move to different rooms to engage with God in their own particular ways. Before they go, the children and youth are encouraged to come forward so they can have a front row seat for the drama and theme conversation. Parents or grandparents are always welcome to come forward with their children, or just to snag a good seat for themselves.

We enjoy making use of drama, and try to find ways to work this regularly into our worship time. New actors are always welcome to join the group as they plan how to act out bible stories, or bring to life a major theme for that day's worship time. Like music, we see drama as engaging people with God in ways that reach deep into our hearts.

This part of our time together may entail storytelling, drama, free-wheeling conversations. Whatever shape it takes, the hope is that we can let God into our daily life to help bring us to a deeper relationship with God, and with God's Creation.

After the Theme Conversation is when the younger folk normally move out of the Sanctuary. As they do this they are offered a candle symbolizing the light of Christ going with them to be part of their own worship programs. (The Christ light also remains with those staying in the Sanctuary!)

Bible Reading

The readings each Sunday are normally taken from a cycle of readings used in many parts of Christianity. This "Lectionary" is a 3-year cycle meant to ensure that churches encounter a wide spectrum of stories from our history. The lectionary offers four readings, one of which provides the basis for the theme of our worship service. There are normally bookmarks and other means available to help individuals and groups make use of the reading cycle, including the texts that are not the focus for our Sunday gathering. The theme conversation and the sermon focus on connecting the core reading to our everyday life.

Sermons are normally done in the form of speeches, but there are times when our worship leaders use other methods to help us engage with God's presence and dreams for the world. Sermons may be offered by our Ministers, by lay leaders within the congregation, or by special guests that are invited to speak on a topic.

Offering

The offering is an act of worship for Christians and symbolizes our belief that everything we have comes from God. During the offering hymn, baskets are passed for people to make a contribution. This is a free will offering and is not a requirement or an admission charge. We give because we feel God is working through our congregation to bring healing, hope and love to the world. If you wish to make an offering, your contribution will be used for the operation of the church and to support its work in the community. If you chose to not contribute, know that your presence with us is a blessing in and of itself. Thank God you have come among us!

You may notice that some people use envelopes - these have numbers and are used for recording their contribution so that that they can get a tax receipt at the end of the year. There are extra envelopes at the back of the Church if you would like to get a tax receipt for your donation.  Other members of our congregation have chosen to contribute through direct deposit from the bank.

Communion

Communion is usually scheduled on the first Sunday of every month. Everyone who wants to follow Jesus' teachings is welcome to receive communion. The sacrament of Communion is open to everyone--regardless of your religious denomination, gender, sexual orientation, language and age.

If you unsure or feel that you don't understand the ritual well enough to take part, just stay in your seat and don't worry. No one will pressure you to take part. But, if you do want to take part but don't know what to do, follow the brief instructions, or you can just do what the people sitting around you are doing.

There are two stations at the front of the Church. First you receive a piece of bread or a rice cracker and the blessing "Jesus the bread of life". Next you can choose to use the "tincture" method where you dip the bread in a the cup of grape juice, or you can choose a small glass of grape juice. Either way, the juice is offered with the blessing "Jesus the cup of salvation". At this point some participants return to the seats. If you wish, however, you may join those who move to the back of the sanctuary (towards the door) to receive a laying on of hands and blessing at the station we have established there. Members of the Healing of Touch Group will offer a special blessing for you.

To close our worship time a leader offers a blessing for all of us, and extends God's call to take the gifts God has brought into this time out to the world, and into our weekday lives. As the formal service ends there will be more music and general visiting as people get ready to leave. The minister or lay leader usually greets people as they leave the sanctuary. .Coffee, tea, juice and cookies are served in the basement. It's a good chance to meet the congregation as individuals. You will be most welcome. As the children and youth programs finish, they join the social time.

Accessibility Issues

There are ramps leading both upstairs to the Sanctuary and downstairs for coffee time. Our ramps were installed when the Church was first build. Please let us know if you'd like some assistance when using the ramps. There's always people around who are happy to help. Washrooms are handicapped accessible.

Coffee Time

After worship, everyone is welcome to gather in the basement for coffee, tea, juice and cookies. As children and youth finish their programs, they join in the fun. This time is a chance to find out more about events and activities in the Church community, or just catch up with old friends. New comers are always welcome and often find this time the easiest place to ask questions and find out more about Pilgrim United Church.