Evening worship is different – at the end of the day, things have quieted down.  We are more reflective.  The busyness of the day is gone.  It is time to rest.  It is time to simply be and not focus on doing anything more.  Evening worship incorporates all of this.  By being more quiet and reflective, evening worship has the ability to help us heal – from the wounds of the day and the wounds of life in general.  Evening worship invites us to open our hands and open our arms a little.  With courage, we can be more vulnerable because we know nothing is to be expected of us – there is not a sermon telling us what we have done wrong or what we are supposed to do – no.  Evening worship is resting in the arms of God – the hymns are different, the readings are different, and the prayers are different.

On April 23 at 7:00 p.m., we will introduce evening worship back into the life and witness of this congregation.  Coincidently one of our parishioners, Kathleen Lambert, told us that April 23 is both the birthdate and the date of William Shakespeare’s death and that his favourite scripture passage was Psalm  24:7-10:

Lift up your heads, you gates;
    be lifted up, you ancient doors,
    that the King of glory may come in.
8 Who is this King of glory?
    The Lord strong and mighty,
    the Lord mighty in battle.
9 Lift up your heads, you gates;
    lift them up, you ancient doors,
    that the King of glory may come in.
10 Who is he, this King of glory?
    The Lord Almighty—
    he is the King of glory.

The psalms are beautiful for easy worship.  In the challenges of life, they tell us we are not alone.  They invite us to rest in God – lay our burdens down before God.  They allow us to know there are great difficulties in the world, but to rest in God is crucial in the midst of all those difficulties.  They help us not only know we are not alone but that everything is not all about us.

I love evening worship.  It is simple.  It doesn’t demand much.  It is being in the presence of God amidst others who are on similar journeys.

Please register for the service, as space is limited.