WORSHIP SERVICES AT HOPE
Find below a detailed list of additional services at Hope.
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These include seasonal services, holy days, and special services we celebrate as
part of the Lutheran church.
THE SEASON OF ADVENT
The season of Advent is marked by the weeks leading up to Christmas Eve where we prepare to meet the Christ child. The paraments change to blue, we light the Advent wreath leading up to Christmas Eve and we focus on this Light of the World, the Prince of Peace, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, and our Emmanuel “God with us” who was born in a manger who is the Savior of the world.
CHRISTMAS
Blue Christmas - 7:00pm Dec 21st
This is a worship service of healing and remembrance for those who are feeling lonely, blue, grieving & simply not as excited as we approach the holidays. It is a time of healing, remembrance and peace as we are blessed by God and one another. Blue Christmas is celebrated on December 21, the date of the winter solstice, or the longest night.
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Christmas Eve - 7:30pm
Christmas Eve is another very popular worship service at Hope where we celebrate Christ’s birth, we sing lots of Christmas hymns, our worship space turns into a big Advent wreath, and we break out the Christmas apparel and all the yummy Christmas treats during Fellowship Time. We would love to have you join us!
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Christmas Day - 9:30am
Hope currently offers Christmas morning services when it falls on a Sunday.
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Lessons and Carols - 9:30am
This is the Sunday after Christmas Eve, where we read nine lessons and sing carols associated with the lessons. It is a special service filled with song and joy.
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LENT
Each Wednesday in Lent, we have our Lenten Soup Suppers that are very popular and are provided by the congregation each week during the season of Lent. You won’t want to miss this. You’ll never leave hungry! It is an intentional time of study, conversation and good food as we walk with Christ to the cross where he takes our place.
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Frequently, we also rotate the Lenten Soup Suppers between the 5 ecumenical churches in New Castle: Immanuel on the Green Episcopal, St. Peter the Apostle Roman Catholic, New Castle Presbyterian, and New Castle First United Methodist Churches.
HOLY WEEK AND EASTER
Maundy Thursday
We have a worship service for Maundy Thursday: the honoring of the Last Supper where Christ broke bread and drank wine with his disciples before he was betrayed and crucified. The worship service is in the evening at the church.
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Good Friday
We have the tradition of having our Good Friday worship service in the evening in our worship space. It is normally a Tenebrae worship service “a service of darkness” where we leave the worship service in silence and the lights are dimmed as we commemorate Christ’s crucifixion on the cross where he took our place.
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Easter Sunday
Christ is risen! Christ is risen, indeed! Alleluia! Easter Sunday worship is a very popular one for it is a special worship service where we hear the Easter narrative and declare that our Lord & Savior is more powerful and overcame the grave. It is a celebration that death has lost it’s sting and that there is eternal life and salvation for all who believe and declare “Jesus Christ is Lord!”
PENTECOST
The season of Pentecost, specifically Pentecost Sunday, is a Sunday where we recognize the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in the Trinity. Everyone is invited to wear red, to match the paraments on the altar, and seek to better understand the Holy Spirit inside all of us as it guides us until Christ comes again.
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We typically have confirmation on Pentecost Sunday.
REFORMATION SUNDAY
This is a very special day for Lutherans! It is not just about Halloween and candy eating (though, that is a perk), but it is a special worship service that honors Martin Luther and his grace-filled ministry and revolution against a works-righteousness minded Church. Reformation Day is October 31st and it is the day we honor and celebrate Martin Luther nailing his 95 Theses (95 complaints) against the Catholic Church, at the time, in the year 1517 in Wittenberg, Germany. He stood up and against the majority to argue that our God is a God of grace, not of good works to gain God’s salvation and eternal life.
BLESSING OF THE ANIMALS
What is "dog" spelled backward? God!
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We love our animals, and each year we have an outdoor service where members of Hope as well as members of the community are invited to bring the animals for a special blessing. It is such a joyful time!
