Who We Are in Worship
Worship is the center of our common life together at Avondale United Methodist Church—it is the offering or the work of all the people. Through worship, we continue to be re-shaped into the body of Christ as the Heart of Avondale. We are a liturgical church meaning we value the participation of the whole community in shared prayers, readings, sacraments, and music on Sunday morning. Liturgical does not mean boring rituals or lifeless prayers. Rather our worship uses a variety of music and other art forms at the service of highly participatory communal acts. At the center of our worship is participation by all. We sing songs from a year ago and a thousand years ago, we participate in the Eucharist or the Lord’s Supper together each week, and we share in the Lord’s Prayer. It is a combining of the old and the new, the ancient and the modern, the contemplative and the high energy. If you are looking for worship that does not sacrifice depth for entertainment, if you are looking for worship that is God centered and inspiring, we invite you to join us at AUMC—“the Heart of Avondale.”
The Christian Year
The Christian Year is the calendar that organizes the worship life of our church and therefore shapes our ministry throughout the year. The Year is founded upon the scriptures themselves and so we discover that to move through the church year is to move through the scriptures. And because Jesus Christ is the center of our worship, to follow the Christian year means that the story of Jesus Christ, as given to us in the Bible, defines our worship.
Every year we experience again the longing and preparation for his coming in the Advent Season, his birth, manifestation to the world, baptism, and the beginning of his ministry in the Christmas and Epiphany Seasons, his journey to the cross during the Lenten Season, his resurrection, his post-resurrection appearances, and ascension for the Great Fifty Days of Easter, and the outpouring of the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, on Pentecost Sunday and beyond. Between Pentecost (usually in June) and Advent (usually the beginning of December) we celebrate the teachings of Jesus, the parables of God’s reign, and the growth and ministry of the church, the body of Jesus Christ on earth. This period in the church’s calendar is called Ordinary Time.
This yearly movement, centered on Jesus Christ, is also called the Paschal Cycle or the Paschal Mystery because it connects us to central and defining narrative of the church: the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ whose life was an offering for all so that all might live. The Paschal mystery stands at the center of the Good News that the church is to proclaim to the world. God’s saving plan was accomplished for all by the redemptive mission of Christ.