Our Congregation in Worship Sunday Worship: 8:00 a.m. Chapel, 10:00 a.m. Sanctuary
Summer Hours: 8:00 a.m. Chapel, 9:30 a.m. Sanctuary  Orange Congregational Church was gathered over 200 years ago. Over the course of two centuries, our worship style and order have evolved as our community has grown and changed.
Today, our life and worship reflect the diversity of our members, who come to us from many different denominational and religious traditions. The manner in which we worship celebrates our shared love of God and our common commitment to live as children of God, with “heart, soul, strength and mind.” We thank you for your visit to our website and we look forward to the opportunity of welcoming you to our time of worship and to our community. Here is a copy of the sermon from 10-23-11. | | The Meaning of Worship  Christian worship is remarkable for its diversity. There can never be one definitive form of worship. Each congregation celebrates God and Christ in a manner appropriate to its own tradition, its own understanding and its own desire to express the depth of its faith and praise.
In whatever form it takes, Christian worship is the joyful response to the saving acts of God in history with “heart, soul, strength and mind.” It is our human response to God’s grace as revealed in God’s covenant with the people of Israel and in God’s coming into the world in Jesus Christ. The Pattern of Worship After the Resurrection of Christ, the early Christians continued to worship at the Temple in Jerusalem and in local synagogues, and to observe traditional practices of Jewish piety. Gradually, Christianity and Judaism took different paths, and Christians opened their homes to fellow believers as gathering places for worship and fellowship. Sunday became the traditional day of gathering in remembrance of the Resurrection. These first meetings included worship and a meal of bread and wine. This established the worship service of Word and Sacrament that we celebrate to this day. At Orange Congregational Church, we celebrate the Word of God in preaching, prayer and song every Sunday of the year, and we celebrate the Word and the Sacrament of Holy Communion on the first Sunday of each month. The Object of Worship God is the object of all Christian worship. In our worship, we turn our hearts and our minds toward the God who created each of us, and who continues to speak to us as a gathered community of faith. In worship, we recall the wondrous gifts of God, seeking to nourish our gifts, our needs, our hopes, and those of our brothers and sisters in Christ and celebrating our shared faith and our shared humanity as sons and daughters of the living God. In worship, we understand that our voices lifted in prayer, proclamation and song are directed towards God. | | The Order of Worship Styles of Christian worship vary greatly, but throughout the Christian tradition there are elements essential to the purposeful, prayerful celebration of God’s gathered community. Gathering and Welcome
As we gather for worship, we encourage members and friends to greet one another with quiet words of welcome, while allowing for quiet prayer and preparation. Our service begins with song and a word of welcome, followed by a Call to Worship and a Prayer of Invocation, spoken in unison. The Gloria Patri, an anthem of praise and thanksgiving, completes the time of gathering. We also celebrate baptisms, the reception of new members into our congregation, as well as occasional moments of recognition and witness during our time of gathering.
The Word
The Bible is central to our worship and our life together as a congregation. The reading, hearing and proclaiming of God’s Holy Word includes our time of common prayer, scripture readings, and the sermon. Our response to the spoken Word comes in the form of hymns and our time of Christian stewardship.
Communion
Orange Congregational Church celebrates the Sacrament of Communion on the first Sunday of each month. Clergy preside at the Lord’s Supper, and they are assisted by members of the Board of Deacons. Communion is a shared meal that calls each us to Christ’s table in prayer, repentance and thanksgiving, celebrating together the reconciling love of God and the enduring presence of Christ in our life together.
Sending Forth
Our worship closes in song followed by a benedictory prayer; a blessing and charge to the people of God to go forth into the world as Disciples of Christ and to live our lives in faith and in love.
| | Leading Worship In the early Church, worship leadership was a shared responsibility. Gradually, leadership came to rest in the hands of ordained clergy acting alone. Services came to be celebrated for the people and not by them. In the tradition of the early Church, Orange Congregational Church invites lay persons to join clergy in leading worship |
We are indebted to the Fort Myers Congregational United Church of Christ for providing the model and much of the language for this discussion. |
