Worship at Evergreen

1) Biblical -- We read a good amount of Scripture in our services. We believe that our worship must be regulated by the general and specific commands of Scripture, not by human traditions.

2) Historical & Relevant -- Traditional worship is frozen in time, copying an earlier model, stuck in another century. Contemporary worship is frozen in the present, mimicking the pop culture of the last few decades. A church that draws from each century since Christ would be a 2000-year-old church. We desire to be a 2000-year-old church from day one, recognizing that we are shaped by the past and must communicate in the present.

3) Participatory -- We take time for silent prayer, singing, responsive Scripture reading, and confession of creeds.

4) Gospel-saturated -- Our liturgy is itself a communication tool that makes it easy to preach the Gospel throughout the service. If you walk away with the impression that you need to make yourself a better person, we have failed, for our desire is to point you to Jesus, not to yourself.

5) Reverent & celebratory -- The tone in our services is both serious and joyful, because, as it says in Hebrews 12:18-24, we have come to Mt. Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem the city of the living God and are therefore in the presence of God himself.

6) Understandable -- We try to explain any special vocabulary, and try to use normal sounding voices. We’re not trying to impress God or anyone else with how pious we sound.

7) Open to all -- All people of all ages are welcome. We will not pressure families to remove their children from the service.

8) Excellence -- We will pursue excellence in all that we do with the best gifts and talents that we have.

9) Worship, not Performance -- Anyone in front, whether musicians or pastors, is prompting the congregation to worship. The congregation is not to be a passive audience, watching the experts worship, but is to be engaged in worshiping God, being led by those with particular skill and calling.

10) Lord’s Supper every Lord’s Day -- We celebrate communion every Sunday, believing that the Lord’s Supper is a means of grace and aids in our sanctification.