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PARKING
Reserved parking for visitors may be found at the south end of our parking lot, as designated by the signs. Please feel free to use these parking spaces any time you visit our church. THE LITURGY We recognize that a traditional form of worship can be challenging for visitors. With this in mind, we provide a bulletin that includes every part of the service but the hymns. We believe that what God does in worship should inform the way we worship. Because worship is receiving God’s gifts that are delivered through His Word, you’ll notice that Scripture pervades our liturgy. The liturgy is simply an order of Scriptural texts, poems, creeds, and hymns in which God’s people encounter their living Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Also, the repetition of the liturgy helps form our memory in faith… you might even find yourself singing a song from the liturgy during the week! |
THE LORD’S SUPPER
Ascension Lutheran Church practices close communion, which means that we commune only with Lutherans with whom we are in full doctrinal fellowship. We assure you that this practice is not intended to assert superiority over any individual, or to make anyone feel excluded or unwelcome, but to show genuine concern for one’s spiritual well-being in receiving our Lord’s body and blood. In addition, we desire everyone to know exactly what we teach concerning the Lord’s Supper, so we might proclaim the truth of Christ. After all, it would be improper for us as a church to keep hidden or to mislead anyone regarding the reception of what we deem so precious. We believe that the Lord’s Supper was given by Christ for repentant sinners1 baptized into “the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”2 We also believe that the Lord’s Supper is to be received by those who believe “that in the Lord’s Supper, the body and blood of Christ are truly and substantially present.”3 This means that the bread and wine are not mere symbols of Christ’s body and blood, but are God’s chosen means to receiving the very body and blood of Christ into one’s mouth. How this takes place remains a mystery, but we hold to the simplicity of Jesus’ words: “Take eat, this is my body.”4 In addition, we confess that “The words ‘given for you’ and ‘shed for you for the forgiveness of sins’ show us that forgiveness of sin, life, and salvation are given to us in the sacrament [of the Lord’s Supper].”5 Hence, we receive the bread and wine in faith unto forgiveness. Because all who receive the bread and wine receive our Lord’s body and blood, we practice close communion in spiritual care for those who might otherwise receive the bread and wine without acknowledging the “bodily presence of Christ,”6—“For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.”7 In these words we find that Christian love withholds the Lord’s Supper to protect someone from judgment. With these beliefs in mind, we ask that you speak with our Pastor about church membership before receiving the Lord’s Supper at our altar. We sincerely regret the divisions in the Christian church. Many of these divisions arose due to political agendas; others arose over theological differences. It is for the latter reason that Ascension Lutheran Church practices close communion. 1 See Luther’s Large Catechism V.58 2 Mt 28:19 3 Apology of the Augsburg Confession X.1 4 Mt 26:26; Mk 14:22; Lk 22:19; 1 Cor 11:24 5 Luther’s Small Catechism VI.6 6 Apology of the Augsburg Confession X.2 7 1 Cor 11:29 |
BECOMING A MEMBER
Ascension Lutheran Church is a congregation of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS). We welcome into membership those who publicly confess the beliefs drawn from Holy Scripture and exposited in the Book of Concord. There are three (3) ways to become a member of our congregation: 1. Baptism Anyone who has been baptized at Ascension Lutheran Church and placed under the spiritual care of this congregation is a member. 2. Instruction and Profession of Faith A baptized adult from another Christian denomination who attends Pastoral instruction and makes a public profession of faith is a member. 3. Transfer A member in good standing of another LCMS congregation who moves to this area and requests a membership transfer is a member. Please contact our Pastor if you are interested in becoming a member! |