At Sojourner Church, we believe that the worship of God is much more about spirit, connection and openness than it is about ritual, liturgy and tradition. That isn't to say that we have no ritual, liturgy or tradition, but that we are open to doing things in different ways. The way we do worship is different now from what it was a year ago, and it's also probably quite different from what it will be a year from now. Some things are essential for worship, but the way they're done might vary quite a bit. And while we take worship seriously, we don't take ourselves too seriously; we are always in God's presence, whether we are at home, at work or at church, so we try to remember that God has already seen us at our best, and at our worst.

Above all, we strive to be genuine in worship, and that has far less to do with worship style than with worship attitude.

Worship is human interaction with the Divine. We express to God the things that are in our hearts: love, gratitude, joy, fear, sorrow, happiness, grief, enthusiasm, thanksgiving, compassion ...whatever we most genuinely think and feel. We believe that during our worship time, the Spirit of Christ is in our midst and is communicating to us about God's love, grace and wisdom.

In other words, worship is love expressed from us to God, and if we can look for signs of God's presence, it often allows us to be available for the things God wants to express to us: that the God who made us loves us, is willing to forgive us for the ways we've fallen short, and that God will provide us with spiritual power to live our lives with meaning and fulfillment.

Our worship time usually begins with fellowship; we strive to be a community of love, care and understanding for one another. Often we might bring snacks to share as we spend a half-hour talking about how things have been going.

When it's time for worship to start, we usually sing a few songs. Sometimes they're contemporary worship songs, and sometimes they're traditional hymns. They are usually to guitar accompaniment, and they often reflect a theme from the Scripture reading for the day.

After that, there will be a reading from the Bible, and a message from one of the pastors or one of the other members, or perhaps a general discussion of the passage. This is normally a casual conversation; people are free to make comments, ask questions, or share experiences.

Worship concludes with the Lord's supper (communion), which we share together every Sunday. This commemorates the last supper Jesus had with his disciples, and involves sharing bread and wine or grape juice together. Our usual practice is communion by intinction, which involves receiving a small piece of bread and then dipping it into the cup.