On Sunday evening we will do a bold and new thing: launch Evening Worship, our fourth weekly worship service. It is no small feat to design, staff, and launch a new service. It requires imagination, experimentation, adjustment, programming, ushers, musicians, refreshments, set up and break down, PR, recruitment and enough demographic information to make an educated guess as to whom we might attract and at what time. We've done the lion's share of our work of preparation. We are ready.
Why all this work? Because here in this house of God one encounters bracing words, waterfalls of tenderness, heroism and tragedy. Here we linger in the company of the likes of Moses and Phillis. Here we are counseled by Jeremiah, inspired by Job and troubled by the sufferings of the world. Here, under the tutelage of Jesus and the saints who came before us, we are reminded of the calamity of moral failure and here we are tutored in courage and kindness. Here our hearts are tuned to compassion, trained in gentleness, and rehearsed in generosity. Here we become partners with our God in service and healing.
That's why all this work, this high and holy work. So high and holy it takes one's breath away. It is to this work that we will invite those who venture into Gordon Chapel on Sunday evening. We will introduce them to the Author of the Universe, Master of the Whiling Planets, the God who heard the sufferings of the Israelites and freed them from bondage.
Help us to launch this high and holy work. Come. Bring a friend, a neighbor, colleague or a member of your family. It might change their life forever.
Evening Worship - Sundays at 6PM
ancient - timeless - alive
Evening Worship at Old South Church is a blend of ancient and new, contemplative yet bold, song and story. We worship together in the Gothic-inspired Gordon Chapel. The intimate orientation of the room creates a 'chapel within the chapel '. We begin by gathering around the font; the place of Baptism. We greet God in the setting sun and the glowing candlelight. Through the power of spoken prayer, song and reflection we are invited to lift our hearts to heaven and to rest our minds as Christ is made alive in the gathered community.
God's Word belongs to the people of God. Each week a different member of the congregation will be invited to offer a reflection or testimony of God's presence in their life. Our music is simple. Through the cantor's song we are guided through a time of unity with God. The sound of trickling water and the echoes of the whispered prayers fill the chapel with God's company.
Our worship together draws upon Celtic spirituality – an ancient worship that exists in the thin space between heaven and earth, sacred and secular, venerable histories and prophetic imaginations.
Come and be called into worship by the beauty of the flute. Come bask in the warmth of glowing candlelight and shared Good News. Come rest your weary hearts on the font of God's grace and love.