Beginning Sept. 8 and 9, St. Thomas Lutheran Church will offer three worship services and varied youth programming that boast different themes and features but revolve around the same message.
The Rev. Sean Ewbank will lead the services.
Ewbank accepted the full time pastor position at St. Thomas in June 2010 following the retirement of a community icon, the Rev. Ted Aller.
Ewbank has brought innovation, technology, and vibrant new happenings to the St. Thomas community in order to meet the church council and congregation's vision for a family-oriented, interactive, and inviting church experience.
The three worship services were selected with an emphasis on flexible worship themes ranging from traditional to contemporary. The services will take place at 5:30 p.m. Saturdays and 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Sundays.
This fall's sermon series is based on Pete Wilson's book "Plan B: What Do You Do When God Doesn't Show Up The Way You Thought He Would?".
The Saturday service will be conducted in spoken word only, making it brief in comparison to the musical Sunday services.
The Saturday service boasts an informal, easygoing, and tight-knit atmosphere, making it ideal for those who are otherwise committed on Sundays and newcomers who will find that its casual setting makes participation easy.
The 9 a.m. Sunday service will be held in a traditional style with both spoken word and music. Musical selections will be inspired by the organ sound, mostly including enduring popular hymns.
The 10:30 a.m. Sunday service will be held in a contemporary style with both spoken word and modern music. A music team, composed of a guitarist, drummer, keyboardist, and vocalist, will help bring hits from various Christian genres of music to life. Continued...
Each service is projected onto three giant screens during worship, cutting down on the paper waste of weekly bulletins (these are still available but now in a smaller, three-page version) and allowing for the congregation to have visible access to the service no matter where they are sitting in the church.
A social time, scheduled for 10 a.m., will occur during the break between the 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. services, and will offer coffee and refreshments.
Sunday school will take place during the 10:30 a.m. service, and welcomes children from nursery school age to those in fifth grade. A nursery for younger children will be offered during both Sunday services.
Additionally, St. Thomas hosts Youth Night from 5 to 7 p.m. Sundays. Youth Night is available to children and teens from elementary school to high school age.
The program was initiated in October 2010 in order to keep youth involved in the church and to grow a vibrant, inviting community of trust and love.
Each night starts with a meal prepared by volunteers, and then children and teens split into groups to participate in age-appropriate programming, including confirmation for those in middle school.
Multiple services and programming showcase St. Thomas' dedication to flexibility, inclusiveness, family, and personal preference, establishing St. Thomas as an ever-evolving church that seeks to meet the needs of the community and to welcome newcomers.
Three worship services also allow for the continued expansion of church participation. St. Thomas averaged 68 people in weekly attendance in 2010; now, the church boasts an average of 120 people.
St. Thomas' motto is "Real People. Real Life. Real Faith." The congregation reinforces this motto with its vision for the church's community.
"I think that here in the United States the church has somehow lost the message of God's grace and love and has instead become a source of scolding for 'bad behavior,'" Ewbank said. Continued...
"What St. Thomas is and will be about is that message of grace and love for everybody. The church is about all people, even those that we might normally write off in society. Everyone can look in a mirror and find shortcomings. I want an authentic, genuine community where people can admit who they really are."
Ewbank strives to keep church and faith relevant to people of today's modern, fast-paced world, which can sometimes seem incongruent with the teachings of the Bible.
In this vision, St. Thomas' offerings will be helpful to living today, and the church will be a cheerful and welcoming place to share joy, as well as a place of meaningful service where community members are privileged to make a positive difference in the lives of others.
Pastor Sean attributes St. Thomas' growth to the church's mission of maintaining the relevancy of church and faith in modern life. When asked why does church exist today, and why is there a need for it, he offers a multi-faceted answer.?
"Church is about hope and it can't be about hope unless we address the hopeless," Ewbank said.
With this in mind, he hopes to "do and live out what we talk about" by planning mission trips as early as summer 2013.
"I want to engage in real, meaningful ministry that changes lives," he said. "That's what we're going to do."
Visit www.stthomasgi.com to learn more.
Contact Editor Lena Khzouz at 1-734-246-0138 or editor@ilecamera.com. Follow her on Facebook (Lena Khzouz Ile Camera) and @IleCamera on Twitter.
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