I'm New - What Should I Expect?

Concordia is a church that values 3 primary things: being connected to God and to each other, being equipped by God and one another to be able to live the Christian life with joy, and reaching out to one another in love and to those who don't know the love of Jesus.

Sunday Mornings

Worship Services

Sundays are a primary time when we are connected to God and one another, equipped by His gifts, and then sent out to reach the world with His grace.

You can expect to come to worship services that will be filled with God's gifts to us: His Word (the Bible) and the Sacraments (Baptism and the Lord's Supper), and that are filled with the faith-filled response of God's people (singing, prayer, praise). Our 9:00 Sunday service does this using the traditional Lutheran liturgy and traditional hymns accompanied by piano or organ. It is a more formal order of service, and you will find the rich tradition of our Lutheran heritage. Our 11:00 service does this using a more recent order of service that is less formal, with songs led by a full band with guitars, keyboards, and drums. Though more informal, this service still clearly receives God's gifts and allows people to respond in faith.

Being that we're in the Okanagan, overall our atmosphere is fairly relaxed. Some will wear suits or dresses on Sunday morning; some will wear jeans, shorts, and t-shirts. While we seek to be respectful of God and those around us, the most important thing is not what you wear but that you come to receive God's good gifts and respond with thanksgiving. God's gifts don't depend on how well we are dressed or how well we sing; He serves us because He loves us.

"The 40"

We enjoy getting together before and after our services, and there's a time of visiting and refreshments in between our services. We also have a time on Sundays from 10:15-10:55 where we have age-appropriate classes and groups. We believe worship is for all ages, and so we invite all to come to worship together, no matter what age you are. But we also know that it's valuable to have time for age-appropriate teaching and activities. So "The 40" (named because it's 40 minutes long) is a time when we have our Agape Kids children's ministry, youth classes, and adult Bible study. All are welcome to these groups.

School and Preschool

If you're new to Concordia you also need to know that we have two school ministries: a preschool for ages 3-4, and an elementary school that runs from Kindergarten through Grade 6. The schools lead to lively days filled with activity during the school year!

Vocation, Groups, Serving, and Giving

Another part of our life together as a congregation is the life we live outside of Sunday mornings. When people think of "church", they generally think of Sunday mornings (or whenever worship services are held). While that is the primary activity of a congregation, there are about 167 more hours in a week when we are the people of God. We can think of our congregational life in four really broad categories: vocation, groups, serving, and giving.

Vocation

The word vocation is a rather rare one in our society. Most people think of it as meaning "a job" or a career. But it's really the idea that wherever we are in life, God calls us to serve Him there. (The word comes from the Latin word vocare, which means "calling".) So vocation means serving God by being faithful moms, dads, children, employees, employers, teammates, etc. Often we think serving God is done by "going to church" or working as a pastor or something. But a good understanding of vocation helps us understand that no matter what our situation of life, we are called by God into serving in the midst of that. It's really a freeing thing! Martin Luther once said that changing a baby's diaper was a holy calling, because it was part of the vocation of parenthood, caring for children and raising them well. So we see vocation as very important in our congregation. We don't want to "over-program" ourselves at the church building, because that could actually hinder the fulfillment of our vocations; we want to allow our people to serve God where they are through their various vocations.

Groups

As important as vocation is, being together in groups within the church is beneficial too. So we have some larger groups—such as our Elements sessions led by our pastor—and some small groups, such as a women's group that meets for study and personal support. Small groups are fluid and form as needed, and we are always seeking to grow the number of people in groups.

Serving

There are a lot of things that need to be done in a congregation, from ushering and music leading in worship, to accounting, to property care, to visiting, to setting up special events, and much more. We value serving in ways that will help others, and many times one way to do that is just to "get stuff done". There is always need for servants and serving; some of our immediate needs are listed here on the site.

Giving

Giving is last on the list not because it's least important, but because it comes as a result of the vitality of the rest of life. Finances are a reality of the church, just like any organization. But we see them also as a great blessing from God. He has given us all we have. We don't really own anything; we are just stewards—managers—of what God has entrusted to us to use. We encourage one another to give regularly and generously, so that we can do the work of God's kingdom together in ways that none of us could do on our own. We seek to give generously and cheerfully out of a heart of thankfulness to God, not out of guilt or compulsion. So we have a time for offerings in our worship services, and sometimes we'll do fundraising for specific efforts such as our Compassionate Care Fund or our school ministries.