We’re Excited to Meet You
Visiting on Sundays
Service: The service of Holy Communion is at 4pm, with a pot-luck dinner following around 5pm.
Location: We meet at Celebration Presbyterian Church at 2300 Carolina Forest Boulevard. The campus provides plenty of parking, as well as a fenced-in playground.
Feast: Each week we follow the liturgy of Holy Communion with a pot-luck feast. This provides us with time each week to spend time and deepen friendships with those with whom we have already shared Christ’s Table. If you are visiting, feel free to come without food or bring something to share with all of us!
Children: During part of our service of Holy Communion, children up to 2nd grade are invited to take part in Brigid’s Chapel, our discipleship ministry for the children of our congregation. For children 3 years old to 2nd grade, there is a Godly Play class during the readings and homily (roughly the middle 30 minutes), in which they are invited into Scripture and spiritual experience through a liturgy that echoes our own Liturgy of the Word. For children 2 and under, there is a Nursery that is open at the beginning of service. Everyone who works with our children has gone through an extensive background check to ensure their safety. All children come back into the main service at the Peace so that we can all partake in the Eucharist together. Children are also always welcome to stay and participate in the liturgy. Coloring sheets, books, and quiet toys are provided for their use, and they are invited to join in with the service in various ways throughout. Noise is expected—and welcome!
What is our Worship like?
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Our worship is liturgical, which means that it follows a pattern that has been utilized since the time of the apostles. The liturgy is not just something that the clergy or musicians do alone, but it is the work of the whole congregation, adults and children alike. We all sing together, pray together, stand, sit, and kneel together—in short, even when only one person is talking, everyone is taking part.
Our Sunday liturgy follows the 2019 Book of Common Prayer. This has two parts: the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Table. Together, these two parts take right around one hour.
We use printed bulletins, which provide everything needed to participate in the liturgy, even if it is your first time in a liturgical setting. If you do get lost, ask the person sitting closest to you!
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The first part of the Sunday liturgy is called the Liturgy of the Word. As the name implies, this part is focused on Jesus Christ and the Scriptures that speak about him.
We begin by welcoming the cross of Christ and asking that God would welcome us into his presence in our worship.
We listen to the words of Christ and sing our prayers for his mercy and our praises to God.
We listen to the reading of the Holy Scriptures and join with the voices of those who have sung the Psalms for thousands of years.
We listen to a homily (a short sermon—around 12 minutes) that applies the Scriptures to our lives as Christians.
We respond by confessing the faith of the Church in the Nicene Creed, by praying for the Church and the world, and by confession our sins as a congregation.
We end by greeting one another in the peace that Christ has given to us.
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The Liturgy of the Table centers around the Eucharistic Feast, also called Communion or the Lord's Supper. This is the crowning act of our worship each week. After giving thanks (which is what 'Eucharist' means!), all are invited to come up to the Lord's Table.
If you have been baptized (including small children) and are seeking to follow Jesus Christ and love God and neighbor, you are invited to come and share in the feast of God. When you come up the central aisle, extend your hands out, right hand over left, and you will be given a piece of bread from the loaf. After you eat the bread, you may drink from the cup.
(If you are uncomfortable sharing one cup, that's completely okay. Just pass by the cup, knowing that Jesus has fed you already in the bread. We don't practice intinction—dipping the bread in the cup. This is in part because studies have shown this to be less sanitary than all drinking from the same cup.)
If you have not been baptized or do not wish to receive communion, you are still encouraged to come up with your arms crossed over your chest to receive a blessing from the priest.
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We believe that the whole liturgy is intended for the whole people of God, and that includes our kids. And we want to create a hospitable atmostphere for parents and children alike to enter into and by shaped by that liturgy over time.
Children are always welcome in all parts of our liturgy, and we strive to include them in various ways throughout. Families can also choose for their children to participate in Brigid’s Chapel, our discipleship ministry for children, during the middle part of our service.
Children from 3 years old to the end of 2nd grade take part in a Godly Play class during the Scripture readings and homily of the main service. Godly Play is a liturgy of its own that invites children in Scripture and spiritual experience while allowing for children to respond to God through play and creativity.
Children under the age of 3 can join our Nursery, which is open at the beginning of service.
All children are brought back into the service at the Peace, so that we can share in the Liturgy of the Table together as a family.
For the times that the children are in the main part of the service, you will find clipboards with coloring/activity sheets and crayons that correspond to the one of the Scripture readings for that week. You'll also find a bookshelf full of children's books and quiet toys that children can take to their seats.
During the Liturgy of the Table, the kids are invited to come sit in front of the altar so that they can better see what's happening.
Most importantly, we strive to create a culture of discipleship within the liturgy. At times, kids are going to loud, messy, and energetic, but rather than shaming them or their parents, we embrace the messiness of being a church family. As we continue to model and practice our own faith in worship, our prayer is that our kids will discover the beauty of the liturgy and join in with us as they are able.
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The people of God are a singing people. From the Psalms of David to the hymns of the Church’s life and tradition, God’s people have always sang of his wondrous works and steadfast love. And the Spirit of God has always inspired the Church to write new songs for their time and place—reflecting timeless truths through the melodies, harmonies, and rhythms of every tribe, tongue, and nation.
As Anglicans formed by these movements and traditions, both ancient and new, we have received the songs and prayers that were inspired by those who have come before us. And as a community of faith planted in the heart of Carolina Forest, we hope also to reflect the sound and language of our current cultural moment here and now.
As the people of God, Church of the Ascension hopes to continue that ancient practice of singing of God’s wondrous works and steadfast love through the Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs so that we might be a faithful witness to the worship of heaven here in Carolina Forest.
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Each week, our Eucharist service is followed by a pot-luck feast, where we all bring something to share with the community. Just as we all share of one loaf and one cup during the Lord’s Supper, during our weekly feast we celebrate the community that Christ has created in us by sharing from one table. Each week we get to sit down to dinner together and enjoy one another, deepening our friendships and welcoming newcomers.
If you are visiting this Sunday, feel free to bring something to share, or not! We haven’t run out of food yet and we would love for you to join us.
In case you have dietary restrictions, our food is always marked with common allergens, but please make sure to let someone in the kitchen know so we can make sure to accomodate you. Don’t feel awkward—this is a way that we delight to know and serve you!