That's what we're aspiring to provide in Church@7 – our new Friday evening services that start September 20.
We're hoping these services will be appealing, enjoyable and helpful for people at any stage of the Christian journey – the committed, the curious and even the critical.
Church@7 will happen in the Main Sanctuary, and all the song lyrics and readings will be projected onto a screen. The liturgy will be Anglican, but it'll be streamlined – for example, it won't include confession or communion, at least at the beginning. The service will be followed by snacks & conversation in Cormack Hall.
The goal of Church@7 is to help people to meet Jesus – maybe for the first time – and to get to know him better. We'll do that by working our way slowly through the Gospel of John, the Book of Psalms and by leaving space for both corporate and individual prayer. We'll also spend about a third of each one-hour service singing.
We'll also aspire to create a jargon-free environment: words like narthex, purificator and propitiation will not be part of our regular vocabulary on Friday nights. We'll also work hard to walk the talk on leaving judgment up to God, and remembering that we're all in need of God's grace. We have a 'come as you are' God, and this is intended to be a 'come as you are' service.
If that sounds appealing, we'd love to see you, Fridays@7. Tell your friends!