What is liturgy?

Liturgy means "work of the people." Every church has a liturgy, or a way of structuring its corporate worship, even if the word liturgy is not used.

What are creeds and why do you say them on Sundays?

Creeds are historic, authoritative summaries of the Bible's teaching, passed down to Christians today from a time when the universal church was undivided. A soldier takes an oath of allegiance when he enlists in the military. Creeds operated in a similar way in the early church. When a new Christian was baptized, she would say one of the creeds to vow obedience to Jesus as her Lord to the death. We similarly say one of these creeds, the Nicene, every Sunday as a way of continually pledging our faith to Christ.

When it says "catholic" in the Nicene Creed, does that mean Roman Catholic?

No, it does not. The word "catholic" simply means "according to the whole," or the universal church. It is used in Acts 15:22, to describe a decision made by the first gathering of the universal church at the Jerusalem Council. We say the word "catholic" in the Creed to signify our unity with Christians thoughout the world, across denominations, and through time.

Why do you pray written prayers? Is that really praying?

Some people feel that unless prayers are spontaneous and "from the heart" they are less authentic and impersonal. At Resurrection, we use written prayers alongisde extemporaneous prayers, because we think that written prayers can be authentic, personal tools for helping us grow in prayer. Like a pianist frequently practicing a piece of classical music, the church has historically found written prayers to become more personal with repetition. Written prayers are beautiful expressions of faith that sometimes put into better words the feelings we don't always have the words to express.

Who can receive Holy Communion?

Anyone who is a baptized, born again follower of Jesus is welcome to share the Lord's Table with us. Baptism has been the non-optional, key starting point of the Christian life from the beginning of church history (Matt. 28:19-20; Acts 2:38-39). We eagerly share Communion with brothers and sisters in Christ who have been baptized in other churches: Baptist, Pentecostal, Catholic, non-denominational, etc. We do warn people who have either not been baptized or who are living in conscious sin to not take the bread and wine out of love for them, so that they will repent of any sin that is harming them and so that they won't "eat or drink judgment on themselves" (1 Cor. 11:29).

What about childcare?

During our services at Resurrection, we encourage children to stay with their families in the service. We believe there is nothing more beneficial for a child's faith than to observe her parents week after week cherish Jesus in wholehearted worship. Just like when families sit together over meals at the table, when children worship alongside their parents, they grow up to spiritual maturity and learn the "table mannners" of corporate worship.