Worship

Introduction | Service Schedule | Communion | Children in Worship | Sanctuary | Choir | Weddings

Our Lord speaks and we listen. His Word bestows what it says. Faith that is born from what is heard acknowledges the gifts received with eager thankfulness and praise. Music is drawn in­to this thankfulness and praise, enlarging and elevating the adoration of our gracious giver God. Saying back to Him what He has said to us, we repeat what is most true and sure. Most true and sure is His name, which He put upon us with the water of our Baptism. We are His. This we acknowledge at the beginning of the Divine Service. Where His name is, there is He. Before Him we acknowledge that we are sinners, and we plead for forgiveness. His forgiveness is given us, and we, freed and forgiven, acclaim Him as our great and gracious God as we apply to ourselves the words He has used to make Himself known to us.

The rhythm of our worship is from Him to us, and then from us back to Him. He gives His gifts, and together we receive and extol them. We build one another up as we speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Our Lord gives us His body to eat and His blood to drink. Finally His blessing moves us out into our calling, where His gifts have their fruition. How best to do this we may learn from His Word and from the way His Word has prompted His worship through the centuries.  We are heirs of an astonishingly rich tradition. Each generation receives from those who went before and, in making that tradition of the Divine Service its own, adds what best may serve in its own day—the living heritage and something new.  (Excerpted from Introduction to Lutheran Worship)
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Service Schedule

You are invited to worship on Sundays at 9:15am.  We celebrate Holy Communion at every Sunday service.

During June, July, and August we also have a “Saturday Summer Service” on Saturdays at 5:30pm.  This is a shortened version of the following Sunday morning service, with the same sermon, and includes Holy Communion each week. 

These Saturday services during the summer along with special services held at other times of the year, which are listed below, provide an alternative service time, other than Sunday morning, for about half the weeks of the year.

The recently published Lutheran Service Book provides a rich variety of service orders and hymns for worship at Holy Cross.  Worship and sermon themes generally follow the Church Year and its appointed Scripture readings.

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Special Services

During Advent and Lent we have special services on Wednesdays at 7:00pm with special themes related to these seasons.  Other special services include Thanksgiving Eve (the Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving Day) at 7:00pm, two Christmas Eve Candlelight Services on December 24,  at 7:00pm and “Midnight Mass” at 11:30pm, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday at 7:00pm, an Easter Sunrise Service on Easter Sunday at 7:00am, with a second Easter service with Holy Communion at the regular time of 9:15am, and Ascension Day.

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 Holy Communion

Holy Cross celebrates the Sacrament of Holy Communion each Sunday.  Because partaking of Holy Communion in a church-body is a profession that you agree with the doctrines of that particular church-body, visitors and guests who are not currently members of another congregation of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod are kindly asked to please make an appointment to visit with the pastor before taking communion at Holy Cross. For more information you may consult the tract Questions About Communion Attendance available in the Gathering Room.

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Children in Worship

Often, guests and prospective members ask if children are welcome in the worship service. Of course, what they mean is, “My child is young and can sometimes be ‘active.’ Will this upset anyone in the church?” No! We love having children in worship, learning that it is a place for them to be, getting used to participating in the worship service as they grow up.  If they make some noise, that is just their way of praising God!  We have children’s activity bulletins each week, and children’s sermons about every other Sunday.  The article Children in Worship from the LCMS Commission on Worship has great ideas for helping make worship a meaningful experience for children.

We do have a parents’ room adjacent to the Sanctuary for those parents who need to step out with a child, and many people find our large Gathering Room with a wall of windows at the back of the Sanctuary also works well for this purpose.  Both the parents’ room and Gathering Room have speakers so that you can hear the service while out with your children. 

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Sanctuary

Holy Cross was blessed to dedicate a beautiful new Sanctuary in 2007.  The booklet Symbolism of Our Sanctuary, explaining the significance of its unique design and symbolism, is available in the Gathering Room.

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Choir

Holy Cross Choir sings for worship about a dozen times each year.  We are blessed with extremely fine acoustics in our Sanctuary and Choir Loft, which enhances our singing and enriches our worship experience.  We rehearse and perform during the school year, beginning rehearsals after Labor Day, and ending for the season before Memorial Day.  Rehearsals are usually held on Sundays from 11:30am-12:00pm.  Contact Pastor Vogts if you are interested in singing in the Holy Cross Choir or for more information.

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Weddings

A couple’s wedding day is probably the most significant, memorable event in their lives. Because of the deeply emotional nature of this day, those who wish to hold their weddings at Holy Cross will usually have a close, sentimental attachment either to Holy Cross in particular or the Lutheran Church in general.

Weddings by the pastor of Holy Cross are generally limited to when at least one of the couple is a member of Holy Cross, or a member of another congregation of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS).  This courtesy is also extended to members of the Lutheran Church-Canada (LCC), Association of American Lutheran Churches (AALC), Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), and several other Lutheran bodies in the United States, as well as the several dozen Lutheran bodies worldwide with whom the LCMS is in fellowship and has exchange agreements.  It is possible to use the facility and have another pastor perform the ceremony, perhaps from your home congregation, only if he is affiliated with the LCMS or one of the these Lutheran bodies.  

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), North American Lutheran Church (NALC), and Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ (LCMC) do not have such an exchange agreement with the LCMS.  Therefore, the pastor of Holy Cross generally does not perform weddings for those affiliated with the ELCA, NALC, or LCMC, and it is not possible for ELCA, NALC, or LCMC clergy to conduct weddings at Holy Cross.  It is suggested that members of the ELCA, NALC, or LCMC contact one of the congregations of these denominations in the Sioux City area.

If you wish to discuss having your wedding at Holy Cross, please introduce yourself to the pastor following a worship service and request an appointment with him.

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