A new worship experience has arrived at Shepherd of the Hills! CrossWalk, a monthly contemporary service, takes place the second Sunday of each month at 11 a.m. in the gym.
The service uses contemporary music, hands-on activities, lots of visuals, and laughter to create a memorable hour celebrating our Savior and learning from His Word.
Prime Time Praise (PTP) was Shepherd of the Hill’s first contemporary-style worship service. Each Saturday at 6:00PM, worshippers gather in a casual, relaxed atmosphere to be touched by God’s Word, hear a timely message, and to praise God through upbeat and inspirational music. PTP is a worship and praise service for the entire family…just come as you are!
Though the style and music is different, PTP contains the same worship elements as our traditional services. Each week at PTP, we . . .
- Hear God’s Word followed by a timely message based on the scripture readings
- Receive the blessings of God’s forgiveness through confession and absolution
- Share words of our common Christian faith through the Creed or other biblical confessions of faith
- Spend time together in prayer (at PTP we gather as a community in a circle prayer)
- Participate in the Body and Blood of Christ through Holy Communion
- Sing songs and hymns of praise and reflection, led by the PTP praise band
Some of our regular worshippers describe PTP as an “intimate, warm” service. While the worship style may differ from our traditional services, we share in the same desire and need to worship the one true living God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit!
Writing to Christians spread out all over the world, St. Peter encouraged them with these words,
“You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” (1 Peter 2:9) Peter’s words succinctly explain what worship is all about: because of everything that God has done for us – because he has chosen us, made us his own and gifted us to serve him – we can’t help but praise him, telling the whole world what great things God has done for us.
People worship in a variety of ways each of which has its own appeal. Traditional worship provides wonderful opportunities to connect with the universal Church. Walk into a Traditional worship service any place on earth and, regardless of what language is being spoken, you instantly know what’s going on because of the cadence of the service. Easily recognizable are the Invocation, Confession of sins and Pronouncement of forgiveness, the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer and the Sacrament. Traditional worship follows a time-tested order connecting us to all believers who have gone before us and to those coming after us until the Lord returns. Ancient hymns and orders that have encouraged and educated believers for centuries are blended with modern hymns that reflect how the Gospel has spread across national borders and captured cultures. Calling us to be reverent in the presence of Almighty God, traditional worship emphasizes the transcendent majesty of God to celebrate his holiness and righteousness together with his grace and mercy.
Becoming familiar with Traditional worship takes a little time and effort not unlike the process through which one becomes familiar with any activity. It takes time to learn the ins and outs of football, for example, but when one learns how the game is played, it can be a lot of fun both to play and to watch. Similarly, when one learns all that is going on in Traditional worship, participating in it is spiritually enriching.
At Shepherd, our Traditional services take place on Sunday morning at 8:00 and 10:45 and Sunday evening at 7:00. Outstanding music led by the organ, choirs and bands, is a major component of our worship services along with relevant preaching and cordial hospitality.