For Visitors

We would like to extend a warm welcome to everyone to gather with us on a Sunday morning at 8:30 am. We also have midweek services during Advent and Lent. Check the calendar before you come. If you're considering visiting and would like to know more, please consider the following:

A note about worship at Mt. Calvary

Our Lord promises that "where two are three are gathered in my Name, there I am with them" (Matthew 18:20), and "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20). We gather together for worship not in order to give something to God that he doesn't already have, for all is his; we gather because he promises to come to us. We gather as sinners to receive his forgiveness, as the wounded to be bound up, as the dying to receive life in his Name. We gather because he has called us, and given us great promises.

In our services, which are ordered by easy-to-follow orders in the hymnal, you will find a rhythm of God speaking to us (through the pastor's speaking of God's Word or expounding on it in the sermon) and our replying to him, calling on his promises, praising his salvation, praying for our needs and the needs of others. What we sing will be full of Christ's teaching and his gifts.

Lucas Cranach the Elder, Luther Preaching, Altarpiece, Marienkirche, Wittenberg, 1540

At Mt. Calvary, you will surely hear God's Law, which shows us our sin and our inmost sinfulness. This can be uncomfortable, but like a surgeon's scalpel, it is for our good. God speaks this word so that his saving Gospel can do its work, that Gospel which tells us that Jesus Christ lived the perfect life and died for our sins, that forgiveness, life, and salvation are ours in his Name. The Law is necessary because of who we are as sinful men and women, but the Gospel is our real aim, the Word by which God gives us life. And the Gospel is what you will hear the most of at Mt. Calvary: God's gift to you in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Everything we do and say and sing revolves around him, crucified for our sin, raised up from the dead for our justification, ascended into heaven for the life of his Church. This is in keeping with the practice of the Apostles, who preached (1 Cor 1:23) and sang (Col 3:16) Christ crucified, and their hearers believed, were baptized, and were saved.

As with anything of substance, you should not expect everything we do to make sense and feel comfortable the first time you join us for worship. If you found nothing new, nothing challenging, nothing different from the rest of your life, what would be the point? Please don't hesitate, if you have questions, to ask any of the members, or the ushers, or pastor after the service. All will be happy to help you understand what is going on and why it is for you. Pastor, especially, would be delighted to arrange a time with you to discuss further what you've heard and seen with us.

Read more about Lutheran worship.

The Lord's Supper at Mt. Calvary

Mt. Calvary celebrates the Lord's Supper each Sunday. All are encouraged to attend any of our services, but please be aware that we cannot offer the Lord's Supper to all who come. We take Christ at his word when he says that the bread is his true Body and the wine is his true Blood. We also take St. Paul seriously when he warns that eating and drinking these holy substances can be harmful to those who eat and drink unworthily or unprepared. Finally, communing at an altar is a solemn expression of agreement with the faith as taught from that altar. For these reasons, we ask that if you are visiting and would like to commune, you consider the following statement and speak personally with pastor before the service (or, if possible, during the week before the service). 

Today we celebrate the Lord's Supper in the confession and glad confidence that, as He says, our Lord gives us His very Body and Blood to eat and drink for the forgiveness of our sins (Mt 26; Mk 14; Lk 22; 1 Cor 11)—and therefore for our life and salvation. St. Paul admonishes us (1 Cor 11) to examine ourselves and to recognize the Body and Blood of our Lord, lest we eat and drink His Supper unworthily, to our harm. Furthermore, by receiving the Lord's Supper from this altar we also indicate and joyfully confess as our own the faith as taught here, as expounded from the Scriptures in the Book of Concord. In Christian love and concern, therefore, we instruct those who would commune here and examine them on the basis of their confession of faith. Therefore, if you have not been communing with us regularly and would like to do so today, please speak personally with the pastor before the service. He will also happily arrange time with you for further conversation.

For parents with small children

Children are warmly welcomed in the worship services at Mt. Calvary. We feel it is important for children to grow up in the context of the Church's worship, and understand the occasional distractions their presence can mean. We offer a nursery, with both view and audio of the service, for parents who would like. Each week, a children's bulletin (Lessons for Lambs) introduces children to the Gospel for the day and to the service, and provides puzzles and activities. Families are invited to take these home so that they may grow together in God's Word through the week. 

Fellowship and study

Pastor's Bible study starts an hour before our scheduled service and runs about 45 minutes. At present we do not have a Sunday School.

Questions?

Please feel free to call the church office or e-mail the pastor if he can be of any service to you. We ask our first-time visitors to please fill out an address card so pastor can drop you a note after your visit to follow up on any questions or concerns you might have. Also, you may see the "About Us" section in the sidebar for further information.

Bernard Plockhorst (1825-1888),

Jesus Blessing the Children