What Live Sermons are like

I'm guessing a few of our newer members may feel a little nervous about coming along to live sermons or services for the first time (I was), so I thought I'd put this here for any who may benefit from it.

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Services are held in chat (click the link) . Generally we start arriving there 5-10 minutes before the service is due to get underway. Often there's a little friendly chitchat, people sometimes say hi to people who arrive etc.

Then whoever's leading the service says they're getting it underway. Everyone else stops talking and lets them deliver their sermon, line by line or sometimes paragraph by paragraph. Think of it as "listening in rapt silence"

Once the sermon's been delivered and you've been wowed by the dazzling new perspective the person leading the service has given you, they (or maybe someone else) lead the congregation in reciting the 15 lines of the Creed . What this means is, they post a line:

___"I am a Jedi, an instrument of peace;"

Then those who feel like joining in (you don't have to!) will retype that line, as if "repeating aloud" the words of the leader. The idea is not to just bark it back like a parrot, but to consider the words as you're typing them, to reflect on the meaning of the line.

After a short while so everyone has time to join in who wants to, the leader posts the next line:

___"Where there is hatred I shall bring love;", the congregation repeats, etc etc.

After the Creed, the leader will generally announce the service has concluded, and perhaps bid the congregation:

___"May the Force be with you all"

To which the common replies from those attending are "And also with you" or "And with you". And that's it!

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The best way to understand it is to come along, but I understand it can be a little weird at first. We're friendly though and happy for anyone to come along, so long as you respect the service being delivered and don't try and talk through it, for instance.

I'm leading a service today - please feel free to come along! And any questions about live services in general, please feel free to post them here or contact me via PM

In theory there is no set formula for a live service (other that that it should incorporate the sermon), so it may be that you attend a service that is quite different from the standard sermon-followed-by-Creed formula. Sometimes there may be music or a discussion element or some alternative doctrine-based liturgy instead of the Creed, or something more random like being asked to bring an item along with you etc...

But the vast majority of the time (i.e. almost always) it happens the way that tzb explained...

most of my services contain music of some kind. Of course, it's optional as that won't work for everybody. I also like to include a prayer or introit at the beginning of the services to get us in the mood.

This thread might be a good addition to the first things our new members see when they show up. It's an excellent way to say, "Welcome!"