Worship is the center of what we are about at CCPC. It is the time unlike any other in our week. We gather together to sing and pray, to hear the scriptures read and proclaimed, to share our cares and multiply our joys. We offer praise and receive comfort. Sometimes we seek shelter from the world and, at other times, we are challenged to confront it. We mark significant life passages and look to a future filled with hope. Often we come one-by-one, but seldom do we leave feeling alone.

Worship at The Chevy Chase Presbyterian Church takes several forms. There are special worship services and experiences during the year which mark the special seasons and days of the Christian calendar. These include Advent and Christmas, Ash Wednesday, Lent, Holy Week, Easter and Pentecost. Additional special days are celebrated. For example, All Saints Sunday will include the choir, soloists, and orchestra singing a requiem in honor of those departed in the past year. The sacraments are celebrated regularly.

In addition to special services which mark our Holy Days, we also have services to celebrate and acknowledge other important aspects of faith and ministry. Christian Education Sunday, Choir Sunday, World Communion and Peacemaking Sunday, Stewardship Sunday, and Youth Sunday are but a few of the several events we mark.

There are two worship services each Sunday beginning in September and continuing through May except on certain Sundays, announced well in advance, when there is only one service at 10 a.m. Each of our Sunday services is an expression of our Reformed faith which declares the centrality of Jesus Christ and is built upon the proclamation of God’s Word found in the scriptures. While each of the two Sunday services shares this common understanding of worship, the expression of that understanding is quite different.

SUNDAY SERVICES

FIRST SERVICE at 9:30 AM is less formal and the liturgy is less structured than more traditional services. The contemporary music is often led by a vocal quartet, accompanied by piano, electronic keyboard or band, our CCPC Guitar Group, or one of our children’s or youth choirs. Dress is casual and the pastor leading the service may sit on a stool - rather than climb into the pulpit - to share his or her reflections on the scriptures. Children are an important part of this worshipping community. There is a special "Time with Children" included before they are invited to leave worship for childcare, children's music programs, and church school classes.

 
Our more TRADITIONAL WORSHIP service is held at 11 AM. This service follows a traditional familiar order which includes several congregational prayers and responses. Clergy and choir are vested in robes. Music is led by one of our fine choirs, and our glorious organ adds beauty and majesty to this experience. Readings of scripture and preaching are very important aspects of this service. While children are welcome at all our services, childcare is also provided during this service.