One Church Multiple Communities
What does “One Church. Multiple Communities.” mean?
We are one church that consists of multiple communities. We celebrate diversity and therefore welcome all people regardless of who they are, where they come from and how they worship. Emmanuel Lutheran Church offers different worship services to believers from different backgrounds, who are united in one faith: Jesus Christ. By meeting people where they are and offering them a place to come together and be together, we reach out to those who might not otherwise find a home in our church. Here is how:
Traditional Community
Emmanuel Lutheran Church’s traditional worship service follows the liturgy provided in the Lutheran hymnals. The Preservice is quiet and reverent. The pastor, who wears the formal gown and stoles in the appropriate color for the liturgical season, greets worshippers and introduces the week’s sermon theme. The traditional services have more structure, use traditional hymns, and have a contemplative, reserved atmosphere. Services often have songs performed by a choir and a soloist with a few congregational hymns inserted.
A Confession of Faith is always recited; most often the Nicene Creed or the Apostles’ Creed. Prayers are written or scripted in liturgy. The Lord’s Prayer is recited weekly.
Blended Community
Emmanuel Lutheran Church’s blended worship service follows an abridged version of the traditional Common Service liturgy, a confession, readings, the message, a creed and prayers, and the Lord’s Supper. The services are in the Sanctuary. The pre-service is upbeat and features the praise band singing selections to be sung with the congregation during the service. This helps familiarize guests with tune and tempo. The pastor, who wears casual clothing, greets worshippers and introduces the week’s sermon theme. The blended services are still praise focused and worshipful, but are more casual, and relational. The praise band, usually comprised of two to three vocalists, a keyboardist, a guitarist and a drummer, leads the congregation in contemporary praise songs from behind the altar.
At Oil Well Road
Emmanuel Church - Oil Well Road is located in the Golden Gate Estates Community, where you can Worship in the brand new modular or in your car. Emmanuel turned a 40-acre plot of land into a drive-in church. If you wish, you are able to worship from the comfort of your car simply by tuning to 99.7 on your car radio. Each Sunday, members drive their cars to the church, as usual, but they remain there.
The worship team consists of a guitarist and a vocalist who lead the group in praise and worship songs.
Bilingual Community
The Bilingual service is very much a contemporary worship service, but the sermon is both in English and Spanish. People come from different backgrounds; therefore, different languages are spoken within a single congregation by different generations to be able to worship together as a family.
Emmanuel Lutheran Global Seminary
Emmanuel Lutheran Global Seminary’s core mission is to prepare, equip and train lay leaders to serve their church as next-career pastors. This mission evolved from the realization that (1) traditional seminary models lacked flexible and sustainable academic pathways for adult learners call to a new career as a pastor, (2) the number of retiring ordained pastors continues to exceed the number entering into pastoral candidacy, and (3) the number of “open pulpits” (i.e., churches without permanent pastors) continues to grow. Programs “bring the seminary to the student” through a unique utilization of technology, mentor teams, diverse cohorts, and the local church, thus reinventing and improving pastoral formation. We offer Bachelor of Arts, Master of Divinity, or Doctorate of Ministry from our nationally recognized, accredited educational partners. In our innovative program, learning is highly experiential, outcome-based, and mentor-oriented, with no relocation required. It is also significantly less expensive than traditional programs, and significant scholarships are available.