Worship at Living Shepherd

If you’re thinking about joining us this Sunday, here’s what you can expect.

Why we worship

During worship, God speaks to us through His word (the Bible) and we speak praises to Him through our prayers and songs.

Our worship expresses joy and confidence in Christ through liturgical practices rooted in early Christianity, where we receive God's love and respond with praise. We maintain consistent elements to keep Christ central while varying hymns and readings, follow the church calendar, and emphasize Biblical preaching. God strengthens our faith through His Word and the Sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion, and we invite you to learn more by attending this Sunday or watching a service online.

If you’ve never been to church before…

It’s our goal that anyone who walks through our doors feels comfortable and welcomed, no matter your past experiences in a church building.

Still, if you’d like to meet a few people before you join us for worship, you may enjoy attending one of our events. These are more casual ways to get connected with our pastor and congregation.

What’s on your mind?

We're happy to have you as our guest! It's our goal as a Lutheran church to share God's good news with you. We pray that your visit with us leaves you comforted by the message of God's love for you, strengthened in your faith, and encouraged to face the challenges of daily life.

We worship every Sunday morning at 4835 Fort Sanders Road in Laramie, Wyoming at 9:00 AM. Use the FAQ to learn more.

  • Our worship services usually last about one hour.

  • At Living Shepherd, we strive for confessional Lutheran worship. We seek to preserve the best of classic Lutheran worship, while also blending in more contemporary accompaniments with some of our songs. We follow a structured pattern of worship (a liturgy), both giving confession of what we believe and allowing visitors to see what's ahead. Our worship service is always printed out in full, so you'll never struggle to follow along. In our church setting, our worship, and our sermons, we strive for both reverence and relevance, communicating the timely and timeless truth of a holy God who restored His relationship with sinful man through the life and death of His Son, Jesus Christ.

  • Our goal is to give you something when you visit, not take something from you. Although you will see an offering gathered during the worship service, it's done as an opportunity for our members to express their faith and thankfulness for what God has done and to support the ministry of our church as we reach out to others. Visitors need not feel obligated to contribute, and are not expected to do so.

  • We want our worship services to be a welcoming and comfortable way for our guests to get to know who we are and what we teach. Aside from a friendly welcome from our pastor, we'll let you become comfortable with our worship service without being singled out. You will find registration sheets in the chairs, and we’ll invite you to provide us with as much information as you feel comfortable giving. We just want to be able to contact you and thank you for joining us. Included in our worship registers is a way for you to let us know if we can continue to serve you in any way!

  • At Living Shepherd, we certainly want you to end up at the Lord’s Table with us. However, guided by our Lord’s words in Scripture, congregations of our Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) practice member communion. That means we celebrate communion with those who have expressed their agreement with the teachings of our church through their membership. God's Word (see 1 Corinthians 10:14-17) tells us that when we gather together at communion, we are confessing to this world that we stand united in faith. As our guest, we don't want to put you in a position of confessing unity with us until you know what we believe. In addition, God warns us that taking the Lord's Supper in an "unworthy manner" or receiving it "without recognizing the body of the Lord" is actually harmful for us (see 1 Corinthians 11:25-34). We can't read hearts. And we don't know what someone believes unless they tell us. Because we care about you and don't want to put you in a position that could be sinful or harmful, we ask that you take some time to study God’s Word with us and see what he has to say about the Lord's Supper before communing at Living Shepherd. Our pastor is always more than willing to talk to you about the Lord's Supper. Feel free to contact him at any time!

Not ready yet?

If you're not ready to join us in-person, take your first step by watching a sermon online. Once you feel comfortable, we encourage you to find community and fellowship with our congregation at a service or event in-person. We look forward to meeting you!