COME AND VISIT US!
I'm thinking of visiting a worship service at Living Shepherd - what should I know?
First, know that 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. Visitors are always welcome! We worship every Sunday morning at 4835 Fort Sanders Road in Laramie, Wyoming (please contact us for worship service times). After worship, we also have special time of Bible Study available to everyone (kids included!) called Growing in God’s Word. We hope you are able to join us!
What is the length of a typical worship service?
Our worship services usually last about one hour.
What should I expect from the worship service?
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.
What will my visit cost me?
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.
Will I be "put on the spot" as a visitor?
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!
Should I come up for communion?
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 the communion rail, we're 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!