Worship

Worship is central to who we are as God’s people at First ARP Church.  Everything we do here seeks to praise and glorify Almighty God.  We hold two worship services on Sunday morning, both of which are Reformed in order.  During worship we seek to honor God through prayer, confession, music, the recitation of the Creeds, the reading of scripture, the celebration of the Sacraments and solid Bible-based preaching.  Our 8:30 service is blended in that we utilize modern visual media and contemporary music with non-traditional instruments in traditonal order of worship.  At 11:00 we use traditional music and instruments.  At both services, elements of worship, which are directed by God in the Scriptures, are used in a variety of ways to keep our worship fresh and meaningful.

We celebrate the Sacrament of Lord’s Supper during both services on the second Sunday of each month except in October when we celebrate World Communion Sunday on the first Sunday of the month.  The Sacrament of Baptism is usually only celebrated at the 11:00 service.

We also worship together at other times during the year.  We hold two services on Christmas Eve at 5:00 and 7:00.  We celebrate the Lord’s Supper on Maundy Thursday evening and we participate with other Gastonia churches in the Community Thanksgiving Service on the Sunday evening before Thanksgiving.