OKC 1st Church understands that worship celebrates God’s Good News through Jesus Christ and also forms us as believers. Worship at Word & Table connects us with our roots as Christians through the pattern of call and response. That is, in worship God speaks through the Service of Word (read/spoken/heard and preached/heard), and in thankful obedience we respond weekly in the Service of Table to the invitation to share in the Lord's Table (also called Communion, or Eucharist). In the tradition of John Wesley, our spiritual great-grandfather, the Word and the Table have equal priority.
So how is a typical Word & Table Sunday service structured? We practice Liturgical Worship in the Wesleyan Tradition very intentionally, as the word liturgical affirms that worship is our collective work as God’s people, gathering and gathered by God. All engage actively and responsively! Our highly participatory order of worship follows this basic outline: Entrance and Greeting, Proclamation and Response, Thanksgiving and Communion, Blessing and Sending Forth. The Scriptures read and preached are determined by the lectionary (one of the first structured “through-the-Bible” reading plans). The songs we sing, using hymnals, reinforce the message of the day’s Scripture readings. We observe the seasons of the Church year and the Christian calendar, with corresponding décor and clerical wear, yet our atmosphere is relaxed and welcoming.