Circle of the Holy Eucharist
Can you name the parts & elements that are used in a Worship service?
Customarily, there are slightly more than a dozen elements in a Methodist service. At NSUMC, we traditionally open our worship service with a hymn, participate in the call to worship and then invite the children to the chancel area for a short children’s sermon. We end Children's Moments with the Lord's Prayer. Next our choir shares the anthem (song); our pastor reads scripture and presents the sermon. The sermon is followed the offertory prayer and singing praise to God after we have offered our gifts (Doxology) The service closes with a hymn, benediction and then an invitation to be in community with each other in the fellowship hall. The first Sunday of every month NSUMC offers communion.
During Sunday School we teach the children about the items on and near the chancel area. These are items that are used prior-to or during the worship service. We enter the church through our narthex (lobby). Altar is a word that the children generally know but they think that the entire “stage” is the altar. Actually, the entire “stage” area is called the Chancel area and the table in the middle is the altar. We point out to the students that the Adult Chancel choir sits in the choir loft. There is also a door at the northwest corner of our Chancel area. That door leads to our sacristy. A sacristy can include the items needed for the worship service and the vestments that the pastors wear. The kneeling rail is a place that we may go to after we have taken communion. We may kneel there and offer our personal prayers to God. We also have a pulpit. It is located in front of the organ and it is where pastors and the liturgist can stand to present the scriptures and sermons.
Customarily, there are slightly more than a dozen elements in a Methodist service. At NSUMC, we traditionally open our worship service with a hymn, participate in the call to worship and then invite the children to the chancel area for a short children’s sermon. We end Children's Moments with the Lord's Prayer. Next our choir shares the anthem (song); our pastor reads scripture and presents the sermon. The sermon is followed the offertory prayer and singing praise to God after we have offered our gifts (Doxology) The service closes with a hymn, benediction and then an invitation to be in community with each other in the fellowship hall. The first Sunday of every month NSUMC offers communion.
During Sunday School we teach the children about the items on and near the chancel area. These are items that are used prior-to or during the worship service. We enter the church through our narthex (lobby). Altar is a word that the children generally know but they think that the entire “stage” is the altar. Actually, the entire “stage” area is called the Chancel area and the table in the middle is the altar. We point out to the students that the Adult Chancel choir sits in the choir loft. There is also a door at the northwest corner of our Chancel area. That door leads to our sacristy. A sacristy can include the items needed for the worship service and the vestments that the pastors wear. The kneeling rail is a place that we may go to after we have taken communion. We may kneel there and offer our personal prayers to God. We also have a pulpit. It is located in front of the organ and it is where pastors and the liturgist can stand to present the scriptures and sermons.
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The Circle of the Holy Eucharist story can be found in volume four of the Godly Play book . The story helps to teach the children about the parts of a worship service. There is another story, from the book Young Children & Worship, called "Symbols of the Eucharist." Our north wing Godly Play room has miniature figurines that will allow the children to retell this story thus showing the placement of the altar, kneeling rail, sacristy, and pulpit to help the children understand all of these elements.
We always end our Godly Play time with "I wonder" questions... I wonder... What part of the service do you like best? What elements in the service interest you the most? What Gospel story is your favorite? What part of the story do you relate to the best? What part of the story could we leave out and still have all we need? 
Make a diorama of our church chancel area.
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Lord's Prayer Crafts Link
This link will take you to our denominations webpage.
The article describes the elements of the service.
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