Worship at Central Presbyterian Church
A worship service in Central Presbyterian
Church sanctuary
Sunday Worship
11:00 AM Worship
Communion is served the first Sunday of each month, and our table is open to all.
The last Sunday of each month is "Invite a Friend to Church" day, with a potluck lunch following the service. There will be plenty of foods, coffee, juice and fellowship for guests to join us.
8:45 AM Worship
We also hold an early worship service, meeting at
8:45 AM in the Leavy Library. Because this is usually a relatively
small gathering, we are able to take the time to share our thoughts
on the Bible passage of the day. Hymns in this service are drawn from
Sing the Faith, the supplement to the standard hymnal.
Lent, Holy Week, and Easter
- Lent
- begins with Ash Wednesday Services at 6:30 PM, at which time ashes from last year's Palm Sunday will be placed on the foreheads of those attending.
- Holy Week
- begins with Palm Sunday; Our service
at 11:00 AM opens with the waving of palm branches as a symbol of our
Savior's entry into Jerusalem. Meet in Smoot Hall at 10:45 to receive
your palm branch and join the procession.
We have our Maundy Thursday "Service of Remembrance" with Celebration of the Lord's Supper: 7:00 PM.
It is also a tradition for CPC musicians to present a Music for Holy Week concert for the Thursday Noonday Concert during this week.
On Good Friday, the sanctuary remains open from 6:00 am until 6:00 pm for Prayers around the Cross. At 6:00 pm we celebrate a Service of Darkness (Tenebrae) in memory of Jesus' death on the cross. - Easter Sunrise Service
- is held at the Zilker Clubhouse patio on Easter morning. The service begins approximately 30 minutes before sunrise.
- Easter Breakfast
- is held at Central at 9:00 AM in Smoot Fellowship Hall. This is a potluck meal where we share our favorite breakfast dishes. Following breakfast, the children have an Easter Symbol hunt in the courtyard at 9:30 AM. The "Flowering of the Cross" is immediately afterwards, also in the courtyard. People are encouraged to bring flowers from your yard, but we also have many flowers to share, as we cover a cross in beautiful flowers to symbolize our risen Christ.
- Easter Worship Service
- begins at 11:00 AM in the sanctuary. Special music is provided by our choir. Come be a part of this wonderful service, celebrating our risen Lord.
Special Services and Offerings
- World Communion
- On the first Sunday of October, World Communion is celebrated in Christian Churches all over the world. At Central Presbyterian, we celebrate the diversity of our congregation, and of the world, by the use of breads of the world for communion instead of traditional communion wafers. We also ask our members to dress in their native costumes for church, and we drape our communion table in cloths from around the world.
The pastor and choir at
Central Presbyterian Church
Advent and Christmas
- Hanging of the Greens Service
- The Hanging of the Greens is a special worship
service to celebrate the coming of the Christmas season. The service
will include people of all ages, from the young children who will be
hanging some of the Chrismons to some of our oldest members.
In this service we will adorn our sanctuary with garlands and wreaths, light the Advent wreath and place Chrismons (ornaments made from Christian symbols, or "Christ monograms") on the Chrismon tree. We will learn what they all symbolize, from where the customs come and why they are important to us today.
Special music during the service will include the CPC Children and Adult Chancel choirs, soloists, and the Handbell Choir.
A traditional Christmas dinner is served prior to the service and a dessert reception follows the service. Both are served in Smoot Hall.
We invite everyone to join us for this wonderful way to bring in the Advent Season. - Advent
- Advent begins four Sundays before Christmas. Each year we celebrate the coming of Christ with special music, the lighting each week of our Advent Wreath, and this year we will serve communion each week of Advent, to help remind us that this is a holy season, not a commercial one.
- Christmas Eve - Carols, Communion, and Candlelight
- To celebrate Christ's birth, we hold a special evening service on Christmas Eve, featuring favorite Christmas music, Communion, and the lighting of candles. Following the service, a reception is held in Smoot Hall. The service begins at 6:30 PM in the sanctuary.
We invite you to browse the lexicon of sermons by Rev. McDonell and others.