A really important question for us at Willard CRC is “Why worship together as a Church?” At Willard CRC, we believe that the church is a gathered group of believers who welcome anyone to experience life in God.

We believe we experience the Triune God through Jesus Christ. Christ has given us historic collective practices for worship that help us become more aware of God’s presence with us. We hope that anyone in one of our services (Christian, skeptic, or someone from any other background or frame of reference) would be exposed to the practices of Christian worship that open us up to experience the love and grace of God.

And we believe ‘we are what we worship.’ So worship of God is important because what we worship defines us. And how we worship will shape us. So we want to worship, the true, the good, and the beautiful, God himself revealed to us in Christ Jesus.

And we believe worship is embodied. That means worship not just with our minds but with our bodies. Worship is to be experienced in bodies and with other bodies. That’s because worship is shaping us ultimately to love the Lord with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength and to love our neighbors as ourselves (as stated in our Vision). And we cannot do that disconnected from Christ’s body. As part of the historically Reformed faith, that means that we are not saved only as individuals, but as a new and glorious people of God. Somehow, and mysteriously, our union to Christ is best experienced in our union to his local body. This connection to the body of Christ—other people—is how we grow in our love for God and others.