The Vision Statement for worship at Newtonbrook United Church is to: 

Provide a spiritual experience through word, music, work and witness that continues to renew and restore our faith and commitment to God, our community and Church.

Our specific goals for 2009-2010 are, 

• To seek ways to ease transition from two to one minister 
• To include a variety and balance of liturgical elements of worship while recognizing the centrality of music, sermon and prayer 
• To continue to provide encouragement and training for a diversity of lay involvement in our worship services 
• To activily seek ways to encourage and practice inclusivity

Gathering to worship is an integral part of our Christian experience. The Worship Committee focuses on implementing this vision by concentrating on three specific outcomes endorsed by the congregation: occasional youth/children led services; lay participation; and a mix of traditional and contemporary music.

In 2009, the Worship Committee continues to look for ways to ensure that our worship services are Spirit inspired and to provide challenging channels for faith enrichment. One of the challenges is to find new ways to reach an increasingly divergent community in meaningful and faithful ways.  An example included the pulpit exchanges with Centennial Japanese United Church, and Northminster United Church.  We are also experimenting with joint services with our neighbor Northminster United Church both during the summer and two or three times throughout the year.  An intentional program of frequently inviting guest preachers to our pulpit exposes us to a variety of theological perspectives.

In addition to our regular Sunday Morning worship which blends traditional and contemporary worship styles, Newtonbrook also offers regular Taizé experiences, Taizé offers a more contemplative blend of music and prayer.

To facilitate the various worship experiences, the Worship Committee is organized into a Worship Planning group and a Worship Administration group.

The Sunday Morning Worship Planning group looks at future directions for our worship format and content, and planning services, with special emphasis on the core values and outcomes. Some of our special services include Rally Day (Church School launch), Thanksgiving, Remembrance Day, as well as Christmas and Easter celebrations. At least three services are planned jointly each year with the Taiwanese United Church in Toronto (Good Friday, World-Wide Communion Sunday and the Christmas Eve Family Service). Please check out our on-line calendar to see when these services are held.

The Worship Administration group coordinates the logistics of Sunday Morning Worship services. The group's representatives and associates are responsible for greeters, ushers, coffee, music, lay readers, communion and sanctuary setup and displays.  Our worship services are complimented by PowerPoint.  Large print bulletins, FM hearing assistance, handicapped access are available if required.  Take home tapes of the services are also available for a limited period of time..

Both groups appreciate your feedback and suggestions either by direct contact, a note on the offering plate, or email to the church.

None of this would be possible without inspired leadership of our ministers and the continued commitment of our people. Consider the number of people involved in supporting Sunday Morning Worship from the greeters at the door, the Care of Members Committee welcoming and handing out name tags, ushers, Sanctuary Guild, organist, choir members, audio-visual technicians, scripture readers, candle lighters, communion servers, coffee teams, counting teams, a PowerPoint provider, and a bulletin thanks to our capable Church administrator. Not all of these are Worship Committee responsibilities, but all make significant contributions to our experiences of worship, and we thank all involved.