In its four stages of Proclamation (Gospel Reading), Offerto- rium, Transubstantiation and Communion it is the archetypal image of every human encounter.
The Service/Cultus is an outwardly visible image of higher spiritual processes. Colours and shapes of vestments and ritual objects let shine through what takes place invisibly in the cere- monies.
The Sacrament of Bread and Wine which has found different forms in Christian Churches is called the 'Act of Consecration of Man' in The Christian Community.
This rather unusual name wants to say: We are on the path to become true human beings with the help of Christ who gives the 'food for this path' (Viaticum) to those who seriously search for him, try to understand him and follow him.
In its archetypal order of the four steps: (1) Proclamation of the Gospel, (2) Offering of the human soul forces, (3) Transubstan- tiation of Bread and Wine to Body and Blood of the Risen One and (4) Communion (Encounter and Union with the Divine), the renewed Mass proves to be Man's path to Christ and to his own true self.
Through the death on the cross and the burial of the body, the entire earth became the body of Christ, and all that flows in a living way, his blood.
In The Act of Consecration of Man, Christ is invited through our Offerings to deepen this process of transformation to a streng- thened reality, and to meet us in these substances.
The Creed and the Lord's Prayer are part of the Service.
A short sermon, which follows the Gospel reading, is also part of the Service on Sundays.
Like the seasons of the year, the Christian Service is also rhyth- mically structured in festival tides.
The colours of the altar and the vestments are an expression of the mood and character of each festival tide; specific prayers (epistles) support this experience. A cycle of pericopes (specific Gospel readings) forms a progressive path through the Chris- tian year.
Besides members and friends of The Christian community, everybody who wants to get to know the service is invited to partake in it.