ABOUT our CHURCH

A Lectionary is an assigned schedule of readings/passages from The Bible that are used both in daily worship and Sabbath worship in many Christian Churches.  Forest Lake Presbyterian Church most often follows the Revised Common Lectionary. The RCL is a three-year cycle of passages that assigns for each Sunday and Christian holiday readings from The Old Testament, The Psalms, The Epistles or other writings, and one of the four Gospels.

The use of a lectionary as a focus for worship ensures that a congregation, over time, will hear the various voices and lessons of Scripture and not be captive to the favorite texts of the pastor.  Use of the Lectionary allows a congregation to learn from the whole of Scripture, invites us to consider how multi-faceted and rich the message of Scripture is, and prevents us from focusing only on the messages of Scripture with which we are comfortable and so avoid the challenge that Scripture brings.

Nursery staff are available on Sunday mornings. Look for an usher on Sunday mornings to direct you to the nursery. Please take a beeper with you after signing in, in case the Nursery Staff need to contact you during worship.  Older children are invited to attend worship with their parents.  Children’s bulletins and coloring pages are available as you enter the sanctuary.

Forest Lake Youth (FLY) meets weekly. Contact the Youth Director or the News and Events Happenings page for announcements. Children’s Sunday school takes place after worship.

If a church is called “Presbyterian” it means that our identity was formed in some important ways by the events of the Protestant Reformation that happened in Europe in the 13th – 16th Centuries.  That history has shaped our theology and our government. However, there are multiple Presbyterian Denominations. Forest Lake is a part of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. This is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the U.S. and is by far the most diverse.  With just under 1 ½ million members in around 9,400 different congregations, PC(USA) Congregations fall all along the theological spectrum and tend to be more diverse than the smaller Presbyterian denominations. PC(USA) is the only Presbyterian Denomination that mandates that women be equal to men in ministry and be equally represented on our leaderboards. PC(USA) is also the only Presbyterian denomination in the U.S. that allows same-sex marriage and ordains openly LGBT members in a committed relationship as clergy and as lay leaders.

• Baptism – If you have never publically professed Jesus Christ as God’s Son and your Lord and Savior or been baptized into the Christian faith, then we welcome you to make your profession of faith here. If you have been baptized in any other Christian Church then you do not need to be re-baptized to join Forest Lake (see Re-Affirmation and Transfer of Membership). Before being baptized, you will be given the opportunity to meet with one of the pastors to talk about the meaning of becoming a Disciple of Jesus Christ and the process of Baptism.
• Re-Affirmation of Faith – If you were baptized into any Christian community, but have not been an active part of any congregation for some time, you may wish to join Forest Lake Presbyterian Church by re-affirming your faith in Jesus Christ as God’s Son and your Lord and Savior. After conversations with one of the pastors, you will be given the opportunity to re-affirm your faith by answering three simple questions before a small group of the Ruling Elders of our congregation. There is no test and no requirements for knowledge! There is only an opportunity to say that you believe in Jesus Christ and that you want to learn what it means to be a disciple of Jesus, want to be a member of Forest Lake, and want to become involved and supportive of Forest Lake’s Community.
• Transfer of Membership – If you have recently been active in another Christian Congregation, but now wish to have Forest Lake be your primary faith home, then you may do so by requesting to move your membership to Forest Lake. You can do this by contacting one of the pastors, or by indicating your wish to join on the Friendship Registers that are passed among the worshippers every Sunday morning.