Crossing the line

"In the morning when you get up, make the sign of the holy cross and say..." (Small Catechism, Daily Prayers)

Coming from an evangelical background, one of the oddest things to get accustomed to when exploring Lutheranism was the use of the sign of the cross. However, over the past months I've grown to greatly love this "excellent reminder of who we are: baptized children of God who have been redeemed by Christ the crucified" (LCMS FAQ), and now always use it in my own personal devotions.

But at our church, absolutely no-one whatsoever in the congregation makes the sign of the cross during Divine Service. This was something of a surprise for me: it'd taken quite some adjusting to the idea of this "papist" practice before first attending a Lutheran church, and I then had to adjust back to the fact people weren't in fact doing it (exactly the same applies to individual confession and absolution).

It feels rather odd for Divine Service to be the only time during the week when I don't make the sign of the cross during the invocation etc. I have tried doing so on occasion but it feels rather affected to be the only person doing it. I know that "Christians shouldn't even notice whether other Christians do such things" (to quote CS Lewis, as cited in the same FAQ) but I still feel very self-conscious about it, which is the worst of all things to feel in a church service! This is partly insecurity over whether I'm doing it "wrong" (though I do it "Lutheran style", right to left, as described in the FAQ) or at the "wrong time".

So - while I know, deep down, that this is a profoundly silly thread to be starting - I'd be interested to know what the practice is in other people's churches, and whether you think I should just grit my teeth and get on with it.