We welcome all who come into our midst, from seekers of a faith community to the spiritually dispossessed. We spread the joy of faith by sharing our many gifts among the people of our church and our community, and by dedicating our time, talent, and treasure to the sick, the poor, the forgotten, the least among us.
Our church is a place of healing and comfort, a people who fast become family and community.
Our purpose is to lift all closer to God through a liturgy that has endured through the ages, grace-filled sermons, sacred music, communion at the table of our risen Lord, beauty that celebrates and honors God, and the practice of loving our neighbors as ourselves.
THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH in the United States of America is part of the worldwide Anglican Communion which has approximately 70 million members. We claim to be both catholic — that is, true to the historic and apostolic faith, and protestant — as well as truly reformed and evangelical.
The only required confession of faith is the Apostles' Creed (which is our baptismal creed) and Nicene Creed which we share with all of Christendom. Our profession of faith is in Holy Baptism, and our central act of worship is the Holy Eucharist, also known as Holy Communion. These are the two great Sacraments of the Church, given by Christ as a sure and certain means by which we receive his grace. The Apostle’s Creed is the ancient creed of Baptism; it is used in the Church's daily worship to recall our Baptismal Covenant.
Since we belong to the historic and apostolic faith, we embrace the other sacramental rites of the Church. They are confirmation, ordination, holy matrimony, reconciliation of a penitent, and unction.
Because we are a global church, we cannot be parochial or isolationist. Our unity of worship allows for variations which serve to remind us of the universal nature of the Church. Thus, we celebrate our diversity, and tolerance is viewed not as an excuse or a sign of weakness, but as our strength.
THE LITURGY of the Church is expressed as the “act of the people” in a worshiping community. We worship in accordance with the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) and sing hymns from three different hymnals authorized by the Standing Liturgical Commission. Both the Book of Common Prayer and the hymnals are set forward by authority of the General Convention of the Episcopal Church.
At our services you will find Bibles, prayer books and hymnals in the pews. If you are unfamiliar with our services, you will find these helpful in following along with the service, along with the printed bulletin which is provided by an usher, or may be picked up at the front or back of the church. The Hymnal numbers are announced and posted on the board at the front of the church.
IN OUR WORSHIP, we are united with past, present, and future generations of Christians. Our worship experience is carried out with a view to the glorification of God, not for our entertainment. Thus, Episcopalians are not spectators but participants in worship. Not only do we express ourselves in word but also in gesture.
Generally we kneel to pray, we stand to praise, and sit to be instructed. All other devotional gestures are optional and purely personal. Please feel free to do what feels comfortable for you in our service. For Episcopalians, worship is the most important thing we do, and ultimately this reality should characterize all that we do in every area of our life.
WE BELIEVE that God is knowable . . . and that we are loved. We believe that you can know, experience and have a relationship with God. We believe that all of creation is good. God created each element of his creation and said, “It is good.” Jesus said, “the Kingdom of God is in your midst.” We can be a part of it now. Therefore we embrace all of life and believe life is to be celebrated.
We also refuse to divide the world into the physical and the spiritual. We believe that God is in all that we do and that living a spiritual life is a 24 - 7 affair. Salvation is not a merit badge to be earned but a process -- a journey to be lived.
We are never in a position of not being loved by God. When we come together to worship, we come together to celebrate that love, not to get something that is absent to us. The problem humanity faces is not the Lord’s presence to us, but rather our presence to God. This is what any sacramental celebration tries to overcome -- not God’s distance from us, because there is none, but rather our distance from God and our unawareness of the love that is already there for us.
WE ARE IDEALISTS. We take words like peacemaker, mercy, grace, equality, and so forth seriously. We strive to incarnate those words into this universe. We believe in living into the ideals of Jesus and forgiving ourselves and others when we fail to do so.
We are content to LIVE WITH QUESTIONS. Ours is a “seeker-friendly” church where we believe God will meet us wherever we are on our spiritual journey. We do not believe that we have to have an answer for everything. We have an intense respect for thoughtful holiness. We resist giving people simple answers to complex questions. We do not see ourselves in opposition to any field of inquiry, but in concert with it.
We are a people of COMMON PRAYER. The spiritual journey is a communal activity. When we ask a person to walk the way of Jesus, we are asking her or him to do so in the company of fellow travelers. The people of God who we call the Church are here to strengthen and encourage one another in our spiritual life.
We do this when we come together for our common act of worship and learning. We do this when we care for one another in both the good times and the bad with our ministries of presence, prayer, and kindness. We do this when we work together to alleviate the suffering of those who are oppressed in mind, body, or spirit. And we do this when we invite others to join us on our journey. When we come together as the Church in large or small groups, we are strengthened and encouraged by God and by one another.
THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH is an inclusive church that resists classifying or categorizing the people of God.
Join us on this shared journey we know as faith.
Episcopal or Anglican church services are congregational or, in modern parlance, participatory. An usher will hand you a printed program that describes each step in service (or you may find programs at the front and back of the church).
In your pew you will find the Book of Common Prayer (BCP), which enables you and the rest of the congregation to share fully in every service. In the Book of Common Prayer, the larger print is the actual service; the smaller print provides directions to ministers and worshipers for conduct of the service. You will also find Hymnals and Bibles in your pew.
You may wonder when to stand or kneel; take your cue from the bulletin and those around you, as you are comfortable. The general rule is to stand to sing hymns (found in the blue Hymnal in your pews) and other songs (many of them from the Holy Bible) called canticles or chants and printed as part of the service; to affirm our faith together in the Nicene Creed, and also to stand for the reading of the Gospel during the Holy Eucharist. Psalms are sung or said, sitting or standing. We sit during readings from the Old or New Testament Letters, the sermon, and the choir anthems. We stand or kneel for prayer to show our gratefulness to God for accepting us as children and as an act of humility before God.
The principal service in our church is the Holy Eucharist (Holy Communion). All baptized Christians are welcome to receive Communion at God's table in the Episcopal Church; as your neighbors rise and go forward to partake, you may join them or not, according to your preference. As you kneel at the altar rail, you will be given a consecrated wafer and sip of wine. You may dip the wafer into the wine (called intinction), if you prefer that to drinking from the communal cup. Or, if you wish to receive a blessing in lieu of Holy Communion, come to the altar rail and so indicate by crossing your arms over your chest.
While some parts of the services are always the same, others change. At the Holy Eucharist, for example, two or three Bible selections are read. These change each Sunday, as do readings from the Psalms. Certain prayers also change. Follow along in the bulletin, and do not be embarrassed to ask your neighbor for help.
You will find the services of the Episcopal Church beautiful in their ordered dignity. They are consistently God-centered, yet mindful of the nature and needs of human beings.
Customs vary in our church, depending on the tradition that is comfortable for each person. Many bow when they enter church and kneel in prayer before worship. Some also bow to the altar on entering and leaving the church as an act of reverence for Christ, but others do not. Most Episcopalians do not talk in church before a service but use this time for personal meditation and devotions. At the end of a service, some kneel for a private prayer before leaving while others listen to the organ postlude.
At our 10:30 a.m. service, you will often be greeted by ushers. They will answer any questions you may have about the service. The clergy, acolytes and other service participants will enter and leave in a line from/to the back of the church. Our priest will greet people as they leave. After the 10:30 service ends, all are invited to "Coffee Hour" in the parish hall (exit to the front/right of the church); please join us - we'd like to meet you!
To add to the beauty of the services and to signify their special ministries, the clergy and other ministers customarily wear what are called vestments. Choir vestments usually consist of an undergown called a cassock (usually black) and a white, gathered overgown called a surplice. The clergy may also wear cassock and surplice.
Another familiar vestment is the alb, a white tunic with sleeves that covers the body from neck to ankles. Over it (or over the surplice), ordained ministers wear a stole, a narrow band of colored fabric. Deacons wear the stole over one shoulder, priests and bishops over both shoulders.
At the Holy Eucharist, a bishop or priest frequently wears a chasuble (a circular garment that envelopes the body) over the alb and stole. The deacon's corresponding vestment has sleeves and is called a dalmatic. Bishops sometimes wear a special head covering called a mitre. Stoles, chasubles, and dalmatics, as well as altar coverings, are usually made of rich fabrics. Their color changes with the seasons and holy days of the Church Year. The most frequently used colors are white, red, violet, and green.
The Episcopal Church observes the traditional Christian calendar. The season of Advent, during which we prepare for Christmas, begins on the Sunday closest to November 30. Christmas itself lasts 12 days, after which we celebrate the feast of the Epiphany (January 6).
Lent, the 40 days of preparation for Easter, begins on Ash Wednesday. Easter season lasts 50 days, concluding on the feast of Pentecost.
During these times the Bible readings are chosen for their appropriateness to the season. During the rest of the year—the season after Epiphany and the long season after Pentecost (except for a few special Sundays)—the New Testament is read sequentially from Sunday to Sunday. The Old Testament lesson corresponds in theme with one of the New Testament readings.
If you wish to know more about the Episcopal Church or how to join our church, our priest will gladly answer your questions and suggest the way to membership.
Source: “What to Expect at an Anglican Church” www.anglicansonline.org