Here's an overview of what you can
expect at St. John's.
The Place of Worship
As you enter the church, you will notice an atmosphere of
quiet reverence in the few minutes prior to the beginning of
worship. Most of our worshippers cherish that quiet moment to
make a transition from the world outside into the spirit of
God’s house. The architecture of St. John’s, as of all Episcopal
Churches, carries your eye to the altar and then to the cross,
taking our thoughts at once to Christ whom we hope to encounter,
and to God, whose house this is.
On and alongside the altar are candles to remind us that Christ
is the "Light of the world." [John 8:11] The outer candles are
lit for the first part of the service to symbolize the
illumination of the word of God we hear through scripture,
preaching and prayer, but the candles on the altar are not lit
until the consecration of the bread and wine itself begins,
symbolizing the presence of Jesus Christ.
Except during the penitential seasons of Advent and Lent, there
are flowers at the altar to beautify God’s house and recall the
resurrection of Jesus.
To the right of the altar is the lectern, which is used for the
reading of scripture from the Bible and where the preacher--most
often the rector, but sometimes a seminarian or a lay
person--preaches the sermon.
The Act of Worship
Episcopal worship services are
congregational. In the pews, you will find the Book of Common
Prayer which enables the congregation to share fully in every
service. In addition, you will also find in the pews a copy of
the Episcopal Hymnal.
You may wonder when to stand, sit or kneel. You may also notice
that there are times in the service when some people at St.
John's are standing while others are kneeling. The general
rule is to stand to sing. We stand, also, to say our affirmation
of the faith (the Creed) and for the reading of the Gospel. Some
of our parishioners stand during the consecration while others
kneel—either is appropriate. We sit during readings from the
Bible, the sermon, the announcements and the choir anthems. We
generally kneel, though some stand, during prayers to show our
gratefulness to God for accepting us as his children, or as an
act of humility before God.
The Prayer Book
All worship at St. John's is drawn from the Book of Common
Prayer. Sometimes, people wonder at the wisdom of this
approach—it seems like rote repetition to them. Yet the reality
is that it is very freeing. Because we are thoroughly familiar
with the words, we are freed spiritually to go where the words
take us—whether it is to a place of penitence for our sins, of
deep searching for God in prayer, or of joy in the incredibly
generous gift of Christ’s life for us. Like icons and
sacraments, the Prayer Book is a window into another world—God’s
world—through which we see our own world and lives differently.
Granted, it takes a little getting used to…but once the Prayer
Book becomes familiar it is a springboard, not a brick wall.
The Regular Services
The central service of worship at St.
John’s is the Holy
Eucharist, the remembrance of Christ’s death and resurrection
made concrete in the bread and wine. As you participate in the
Eucharist over time the logic of this service will grow clearer.
In a nutshell, we begin by listening to scripture and reflecting
on its meaning for life, and then move through prayer,
confession and forgiveness to becoming the family of God
gathered around the table of God, living ever so briefly the
life of heaven before we return again to the world, hopefully
transformed and renewed to live life differently.
Vestments
To add to the beauty and festivity of the services, and to
signify special ministries, the clergy and other ministers wear
vestments. Choir vestments consist of a black undergown called a
cassock, and a white, gathered overgown called a surplice. Laity
who have roles as worship leaders will often wear this same
vestment. Acolytes, young people and occasionally adults who
assist with worship, wear a cotton alb.
The priest wears an alb as well—a white tunic with sleeves that
covers the body from neck to ankles. Over it, the priest wears a
stole, a narrow band of colored fabric in the color of the
season of the church year (see next section).
At the Holy Eucharist, the second part of the Sunday service,
the priest wears a chasuble (a circular garments that envelops
the body) over the alb. Like the stole, this garment is in the
color of season of the church year.
The wearing of vestments call to mind that what is happening in
a church service is unusual and godly, something different from
the world of ordinary experience. However, the are other service
participants, including those who read scripture and lead
prayers, who wear ordinary clothes and sit in the pews with the
rest of the congregation. These people remind us that everything
we do must simultaneously be connected with the world we live in
on a daily basis. While the consciousness of heaven is meant to
lift us out of this world, it is not escapism, but renewal for
the life God has given us to lead.
The Church Year
The Episcopal Church observes the traditional Christian
calendar in which we move through the life of Christ in the
course of a year. The season of Advent, during which we prepare
for the birth of Christ at Christmas, begins on the Sunday
closest to November 30. Christmas itself lasts twelve days,
after which we celebrate the Epiphany (January 6) in which the
light of Christ breaks out into the world.
Lent, the forty days of penitential preparation for Easter,
begins on Ash Wednesday. The most deeply spiritual services of
the year take place during the week before Easter in which we
commemorate the last days of the life of Christ culminating in
his resurrection on Easter Sunday. During the Easter season, we
focus particularly on the experiences of the risen Christ in the
early Church, culminating in Pentecost, 50 days after Easter,
when the disciples are filled by the Holy Spirit and sent into
the world.
During all of these seasons, the Bible readings are selected for
their relevance to the events being commemorated. During the
rest of the year in the long season after Pentecost, the New
Testament is read sequentially from Sunday to Sunday so the
congregation can experience the total teaching and experience of
Christ and of the apostle Paul and other authors of New
Testament letters. Old Testament lessons are selected to
correspond with the theme of the day’s Gospel.
Where do I go from here?
To church, we hope! As you experience worship at St.
John's, please feel free to ask any questions that come to
mind. Our priest will be happy to schedule time to visit with
you. We trust and pray that, as worship becomes more familiar to
you, the experience of being with God and your family in Christ
at St. John's will open the doors of the kingdom of God to
you. |
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