Worship in the Episcopal Church is said to be “liturgical,” meaning that the congregation follows service forms and prays from texts that don’t change greatly from week to week during a season of the church year. This repetition gives worship a rhythm that soon becomes comforting and familiar.
For first-time visitors, liturgy may be exhilarating… or confusing. It involve standing, sitting, kneeling, singing or saying responses, and other participatory elements that may be challenging at first. However, liturgical worship can be compared with a dance: once you learn the steps, you come to appreciate the rhythm, and it becomes satisfying to dance, again and again, as the music changes.
The Liturgy of the Word
We begin by praising God through song and prayer, and then listen to as many as four readings from the Bible. Usually one from the Old Testament, a Psalm, something from the Epistles, and always a reading from the Gospels. The psalm is usually sung or recited by the congregation.
Next, a sermon interpreting the readings appointed for the day is preached. The congregation then recites the Nicene Creed (325 A.D.), which for approximately 1,700 years, has been the accepted summation of what Christians believe (*see note).
Next, the congregation prays together—for the God’s Church across the globe, the World, and those in need. We pray for the sick, thank God for all the good things in our lives, and finally, we pray for the dead. Our rector concludes with a prayer that gathers all of our petitions into a communal offering of intercession.
In certain seasons of the Church year, the congregation formally confesses their sins before God and one another. This is a corporate statement of what we have done and what we have left undone, followed by a pronouncement of absolution. In pronouncing absolution, the rector assures the congregation that God is always ready to forgive our sins.
The congregation then greets one another with an exchange of the peace. This is done by saying, “The Peace of the Lord be always with you,” while hugging, kissing or shaking hands with those around you. Exchanging the peace is a sign of both Christ’s love and of reconciliation between members.
The Liturgy of the Table
Next, the priest stands at the table (altar), which has been set with a cup of wine and a plate of bread or wafers, raises his or her hands, and greets the congregation by saying “The Lord be with you.”
Now begins the Eucharistic Prayer in which the rector tells the story of our faith, from the beginning of Creation through God choosing the people of Israel to be His people, our continual turning away from God, and God’s calling us to return.
Finally, the rector tells the story of the coming of Jesus Christ, and about the night before his death on which he instituted the Eucharistic meal (communion, Lord’s Supper) as a continual remembrance of him. The rector blesses the bread and wine followed by the congregation reciting the Lord’s Prayer followed by him breaking the bread and offering it to the congregation as the “gifts of God for the People of God.” The congregation then goes to the rail to share the bread and wine.
All Are Welcome
All baptized Christians—regardless of age or denomination—are welcome to receive communion. Episcopalians invite all baptized people to participate in communion not because we take the Eucharist lightly, but because we take baptism so seriously.
Visitors who are not baptized Christians are welcome to come forward during communion to receive a blessing. To indicate that you are at the rail for a blessing simply cross your arms in front of your chest when it is your turn.
At the end of the Eucharist, the congregation prays once more in thanksgiving, and then is dismissed to continue the life of service to God and to the World.
* The Nicene Creed is an ecumenical Christian statement of faith accepted in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Assyrian, the Anglican Communion, Lutheranism, the Reformed churches, Methodism, and many other forms of Protestantism. The First Council of Nicaea 325 (A.D.), held in Nicaea in Bithynia (present-day İznik in Turkey)was the first Ecumenical council of the Christian Church, and most significantly resulted in the first uniform Christian doctrine, called the Nicene Creed. With the creation of the creed, a precedent was established for subsequent ecumenical councils to create statements to define unity of beliefs for the whole of Christendom.
