A Guest's Guide to Worship
Greetings from the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer! We re delighted you re considering attending Church of the Redeemer. We want you to be comfortable during your visit so you can worship God freely. Episcopal worship services use several resources (explained below) and involve movement. Our worship exercises all the senses sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste. This whole person involvement gives God a lot of ways to reach us! We know our services can be overwhelming at first, so this booklet is our attempt to equip you ahead of time and set you at ease. Let s start with some frequently asked questions What if I m not a Christian? You are welcome among us. Hopefully, we ll learn from each other! Are my children welcome in your service? Yes! If you bring your children with you, we recommend that you sit at the front or near the aisle, so that your children can see and hear well. We also have activity bags (hanging in the foyer, near the bathrooms) for your children to use during the service if they wish. What other options are available for my children? Our nursery is for children ages 0 3 and is available during the 10:30 worship service in a play room near the kitchen. A trained childcare worker stays with the children at all times. Also during the 10:30 service, older children aged 4 through high school are invited to attend age appropriate Sunday school classes downstairs. Children rejoin their families in the worship service for Communion. What books do Episcopalians use in worship? The smaller red book is the Book of Common Prayer, often referred to as the BCP. This prayer book unites Episcopalians around the country in a common order of service and sets the schedule for our Scripture readings. Its roots date back to the sixteenth century in England, when Thomas Cranmer wrote the first English version of the Book of Common Prayer for the Church of England. And The larger blue book is the Hymnal 1982. The songs for each worship service are indicated in the bulletin. Our 10:30 service features our organ, praise band, and adult choir. And The spiral bound praise music booklet is a compilation of Christian songs treasured across many decades but not found in the Hymnal. We often sing songs from this book during the offertory.
Why is everybody so quiet? Quietness tends to be part of Episcopal church culture. Many Episcopalians take time before the service to sit quietly in the sanctuary to greet God, prepare for communion, and perhaps read the Scripture passages or other information printed in the bulletin. But we never want our penchant for quietness to make you embarrassed if you have family members with special needs or children for whom quietness is challenging. What is inside the bulletin the ushers distribute before the service? The bulletin includes the page numbers we will use from our 3 primary books: the Book of Common Prayer, the Hymnal, and the praise booklet. You will find the Scripture passages printed word for word. Every week, designated lectors read aloud the first and second lessons from the Old and New Testaments, the whole congregation reads a Psalm together, and a deacon reads aloud from one of the four Gospels. The bulletin may also include announcements of upcoming events and contact information for our clergy. What if I or someone I love needs prayer? In the foyer outside the sanctuary, on a table near where the ushers/greeters stand, you can find a list of people for whom we offer special prayers. If you would like to add someone s name to the prayer list, call the church office ahead of time, or handwrite the person s name on the list. They ll be included in our prayers for four weeks. If you would like someone to pray with you in person, you can approach one of the people standing near the baptismal font during Eucharist. You are also welcome to schedule a visit with a member of our clergy during the week. Why do some people bow or kneel before entering the pews? People have different ways of reverencing, or showing respect and submission to Christ. Some bow in the direction of the altar, some genuflect (touch their knee to the floor), and others reverence silently or without gesture. Do whatever helps you to worship; don t do whatever hinders that. Why do some people touch themselves on the forehead and shoulders at certain points in the service? Again, this is a personal worship style known as making the sign of the cross. Some people do it out of habit, others because it reminds them of the sacrifice Jesus made to enable us to respond to God s love; still others because it s their way of taking up their own cross and following him. This all sounds very Roman Catholic to me. Is this a Roman Catholic church? No. Yes. Well, that s a hard one to answer in a booklet like this. Although the ancient Church from which the Episcopal Church sprang was Roman Catholic, the present day Episcopal Church has practices and beliefs that are distinctly different from those of the Roman Catholic Church. The Episcopal Church is often referred to as a bridge church. We have deep roots in both the Catholic and Reformation traditions. The important thing, however, is our worship of God and our membership in the body of Christ, which includes Christians from many denominations.
Will I need to stand up and give my name or anything like that when I visit? No. We don t want to embarrass you or make you uncomfortable. But we hope you will complete one of the Guest cards in the pew and give it to an usher, or put it in the offertory plate. If you feel comfortable introducing yourself to some of us privately, we would be thrilled to meet and welcome you personally. What will happen during the first few minutes of the service? We encourage you to come a little early, so that you can get settled and familiarize yourself with the bulletin, possibly even preparing your Hymnal and Book of Common Prayer by marking the pages noted in the bulletin. You ll hear a musical Prelude, and you may notice people in white robes lighting candles on the altar to symbolize God s presence. During the first hymn, all of the people serving at the altar (as acolytes, Eucharistic ministers, and clergy) will be dressed in robes and will process together from the back of the church, following the cross and the Bible, with the clergy at the end of the line. The congregation may reverence the cross as it passes them. How is Communion celebrated at Church of the Redeemer? All baptized Christians of any age are invited and encouraged to participate in communion, which is our corporate remembrance of and participation in Christ s sacrifice for us and the whole world. All others are also invited to come forward for a blessing pronounced by the priest in the name of God Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Those receiving communion or a blessing may kneel or stand. To receive communion, cup your right hand, palm up, in your left hand and a priest or deacon will put a piece of bread in your hand, saying either, The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ keep you in everlasting life, or The Body of Christ, the bread of heaven. Simply raise your hands to your mouth and eat the bread, or save it to dip in the wine if you prefer. Next comes the wine. We drink real wine from a common cup. As the chalice bearer gives you wine, he or she will say, The Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ keep you in everlasting life, or The Blood of Christ, the cup of salvation. When the chalice bearer comes to you, help guide the cup to your lips, and take a sip (or dip your bread in the wine and then eat it). If you do not wish to consume wine, cross your arms over your chest as the chalice bearer approaches you. If you have a child whom you do not wish to take communion, just have your child cross his or her arms across his or her chest. Crossed arms signal the desire to abstain from communion but receive a blessing. Those wishing to be blessed may cross their arms over their chests as a signal to the priest.
Besides Sunday morning worship services, what else does your church provide for spiritual nourishment and friendship? Adult Sunday school meets at 9:15 in Coffelt Hall, and everyone is welcome; no preparation is necessary. Wednesday evening Adult Formation participants enjoy a potluck supper together at 6:00 p.m. and educational programming from 6:30 7:30. Men and women s groups meet alternating Tuesday mornings in Coffelt Hall at 10 a.m. Ministry opportunities abound and may be found by clicking the Ministries tab on our website or by checking the Outreach Ministries brochure at our newcomers table in Coffelt Hall. A few last things Symbolism in Episcopal worship services ~ In the very earliest churches, most people could neither read nor write. So it became necessary to invent ways to teach people about religious matters and let them know what was going on, especially since all services and prayers were in Latin! Many of these traditions still exist like different clothing/ vestment colors to denote various seasons of the church year, stained glass windows to tell Biblical stories, Sanctus Bells to indicate the most solemn moments of Holy Communion, incense to represent our prayers rising to God, etc. These subtle reminders enhance the beauty of our tradition and enrich our worship services today. Remember When you re worshiping God, you can t get it wrong! So, relax as much as you can, and never do anything that makes you uncomfortable. If you need help, ask someone near you. We all have questions at one time or another. We are honored by your interest in our church, and we hope to meet you soon. May God bless you.