THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH

WELCOME  PEOPLE  BELIEF  LITURGY  PLACE

WELCOME

When people gathered around Jesus and received strength from him, they left joyful, praising God. This is what the Church, as the body of Christ, is called to do. We gather to participate in the life of Jesus, who blessed and healed and made whole. And we are called to imitate that blessing ourselves.

At its best, a Christian community lifts up its members, freeing their gifts, supporting their life, and making them feel as exuberant as the child Jesus blessing in the sculpture.

Journey

What's at the end of the road and why are we traveling at all? God is calling. God is the road and the destination, the vehicle, and the energy which drives us. We find ourselves on the trip, and we learn from it and from everyone on it with us. We would love for you to come along.

Via Media

Via Media, meaning Middle Way, describes a primary value of the Episcopal Church to provide a space in which people of widely differing opinions, histories, and practices may find a home. The Episcopal Church strives to create a community in which differences enrich one another.

You may notice the manifestation of this range of practice in the churches you visit. Some, called "Low Church," place an emphasis on simplicity, hymns, and preaching. "High" or "Anglo-Catholic" churches approach the practice of Catholicism in the elaboration of liturgy. Keeping these two approaches in communion has been, and is today, a difficult challenge. And it makes the church interesting.

History

The historical roots of the Episcopal Church reach back through the American independence movement, deep into English history, and ultimately back to Jesus and his followers.

During that time the language of the prayer book and the practice of liturgy have changed. Words have changed because meanings have changed or are no longer understood. Text is added or removed to accommodate changing understandings of how the People of God understand and worship God. Practices change as we come to see them as limited.

These changes come slowly and often painfully, but they come. At their best they are not so much radical departures as renewals, They layer over what used to be, not to obliterate it, but to incorporate it. They come because the Episcopal Church lives within the flow of history.

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PEOPLE

Within the Episcopal Church all people are ministers. Some are called into special ministry positions to which they are "ordained." These are deacons, priests, and bishops, all of whom are together called clergy. All others are called lay people. All participate in the work of the church and all participate in its governance. Their special functions are described in the Catechism.

The service of Holy Baptism ends with the following:

Celebrant:

Let us welcome the newly baptized.

Celebrant and People:

We receive you into the household of God. Confess the faith of Christ crucified, proclaim his resurrection, and share with us in his eternal priesthood.

These words are a reminder that "the people" are sanctified participants.


The World

If you wander around in the Prayer Book enough, you will find prayers for the full range of human activity, not just for "churchy" things. There are prayers for peace, for our enemies, for our country, for congress or a state legislature, for agriculture, for the unemployed, for victims of addiction, for those who live alone, for those who suffer for an act of conscience, and many more.

The Episcopal Church does not separate itself from "the world" but sees God's hand in all aspects of life. Because of this, people in the Episcopal Church are engaged in work in the world.

The Church

"The Church" is not a building. "The Church" is the people gathered. Episcopalians gather in communities, most of which are called parishes. A geographic grouping of communities is called a diocese, each of which is led by a bishop - episcopus, in Latin, which give us our name. In the American Episcopal Church there are over 100 dioceses. The Presiding Bishop, as the name implies, presides over the entire Episcopal Church.

The organization and governing principles of the Church are patterned on the principles of representative government, separation of authority, and balance of power that guided the formation of American civil government at the time the Episcopal Church was first founded.

The Episcopal Church in the United States is a part of the Anglican Church throughout the world, called the Anglican Communion. Every ten years representatives of the Anglican Communion meet at a conference in Lambeth, England.

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BELIEF

Episcopalians believe in a Trinitarian God, which means a God of creation, redemption, and constant presence and love. This belief is stated in forms called Creeds that are said together at worship services.

We believe that the church is Christ living and visible in the world. This does not mean that any group is perfect. In fact, belonging to a church is an exercise in patience, forbearance, and love. But at every baptism, all the people are asked again to renew their own baptismal covenant. One of the questions is "Will you continue in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers?" We believe that we are called to continue practices that date back to Jesus.

Scripture

You will hear readings from the Bible, Scripture, at every service.

At the Eucharist the first reading will come from the Old Testament, the story of God's promise to his people.

This is usually followed by a reading from the Book of Psalms, the ancient book of hymns and prayers. The people will join in reading the Psalm. At the main Sunday service the Psalm may be sung to a musical form called Anglican chant. Follow as best you can until you pick up the tune, which is repeated every two verses.

After the Psalm comes a reading from an Epistle, which is a letter, usually from St. Paul, although there are other letters in the New Testament to young Christian communities.

Finally there is a reading from one of the four Gospels - the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Because these books tell the story of Jesus' life and actions, this reading is usually marked out as special by the Celebrant by holding the book high and carrying it into the midst of the people during the singing of a hymn.

As you will see by exploring the Prayer Book, Scripture readings are found in every service at all times of the day.

Tradition

Episcopalians are known for our devotion to tradition. This means that we learn from the stories we have been told, beginning with those in the Bible. We take to heart the legacy entrusted to us by those who came before - the great cloud of witnesses - and we honor that legacy as a living link to Jesus and the Apostles.

Tradition may mean the particular practice of one particular church, and often people want that practice never to change simply for the sake of tradition. But tradition also means the continuation of faith practice, particularly the celebration of the Eucharist and Baptism.

Always there is tension between holding onto the old and moving toward the new. By working out how to live with this tension we keep our faith and practice alive.

Reason

It is not easy to see God's will or to know God's way. The Episcopal Church not only recognizes this, but encourages each person to wrestle with tough issues and not accept easy answers. We believe that serving God involves the mind together with the heart and the soul. We believe that God is in classrooms as much as in church buildings.

Because of this, Episcopalians disagree, often vehemently, on many issues, but we try, at the same time, to remain "in communion." That is, we try to recognize that while faithful people may disagree, God is greater than our limited knowledge.

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LITURGY

Episcopalians are liturgical, meaning we worship using a set of texts, which are found in the Book of Common Prayer. Not only will you know pretty much what to expect when you go to any Episcopal service; the words for that service are in the hands of the people.

These services tell a story and act it out. For instance, at every Eucharist celebration the people act out the Gospel story of the Last Supper, eating a piece of bread and taking a sip of wine because Jesus told us to do so, in remembrance of him. Similarly, the baptism of Jesus began for Christians a rite of acceptance that makes use of the symbolism of water.

Because the liturgy draws the people into the story through the use of all senses, services are beautiful, dignified, and yet, invariably human. Please do not be afraid of making a mistake. The Prayer Book provides the words you will need and the small print gives instructions about standing and kneeling. Please know that gestures, standing, sitting, or kneeling are essentially determined not by rules about what is right and what is wrong, but by your own beliefs and practices.

Principal Services

Most Episcopal churches celebrate Holy Eucharist with music and sermon on Sunday morning, usually at a time between 9:30 and 11:00. An earlier celebration of the Eucharist will usually be simple and quiet.

Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer are, as the names imply, focused on prayers and canticles, either said or sung. There may be a sermon and may be hymns.

The bulletin provides all the page numbers in the Book of Common Prayer and the hymnal. Please don't be afraid to ask your neighbor for help.

Common Prayer

Episcopalians pray together. Even when we are using one of the many options available within the liturgy or are doing things in a way that reflects the personality of the community, when we gather, we use words from the Book of Common Prayer, which is in everyone's hands.

Many of the words of the liturgy become so familiar that they come naturally. "The Lord be with you," says the voice, and Episcopalians everywhere will respond, "And also with you." The words become a part of our selves. They hold us together. As the Invitatory above indicates, we declare praise with one mouth.

Sacraments

The sacraments are "outward and visible signs of an inward and spiritual grace," which means that we recognize God as active and acting in the world today. In the Eucharist, ordinary bread and wine become sacraments - symbols of the belief that the sacred permeates daily life.

The principal sacraments - the ones ordained by Jesus - are Baptism and the Eucharist. Baptism in the Episcopal Church may happen at a very young age, and so the vows are taken on behalf of the child. The Eucharist is celebrated at least once a week and is a remembrance and celebration of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection as well as a time of strengthening and renewal.

The other five sacraments in the Episcopal Church are Confirmation (the confirming in adulthood of commitment), Ordination (to the priesthood), Marriage, Reconciliation (confession and absolution), and Anointing of the Sick.

The Church Year

The church follows a calendar that in some, but not all, ways corresponds to the calendar on your wall. Christmas is always on the same day, but Easter depends upon a complex system that dates back to the time of Jesus.

The major seasons of the church year surround these two festivals. They both have a time of preparation before them and a time of celebration after.

As the seasons change, the colors of the vestments and altar coverings change. Purple is the color for penitence, white for celebration, green for Ordinary Time.

There are more colors as well and more feast days, saints days, and holy days. A full calendar is printed in the Book of Common Prayer and the online version includes the colors.

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PLACE

Episcopalians can and do worship God in all manner of places because the place itself is not important to the validity of the liturgy. At the same time, places can be imbued with meaning and reflect the personality of the people who gather there. They can also help or hinder an understanding of what occurs there.

Essential to every Episcopal place of worship is the altar table around which (or before which) the people gather. The flow of the service may move away from the altar in various directions for readings and preaching, but it centers on the altar, which for Episcopalians is the table of the Lord's Supper.

Liturgical Objects

In every Episcopal service of the Eucharist are the chalice, which holds the wine, and the paten, which holds the bread. Episcopalians drink from a common cup in memory of the cup that Jesus shared with his followers at the Last Supper. The bread is usually circular and at the moment of blessing is lifted, broken, and placed on the paten to be brought to the people.

You will also see candles, which symbolize the light of Christ. The candles are lit before the service begins and put out at the end.

The cross may be simple or ornate but most often is not a crucifix; that is, it does not have on it the body of Christ. Episcopalians focus on the empty cross rather than the moment of the Crucifixion.

Vestments

The flowing and ornamented robes worn by the participants set the liturgy apart and increase its dramatic effect. There is a variety in the vestments and what they say about the role of the person wearing them.

A bishop may wear a peaked hat called a mitre and carry a crook, symbolic of a shepherd's crook. He also wears a chasuble, a circular garment with only a hole for the head. At celebrations of the Eucharist, the chasuble may be put on after the service of the Word and before the Eucharist proper.

Choir members commonly wear a long black robe called a cassock, over which is a shorter white surplice.

If a person is ordained, they will also wear a stole, a narrow band of colored fabric, around the neck.

Acolytes, who are usually lay people, wear simple robes tied with knotted ropes.

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