For the Book of Common Prayer on the web click here: https://www.bcponline.org/
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Our Worship Services
Sermon by the Rev. Andrew Goldhor for All Saints Sunday, Nov. 6, 2022
Sundays
On Sunday during the academic year, we worship at 10:00 am. This service is Holy Eucharist (also known as Holy Communion or Mass), using the Book of Common Prayer and other authorized liturgies of the Episcopal Church.
Weekdays
A service of Morning Prayer is held at 7:15 am Wednesday through Friday. This is a beautiful, quiet way to start the day centered in God. The service includes scripture, prayer, and quiet.
Our Hidden Brook contemplative prayer service is on Thursday nights at 7 pm. More information about this beautiful service is here.
Order and Variety in Worship
Worship of God is the heart of our life together, inspiring and preparing us to carry out the ministry of reconciliation to which we have been called. Everyone of all ages, faith backgrounds, cultures, and sexual orientations and expressions is welcome not just to "show up," but to bring their joys and pains, talents and questions, fears and hopes.
Our worship follows patterns Christians have used since early church times. While some parts of the service are always the same, others change. At the Holy Eucharist, for example, two or three Bible selections are read. These change each Sunday. So do the psalms. Certain of the prayers also change, depending on the occasion, season, or needs of the world. We try to make the service as easy to follow as possible for everyone. But do not be embarrassed to ask your neighbor if you have questions!
What will service be like?
Our worship uplifts, challenges and unites us, but it is not really for us. It is for God, whom we name as the source of our being and the giver of all gifts. We come to praise and thank God and to learn from God so that we can join in God's work of reconciliation and love.Most of what you need to join in worship is in the worship bulletin the greeter will hand you. You will also find prayer books and hymnals near your seat.
You may wonder when to stand, sit, or kneel. Practices vary even among individual Episcopalians. The general rule is to stand to sing hymns (found in the Hymnal) and other songs which are printed in the bulletin. We stand, too, to say our affirmation of faith, the Creed, and for the reading of the Gospel in the Holy Eucharist. Psalms are sung or said while sitting.
We sit during readings from the Hebrew scriptures 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 or as an act of humility before God.
Can I take Communion?
The tradition of the Episcopal Church is one of hospitality. This is God's table and all are welcome to receive the consecrated bread and wine of communion, in which we believe in the real presence of Jesus Christ, or a blessing of the church. For Communion, it is our custom to come forward and place the palm of one hand in the other to receive the bread. You may receive the wine either by guiding the chalice to your mouth, or by intinction (carefully dipping the bread into the wine). Gluten-free bread is also blessed each week & available.
If you would like the celebrating minister to bless you instead, come forward without presenting your hands for the bread.
You Will Not Be Embarrassed
When you visit an Episcopal church, you will be our respected and welcome guest. You will not be singled out in an embarrassing way, nor asked to stand before the congregation nor to come forward. You will worship God with us.
Children and Worship
Baptized children are full members of our church, and they participate in worship leadership at our Family Worship services. Children can serve as vergers, acolytes, readers, intercessors, musicians, artists and a few times a year, enact the gospel for us.
Through worship, instruction, service, and fellowship of the community, children are formed -- body, soul, and mind -- for Christian life. This is why we talk about "formation" rather than "education" or "Sunday school."
Baptism is the sacrament through which we become part of the Body of Christ. Celebrating baptisms is our greatest joy and a chance for the entire parish to remember their calling in Christ. Find out more about baptism by emailing Rev. Andrew Goldhor at rector@goodshepherdwatertown.org.