What to expect when you visit
Christ Episcopal
Church!
 
 
You will be Welcome!
We extend to you a cordial invitation to come and worship with us, and
offer this as a brief introduction to Christ Episcopal Church and the Episcopal Church and its
ways...
 
The Place of Worship
As you enter, you will experience an atmosphere of worship and
reverence.
Episcopal church buildings are built in many different architectural
styles and sizes;
but whether the building is small or large, elaborate or plain, your eye is
carried immediately to the altar, or holy table, and to the cross. So your thoughts are taken
at once to Christ and to God whose house the church is.
On or near the altar there are candles lit to remind us that
Christ is the "Light of the world'' (John 8:12). Often there are flowers,
used to
beautify God's house, and to recall the resurrection of Jesus.
On one side at the front of the church, there a
pulpit (to the right at Christ Church), for the proclamation of the Word, here the sermon is preached;
there is also a lectern, or stand (to the left at Christ Church) for the public reading of the Scriptures.
In
some churches, the lectern and the pulpit are together or on different
sides.
Our building was built in 1827 using the style of a
post-colonial congregational meeting house. These buildings were built in
rural communities to
be used by the whole community for more than just a place for the church to
gather and worship.
We consider ourselves extremely blessed to have a historic
and beautiful worship space that lets our hearts and minds focus on God.
The Act of Worship
All Episcopal church worship services depend on congregational
participation. It is not a performance. The service is designed for everyone to have
a worship experience by being involved in the service. In the pews of
Christ Church you will find the The Book of Common Prayer 1979 (red). Its use enables the congregation to
share fully in every service. The large print is the actual service.
The smaller
print gives directions to ministers and people for conduct of the service.
You may wonder when to sit, stand, or kneel during the
service. These practices
vary---even among individual Episcopalians.
The general practice is:
Stand to sing---hymns (found in the
blue Hymnal in the pews) and other songs (many of them from the Holy Bible) called canticles
or chants and printed as part of the service. We stand, also, to
proclaim our
affirmation of faith, the Creed; and for the reading of the Holy Gospel in
the Holy Eucharist. Psalms are sung or said sitting or standing.
Sit to learn - during
readings from the Old Testament or New Testament Letters or "epistles," the sermon,
and the choir anthems.
Kneel for prayer - to show our gratefulness to
God for accepting us as children or as an act of humility before God.
If you use these general practices, you will never be
"lost" during a worship service at Christ Church.
The Regular Services
The principal worship service in the Episcopal Church is the Holy Eucharist
(also called Holy Communion, Lord's Supper, or the mass). It is a
celebration, and we celebrate at 10:30 a.m. every Sunday. Most of the
time the service is complete with music and adult choir. In some Episcopal churches it is celebrated quite simply, without
music, early on Sunday morning. Weekday celebrations also are frequently without
music. When celebrated at a later hour on Sundays, or on
other great Christian days such as Easter and Christmas, music and a
sermon are customary.
Other services of corporate worship include The Daily
Office.
The office consists of Morning Prayer, Noon Day Prayers, Evening Prayer, and
Compline. These services consist of psalms, Bible readings, and
prayers; and may or may not include a sermon. They may also be with or without music.
The Office is designed to be used daily by everyone - not just
clergy. There are also shorter forms for personal devotional practice.
While some parts of the services are always the same,
others change. At the Holy Eucharist, for example, two or three Bible selections
are read (always a Gospel lesson). These readings change each day. So do the psalms.
The prayers
also change, in order to provide variety. Page numbers for parts of the service
are usually announced or given in the service
leaflet or bulletin. Do not ever be embarrassed to ask your neighbor for the page number.
You will find the services of the Episcopal Church
beautiful in their ordered dignity, God-centered, and yet mindful of the nature
and needs of human beings.
 Before and After Services
It is the custom upon entering the church to kneel in one's
pew for prayers of personal preparation for worship. In many churches, it is
the custom to bow or genuflect to the altar upon entering and leaving the church as an act
of reverence for Christ.
Episcopalians do not talk in church before a service, but
use this time for personal meditation and devotions. At the end of the service
some persons kneel for a private prayer before leaving. Others sometimes sit to
listen to the organ postlude.
Vestments
To add to the beauty and festivity of the worship services, and to
signify their special ministries, the clergy and other ministers wear vestments.
The choir vestments usually consist of an under-gown called a cassock (usually black)
and a white, gathered overgrown called a surplice (long) or cotta (short). The clergy may also wear
cassock and surplice for the Daily Office.
Another familiar vestment is the alb, a white tunic with
sleeves that covers the body from neck to ankles. The alb is the vestment
of a baptized person, and is usually considered a Eucharistic vestment. Over it (or over the surplice)
ordained ministers wear a stole, a narrow band of colored fabric. Deacons wear
the stole over one shoulder, priests and bishops over both shoulders.
At a celebration of the Holy Eucharist, the bishop or priest that is
celebrating wears
a chasuble (a circular garment that envelopes the body) over the alb and stole.
The deacon's corresponding vestment has sleeves and is called a dalmatic. Bishops
wear a special
head-covering called a mitre.
Stoles, chasubles, and dalmatics, as well as altar
coverings, are usually made of rich fabrics. Their color changes with the
seasons and holy days of the Church Year. The most frequently colors used are
white, red, violet, blue and green. Tapestry patterns are also used.
The Church Year 
The Episcopal Church observes the traditional Western Christian
calendar. Color is used seasonally to enhance the beauty of the worship
space. The year begins with the season of Advent (blue or purple).
Advent is a season of preparation for the eschaton and the Feast of the
Incarnation (Christmas) (white). Advent begins on
the Sunday closest to November 30 and lasts 4 Sundays. Christmas (white) itself lasts twelve days, after
which we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany (January 6).
The season of Epiphany (green) follows Epiphany and last
until the first day of Lent or Ash Wednesday.
Lent (purple), the forty days of preparation for Easter
(white), begins on
Ash Wednesday (purple). The last week of Lent prior to Easter is Holy Week
(red). Easter (white) lasts fifty days, concluding on the Feast of
Pentecost (red).
The season that follows the Feast of Pentecost is referred to
as the Season after Pentecost or Ordinary Time (green).
During all the feast days and seasons, the Bible readings are chosen for their
appropriateness to the day or season. During the rest of the year---the season after
Epiphany (green) and the long season after Pentecost (green) or Ordinary Time (except for a few special
Sundays) - the New Testament lesson is read sequentially from Sunday to Sunday. The Old
Testament lesson is either sequential or corresponds in theme with one of the New Testament readings.
To find the readings of the church year, the Episcopal Church
follows the Revised Common
Lectionary.
Coming and Going
Ushers or Greeters will meet you, and may escort
you to a pew. If you desire, they will answer your questions about the
service. All seats are FREE in Episcopal Churches. All are also unreserved
except for special
services. Then the reserved pews will be marked.
Following the service the priest greets the people as
they leave if possible.
You Will NOT Be Embarrassed in the service!
When you visit Christ Episcopal Church, you will be our honored, respected, and welcome guest.
We will NOT single you out in an embarrassing
way, nor ask you to stand up before the congregation, or come forward. You
will worship God with us.
Should you wish to know more about Christ Episcopal Church, The Episcopal
Church,
or how one becomes an Episcopalian, the priest will
gladly answer your questions and suggest the way to membership. You
may request information here!
adapted from a document produced by the Office of Communication
The Episcopal Church Center
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