| | | | Home > Worship | | | Worship through
Ritual
and Music On Sunday and Wednesday mornings we come together to celebrate Christ’s resurrection
through the liturgy—the ritual and music—of the Communion service, known in the Episcopal Church as
the Holy Eucharist. We invite all who are baptized to gather about the altar and share the bread and wine of Life. If you are not familiar with Episcopal forms of worship, read
a description of our services below. You can also learn more about Christian beliefs and the Episcopal Church on our Education pages and in our Christian Formation classes.
Come to a service and join us in joyful worship. We’ll be happy to answer your questions and share with you the Lord’s
Table. |  The Eucharistic Elements, from our chapel (detail).
|
| |
| | | Services | | | |
Our worship services are conducted according to the Book of Common Prayer (1979) and follow the liturgical calendar of Church seasons — among them Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter.
Sacraments (the sacred services of the Church) are administered by a priest,
who is assisted by members of the congregation in several roles.  The rituals of our worship are ancient and beautiful, with chants, gestures,
and prayers going back hundreds, sometimes thousands, of years. St. Stephen’s ceremonies partly reflect the High Church
or Anglo-Catholic tradition. In practice, this means that our services are embellished by special clothing (vestments),
hangings, implements, and (at festivals) incense. Some worshippers bow, kneel, or cross themselves at certain parts of the
rites.
We read the prayers and responses from the Order of Worship in the
church bulletin and from the Book of Common Prayer. (Our main Sunday service uses Rite II, a version written
in modern English, while our Wednesday and early Sunday services employ Rite I, a more traditionally worded liturgy.)
Our instrumental and sung music is a mix of traditional hymns, contemporary pieces, classical compositions, and
ancient chants and anthems. Our hymnals are The Hymnal 1982 and Lift Every Voice and Sing (II). Morning prayer service is said in the chapel, using readings from the BCP and Scripture; Communion is not a part of this
service. Healing prayers are offered in the chapel on the second and fourth Sundays of every month, directly following the Eucharist.
A typical Sunday service follows a regular pattern: - We
begin with a hymn, during which a processional Cross leads the choir, the priest, and his assistants into the church. The
priest greets the congregation and reads a short collect, or prayer. Everyone joins in a song of praise, followed
by another collect. Now comes readings from the Bible—a passage from the Old Testament, followed by the chant of
a psalm, a passage from the New Testament, and another hymn.
| | | 8:00 a.m.
Holy Eucharist
(Communion)
About 45 min.
30–60 parishioners. 9:00 a.m.
Morning prayer
About 30 min.
In the chapel. 10:30 a.m.
Holy Eucharist
About an hour.
100 parishioners. | Mondays – Thursdays | 9:00 a.m.
Morning prayer
About 30 min.
In the chapel.
Intimate, quiet. | Wednesdays | 12:15 p.m. Holy Eucharist
In the chapel About 30 min. Offers an intimate
mid-week fellowship. | |
| | | - The next part is the reading from one of the Gospels, which opens
with a lovely chant and response—the Alleluia Verse—while the priest or an acolyte ceremonially presents the Gospel
book before the congregation. After the reading comes a short sermon.
| | | - The congregation recites the Nicene Creed, an extremely ancient summation of what we as Christians believe. We then have the Prayers of the People, which include mention
of our leaders in government and church, our neighbors, family, and all those in need. We confess our sins (kneeling, if we
are able) and receive again the promise that God forgives us. At this point we exchange the Peace of the Lord with one another;
this can be rather boisterous, as some of us move about the pews greeting one another. We’re a very outgoing
group!
| | | | - After some announcements, we begin the Communion itself with the offering, followed by sung
prayers, the Sanctus anthem, and the ritual of blessing the bread and wine. (At this point some people kneel until
the recessional.) The congregation recites the Lord’s Prayer, the priest breaks the bread, and a short anthem is sung.
All those wishing to receive Communion now come to the altar rail and receive the bread from the priest, the wine from the
chalicer. (Children may receive the sacrament at the discretion of their parents; those not receiving Communion may
cross their arms over their chest to be blessed.) When the last of the bread and wine have been consumed, a final prayer
is said, the priest blesses the congregation, and the processional cross is carried out before the choir and priest
while we sing a final hymn.
| | | | For more detail, you can view the Order of Worship for next Sunday’s service. (The Order is updated by every Saturday.) | | | | | | | | If this is
all new to you, don’t be anxious; it was new to most of us, too.
(Many
of today’s members were not raised as Episcopalians.)
At every service there are members happy to help newcomers
take part in the worship,
and the church
bulletin contains a very detailed Order of Service.
Also, every year we offer classes in the beliefs and practices of the Episcopal Church. | | | | | | | | This page last updated April 12, 2012. | back to top |
|
©
2009–2013 St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, Newport News, Va. All rights reserved.
|
|
