Visitors
Services
As indicated above, our services are at 10:00AM on Sunday morning and 6:45PM on Wednesday evening. You can think of this page as your first time guide to our church services. Most important, remember this: You'll be welcome. We extend a cordial welcome to you to worship with us, and offer this Webpage as a brief introduction. Click on the topic that interests you:
The Place of Worship
The Act of Worship
The Regular Services
Before and After
Coming and Going
What Clergy Wear
The Church Year
You Will Not be Embarassed
The Place of Worship
As you enter, you will notice an atmosphere of worship and
reverence. Your eye is
carried to the altar, or holy table, and to the cross. So our thoughts
are taken at once to Christ and to God whose house the church is.
On the altar there are candles to remind us that Christ is the "Light of the world'' (John 8:12). Often there are flowers, to beautify God's house and to recall the resurrection of Jesus.
On the left side at the front of the church, there is a lectern-stand, for the proclamation of the Word; here the Scriptures are read. Depending on the speaker's style, this may be where the sermon is preached. This differs from some other Anglican churches, where the lectern is separate from the pulpit and stands on the opposite side of the church.
The Act of Worship
Anglican church services are congregational. Our services are found in the
Anglican Book of Alternative Services or the Book of Common Prayer. This
enables the congregation to share fully in every service. We usually do
not distribute books at he beginning of the services as all our services
can be followed on our overhead projector.
You may wonder when to stand or kneel. Practices vary---even among individual Anglicans. The general rule is to stand to sing---hymns or any other songs sung as part of the service. We stand, too, to say our affirmation of faith, the Creed; and for the reading of the Gospel. Psalms are sung or said sitting or standing. We sit during readings from the Old Testament or New Testament Letters, and the sermon. We stand, sit or kneel for prayer as per your own customs or what brings you closer to God.
The Regular Services
The principal service is the Holy Eucharist (Holy Communion).
Customs vary in Anglican churches as to when this service is conducted.
Our practice is that this is our most common.
Another service is Morning Prayer. These services consist of psalms, Bible readings, and prayers; and may include a sermon. These services are often conducted in the absence of our priests. There is a parallel evening service called Evening Prayer but that would only be held on special occassions.
While some parts of the services are always the same, others change. Two or three Bible selections are read. These change each Sunday. So do the psalms. Certain of the prayers also change, in order to provide variety. Just watch the overhead and it will direct you. If books were distributed, you will be given page numbers as the service progresses. Do not be embarrassed to ask your neighbour for help.
We are confident that you will find are services beautiful in their ordered dignity, God-centered, and yet mindful of the nature and needs of human beings.
Before and After
It is not uncommon to find people with their heads bowed in prayer
when you enter the church at the beginning of the service or when the
service is over. It is customary to be respectfully quiet during these
times. You will also notice that some bow to the altar on entering and leaving the church as an
act of reverence for Christ.
Coming and Going
There are greeters to hand out bulletins, fliers, etc. and to assist
you to your chair if need be. They will also be willing to answer any
questions that you may have. As you leave. the lay reader, preacher or
other official will greet you as you leave.
What Clergy Wear
To add to the beauty and festivity of the services, and to signify
their special ministries, the clergy and other ministers customarily
wear
vestments. Choir vestments usually consist of an under-gown called a
cassock
(usually black) and a white, gathered over-gown called a
surplice.
The clergy may also wear cassock and surplice.
Another familiar vestment is the alb, a white tunic with sleeves that covers the body from neck to ankles. Over it (or over the surplice) ordained ministers wear a stole, a narrow band of coloured fabric. Deacons wear the stole over one shoulder, priests and bishops over both shoulders.
At the Holy Eucharist a bishop or priest frequently wears a chasuble (a circular garment that envelopes the body) over the alb and stole. Bishops sometimes wear a special head covering called a mitre.
Stoles, chasubles, and dalmatics, as well as altar coverings, are usually made of rich fabrics. Their colour changes with the seasons and holy days of the Church Year. The most frequently used colours are white, red, violet, and green.
The Church Year
The Anglican Church observes the traditional
Christian
calendar. The season of Advent, during which we prepare for
Christmas, begins on the Sunday closest to November 30. Christmas itself
lasts twelve days, after which we celebrate the feast of the Epiphany
(January 6).
Lent, the forty days of preparation for Easter, begins on Ash Wednesday. Easter season lasts fifty days, concluding on the feast of Pentecost.
During these times the Bible readings are chosen for their appropriateness to the season. During the rest of the year--the season after Epiphany and the long season after Pentecost (except for a few special Sundays)--the New Testament is read sequentially from Sunday to Sunday. The Old Testament lesson corresponds in theme with one of the New Testament readings.
You Will Not be Embarassed
When you visit our 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.
Should you wish to know more about our church or how one becomes a member, the priest will gladly answer your questions and suggest the way to membership.