What You Can Expect on Sunday Mornings

Arrival

When you arrive, there will be ushers directing you to the parking lot, and greeters and signs showing you where to go. Please park in the main lot on the corner of Joyner and Barber. People arrive between 9:30am and 9:45am to greet each other and prepare for the 10am Liturgy. Coffee is available in the Fellowship Hall before the Liturgy. We ask that everyone make their way into the sanctuary at least 5 minutes before it begins. Attire is flexible, and most people dress business casual. 

The Liturgy

The Liturgy is a combination of Morning Prayer and Holy Communion from the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, and lasts about 75 minutes. For ease of use, the Liturgy is entirely contained in a printed booklet. Some of the service is sung, and you can prepare by listening to the sung parts of the Liturgy here. We encourage people to kneel when they pray, and to stand if they are unable to kneel. The sermon typically lasts about 15 minutes. Our hymns are selected from the 1940 Hymnal (and the 2017 REC), and would be considered traditional. Our music team accompanies our singing with a variety of instruments (organ, piano, flute, violin, cello, French horn, and trumpet). The language and Liturgy is traditional, too, and keenly focused on the Triune God. Nevertheless, we regularly receive feedback that our Liturgy is both reverent, beautiful, and accessible to newcomers. 

Holy Communion

We invite all baptized Christians to partake of the Eucharist. We offer Holy Communion in both kinds by intinction (meaning we dip the consecrated bread in the consecrated wine and place on the communicant’s tongue). A person can also take in one kind (meaning just the consecrated bread, received in the communicant’s palm). People who are refraining from receiving Holy Communion, either because they are not yet baptized or for conscience’s sake, can still come forward and receive a blessing. 

Children

Children are a blessing, and we welcome them in the Liturgy as Christ welcomed them into His arms. We are committed to training the children that God has given our church, and handing down the Faith that we have received. For this reason, we tolerate more noise than many other churches, and every week during announcements we reassure the parents in the congregation that we are glad they have their children in the Liturgy, and will let the babbles and coos add to our prayers. We handle nursery “in house” by asking several of the ladies in the parish to be on-call baby holders. Just go to the Welcome Table for assistance. Baptized children are invited to take Communion if that is the practice and desire of their parents. 

After the Liturgy

On 1st, 3rd, and 4th Sundays, from 11:45-12:30, the adults have Catechesis after they eat a catered lunch. (Yes, we value Catechesis so much that we provide lunch every week we do it!) During adult catechesis, there is usually a mix of direct teaching and discussion. On these weeks, children (ages 4-12) begin Catechesis (or Sunday School) at 11:20. A class for young adults (ages 13-18) also meets during this time. Childcare for 0-3 year olds is available during adult catechesis. All children eat lunch at 12:30 when adult catechesis ends. On 2nd Sundays, we do not have Catechesis for adults, young adults, or children. Instead we enjoy a parish potluck with some English Country Dancing. We bring extra food for visitors, so please stay! We do our best to enjoy the Sabbath!