Worship

St. Paul’s celebrates the Holy Eucharist (Word of God and Holy Communion) every Sunday and other major feasts of the Church. Our worship days/times are:

• 8:00-9:00 AM – Rite I service in the chapel
• 9:00 AM – the nursery opens to accept children
• 9:15-10:15 AM – Adult and children’s Sunday School classes
• 10:30-11:30 AM – Rite II service in the sanctuary
• 11:30 AM – the nursery closes
• 6:00-7:00 PM – contemporary Holy Eucharist in the chapel
• Other Major Feasts include Christmas, Epiphany, Ash Wednesday, Holy Week, Easter and Pentecost.
• Other worship observances are held for Baptism, Confirmation, Marriage, and Burial.

St. Paul’s hosts two adult choirs to support and participate in our principal worship services. Our choirs are open to new participants, both voice and handbell.

• The Voice Choir consists of both men and women covering the range of voices. The choir rehearses with the Music Director & Organist on Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings.
• The Handbell Choir consists of both men and women and participates in worship once per month and rehearses with the Bell Choir Director on Wednesday evenings.
• In addition to the two choirs, organ, and handbells, St. Paul’s invites guest choirs, singers, and instrumentalists from time to time to participate in worship or to use our worship space for concerts.

Q. What is appropriate dress for worship at St. Paul’s?
A. Casual

Q. What about children?
A. A nursery is provided during 10:00am Sunday worship for young children, but St. Paul’s welcomes children of any age in all its worship services.

Q. What about congregational participation in the worship?
A. Our liturgy (lit., “work of the people”) is highly participatory. We sing and we pray. Each worshiper has available copies of the Hymnal 1982, our principal song book, and The Book of Common Prayer, our guide to the spoken parts of the liturgy—“common” not in the sense of ordinary, but “common” in the sense it is used by all the people.

Q. What about receiving Holy Communion for newcomers and visitors?
A. Holy Communion is open and encouraged to all baptized Christians, including children. A communicant may take and consume the bread alone (Body of Christ) or may elect to take and consume both bread and wine (Blood of Christ). A communicant receives the wine either by dipping the bread into the wine or by taking a small sip of wine from the chalice (cup). Worshipers may come forward for a blessing instead of Holy Communion if they choose.

Q. How do I know whether to stand, sit, or kneel?
A. Suggestions to posture are given in the printed order of worship and in directions from the worship celebrant, although worshipers are invited to adopt postures “as they are able.”

There are numerous opportunities at St. Paul’s to participate together with clergy in orchestrating our congregational worship. All of these ministries are open to both women and men, and some as noted below are particularly suited also to children.

• Altar Guild teams take care of the furniture, fixtures, and accoutrements around the altar. In addition to making available all bread, wine, vessels, and linens to facilitate the Holy Communion, the Altar Guild cares for all the fabric and metal ware adorning the front of the worship space.
• Greeters, while more a part of evangelism than worship, serve on Sundays to welcome newcomers and visitors, to answer their questions, and to direct them to the various facilities and locations on the property. Children may serve alongside adults as greeters.
• Ushers facilitate the movement of worshipers, seating and providing printed orders of worship for all attendees. Ushers also collect and present at the altar the offerings of the worshipers of bread, wine, and money; and they provide help and guidance to communicants as they come forward for Holy Communion. Children may serve alongside adults as ushers.
• Lectors are our Readers, narrating selections of the Holy Scriptures from the lectern as a part of worship. Children may serve as lectors.
• Eucharistic Ministers are licensed by the bishop to serve alongside clergy and administer the chalice (cup) of wine to communicants at the Holy Communion. Teenagers who have been confirmed may serve as Eucharistic Ministers.
• Servers (commonly called ‘acolytes’) are generally children from about 8 yrs. of age through the teen years. They serve alongside clergy participating in liturgical procession; taking care of candles and bells at the altar; and assisting clergy in preparing the altar for Holy Communion.
• Vergers are liturgical emcees who organize processions and direct the other lay worship ministers at large and complex worship services such as occur at the Great Vigil of Easter and Christmas Eve.

These rites are planned and carried out in consultation with the rector (‘senior pastor’). Only the rector can schedule the date when any such Sacrament will be celebrated; and it is the rector who arranges for the requisite instruction prior to any such Sacrament, assigns or approves any participating clergy, and approves the elements of the liturgy including music.

• Holy Baptism is the rite by which a person, child or adult, becomes a member of Christ’s Body the Church. Each candidate for baptism is presented by one or more sponsors and, if a minor, also by the custodial parent(s). The candidate, sponsors, and parents—as appropriate—attend pre-Baptismal Instruction by clergy or their designee prior to baptism. Dates for the instruction and the baptism are set in consultation with the rector.
• Confirmation in the laying on of hands by a bishop is the rite by which a baptized Christian makes a mature affirmation of his or her faith in the context of public worship. Candidates for confirmation are scheduled by the rector in keeping with the scheduled visitation to St. Paul’s by a bishop, and the requisite pre-confirmation instruction is scheduled by the rector and conducted by the clergy or their designee.
• Marriage is the rite by which two mature adults make a lifelong commitment to one another in the presence of God and the congregation to be joined in holy matrimony. The Sacrament of Marriage is scheduled in consultation with the rector; the rector or his designee conducts the requisite pre-marital instruction; and the rector is the celebrant or officiant of the rite.
• Burial is the rite by which we honor the person who has died, pray for the bereaved family and all who grieve, remember others whom we love but see no longer, and—at the same time—celebrate the heavenly banquet to which the deceased has now come and to which it is promised we one day will come. The date and time of the burial office is scheduled in consultation with the rector, and the rector or designee is the celebrant or officiant of the rite.