Come, let us worship and bow down,
Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. Psalm 95:6
About Our Worship
It can sometimes feel intimidating to enter a church where you have never worshipped. At first you might feel lost or self-conscious when everybody but you seems to know what they’re doing and you are not sure whether to sit or stand. At St. Mark’s we are relatively informal in our approach to worship, and be assured nobody will be singled out or made to feel uncomfortable. You are our respected and welcome guest.
Please don’t hesitate to ask our greeters at the door if you have any questions. If you need help following along in the Prayer Book or Hymnals during the service, please ask someone sitting close to you for assistance. Many of our parishioners have come to the Episcopal Church from other denominations and they will be more than willing to lend a hand.
We hope that the information below will give you a better understanding of what we believe, because in the Episcopal Church our beliefs are formed by the way we worship. Many people find our liturgy (our style of worship), a very holy experience. We hope that when you worship with us you find yourself encountering God in a new and exciting way. In the Episcopal Church everyone participates in the service, if fact the word liturgy means “the work of the people.”
As you enter the church, you will notice an atmosphere of quiet reverence prior to the beginning of worship. Most of our worshippers deeply cherish that silence to help them make a transition from the outside world into the presence of God’s house.
After a moment of personal prayer, please take a few minutes and let your eyes wonder about the sanctuary (our worship space.) Almost everything you see is reflective and or symbolic of what we believe.
The first thing that might catch your eye is the reredos, the area behind the altar. Our reredos has an image of the descending dove and the scripture from Mark 1:9-11. This scripture was chosen not only because our parish is named after Mark, the Evangelist, but the story of Jesus’ baptism reminds us to live into our own baptism covenant.
Directly behind the altar, of course, is the cross. The cross symbolizes the sacrifice of Christ for our salvation and is one of the central parts of our faith. Notice that the cross is not a crucifix, meaning the body of Jesus is not still dead on the cross. We do not worship a God who is dead, but a risen Lord who is alive and active in our lives today. The empty cross is a sign of resurrection.
On and behind the altar are candles to remind us that Christ is the "Light of the World." [John 8:11] The candles behind the altar are lit to symbolize the illumination of the word of God we hear through scripture, preaching and prayer, while the candles on the altar are lit whenever there will be Holy Eucharist (the consecration of the bread and wine), symbolizing the real presence of Jesus Christ.
Except during the penitential season of Lent, there are flowers at the altar to beautify God’s house and recall the resurrection of Jesus.
To the right of the altar are two items to notice. On the wall beside the altar, is the Ambry. Our Ambry is a holy space where we reserve, (place with reverence) the bread and wine, (body and blood) of Christ that remains at the end of the service. This sacrament of bread and wine is then available to be taken by members of the church to those in the hospital or who are homebound.
Also on the right, forward of the choir is the lectern, which is used for the reading of scripture from the Bible. From this location we hear readings from the Old Testament, Psalms, and New Testament Epistles (letters.) For more information about reading see Lay Readers.
To the left of the altar is the pulpit, where the preacher--most often the rector, but sometimes a seminarian or a lay person--preaches the sermon. The Gospel reading is sometimes read from here, at other times there is a Gospel Procession where the Gospel book is carried into the center of the church and read from among the congregation.
The altar, lectern, and pulpit will be covered with the liturgical color of the season. The stained glass that surrounds us on either side recalls the words from Paul about how in this world we see dimly what God is doing in our lives.
Episcopal worship services are congregational meaning we all participate in the worship. In some denominations it seems as if the minister is the actor, the director is God, and the people are the audience. In the Episcopal Church, the people are the actors, the minister is the director and God is the audience. Our worship is a service of praise and thanksgiving to God, for God, and with God.
At the door the greeters and ushers will offer you a service bulletin. The bulletin is helpful in following the flow of the service by identifying page numbers for prayers and hymns to be sung. We also offer some activities for our younger guests to help them pass the time quietly.
In the pews, you will find the red Book of Common Prayer which helps the congregation to share fully in every service. In addition, you will also find in the pews a copy of the blue Episcopal Hymnal, and a supplemental music book called Lift Every Voice and Sing. Worship leaders will make every effort to announce page numbers and hymn numbers so you do not have to rely on looking things up in the bulletin as the service progresses.
You may wonder when to stand, sit or kneel. The general rule is to stand to sing. We stand, also, to say our affirmation of the faith (the Creed) and for the reading of the Gospel. We sit during readings from the Bible, the sermon, the announcements and the choir anthems. We generally kneel or stand during prayers to show our gratefulness to God for accepting us as his children, or as an act of humility before God.
Our Book of Common Prayer
All worship at St. Mark’s is drawn from the Book of Common Prayer. Sometimes, people wonder at the wisdom of this approach—it seems like rote repetition to them or that our prayer lacks sincerity. Yet the reality is that it is very freeing and authentic. Although we are thoroughly familiar with the words, we are freed spiritually to go where the words take us. And because these prayers have been shared from generation to generation, we are a part of a great cloud of witnesses in the faith we share with one another and our children.
The Prayer Book is filled with scripture, filled with story, God’s story and our story, and so like icons and sacraments, our Book of Common Prayer is a window into another world—God’s world—through which we see our own world and lives differently.
We understand that using the Book of Common Prayer takes a little getting used to…but once the Prayer Book becomes familiar it is a wonderful gift to share in our communion and to treasure at times of solitude.
Current and historical versions of the Prayer Book are available online.
If you'd like more information on the Prayer Book, click here.
The Episcopal Church is a sacramental community. Every Sunday we celebrate the sacrament of Holy Eucharist (Communion) the remembrance of Christ’s death and resurrection made concrete in the bread and wine. As you participate in the Eucharist over time the logic of this service will grow clearer. We begin by listening to scripture and reflecting on its meaning for life. Then we move through prayer, confession and forgiveness as we become the family of God gathered around the table of God, living ever so briefly the life of heaven before we return again to the world, hopefully transformed and renewed to live life differently.
All Are Welcome
All baptized Christians—no matter what age, and no matter of what denomination—are welcome to “receive communion,” that is, eat the bread and drink the wine with the congregation, regardless of which Church they were baptized in. This invitation to other Christians who are not Episcopalians is in sharp contrast to the position of other Churches, such as the Roman Catholic Church, which allows only Roman Catholics to receive. Episcopalians invite all baptized people to receive, not because we take the Eucharist lightly, but because we take our baptism so seriously.
Visitors who are not baptized Christians are still welcome to come forward during the Communion to receive the blessing of the priest.
There are variations on the Eucharist service you will encounter if you come to worship at different times. The form of Eucharist (Rite II) we celebrate at the primary service utilizes contemporary language. The 8 a.m. service each Sunday is conducted in traditional language (Rite I) dating back to the original Anglican prayer book of the 16th century. In addition, on any fifth Sunday of a given month, the 8 a.m. service is the traditional Morning Prayer service, harking back to our Protestant roots.
To add to the beauty and festivity of the services, and to signify special ministries, the clergy and other ministers wear vestments. Choir vestments consist of a black under gown called a cassock, and a white, gathered over gown called a surplice. Laity who have roles as worship leaders will often wear this same vestment. Acolytes (young people and occasionally adults who assist with worship) wear similar cassocks and surplices or an alb (a white tunic with sleeves that covers the body from neck to ankles.)
The priest wears an alb as well. Over it, the priest wears a stole, a narrow band of colored fabric in the color of the season of the church year (see next section). On special occasions the priest will also wear a Chasuble. The Chasuble is the outermost liturgical vestment worn by clergy for the celebration of the Eucharist, baptism, edding or Funeral.
The wearing of vestments call to mind that what is happening in a church service is holy and different from the world of ordinary experience.
In the Episcopal Church, we observe the traditional Christian calendar which moves us through the life of Christ in the course of a year.
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The first season is the season of Advent, during which we prepare for the birth of Christ at Christmas. Advent begins on the Sunday closest to November 30.
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The second season is Christmas which lasts, believe it or not twelve days.
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Then comes Epiphany (January 6) where the light of Christ breaks out into the world.
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Lent, the forty days of penitential preparation before Easter, begins on Ash Wednesday and is a time of reflection and penitence.
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Holy Week is the week prior to Easter. The most deeply spiritual services of the year take place during this week in which we commemorate the last days of the life of Christ culminating in his resurrection on Easter Sunday.
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During the Easter season, we focus particularly on the experiences of the risen Christ in the early Church.
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Pentecost begins 50 days after Easter and continues until the end of the church year. Pentecost is when the disciples are filled by the Holy Spirit and sent into the world and for us is a season of spiritual growth ministry.
To church, we hope! As you experience worship at St. Mark’s, please feel free to ask any questions that come to mind. Our priest will be happy to schedule time to visit with you. We trust and pray that, as worship becomes more familiar to you, the experience of being with God and your family in Christ at St. Mark’s will open the doors of the kingdom of God to you.
