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The Episcopal Church is a member of the worldwide
Anglican Communion. Anglican churches are liturgical in style, following
services contained within member churches' individual prayer
books. Holy Communion or Eucharist
is the principal service of the Episcopal Church, though other services,
including morning and evening prayer are contained within the prayer
book and regularly held.
Your first experience worshipping in an Episcopal Church may
seem confusing. There are all those texts to balance-a red prayer
book, a hymnal (or two!), a set of readings. If you have not
been part of a liturgical church before (typically Catholic, Anglican/Episcopalian,
or Lutheran), the ritual call and response of the liturgy may
seem strange after the more spontaneous prayers of other churches'
services. You may also be unused to weekly communion.
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The Prayer Books
At St. Mary's, as in all Episcopal and Anglican churches, our
service is based in a prayer book. In most Episcopal churches,
this is the Book of Common Prayer, which is used at St.
Mary's in Ely twice a month. The rest of our services come from
the New Zealand Prayer Book, which we use because of its
inclusive language and the love for the natural world embedded
in its language.
Following the printed words in a prayer book every week may seem
overly rigid to those who are new to the tradition. But after
a few weeks, you'll probably find yourself settling into the rhythm
of the service. You'll come to appreciate the poetic language
of the prayer books and the way that repeating the same words
from week to week makes them part of your own internal rhythm.
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Eucharist
You may wonder about the significance of Holy Communion, or Eucharist,
in the Episcopal Church. The Eucharist is a sacrament in the Episcopal
Church, and is considered the "real presence" of Christ.
This presence is, to us, a holy
mystery, rich with meaning and significance, not to be limited
by a narrow human definition.
At St. Mary's Eucharist is the family meal of all Christians;
all others are welcome to the table as honored guests. You are
welcome to share with us in the bread and wine. If you prefer
not to receive one or both, you can simply pass them on to your
neighbor.
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