St. James's Episcopal Church
West Hartford Center
© 2009 St. James's Episcopal Church
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Episcopal Worship
Worship in the Episcopal Church is corporate, liturgical and sacramental: corporate because the entire community of faith comes together to worship God publicly; liturgical because our rituals and ceremonies are not wholly spontaneous but in a modern way follow patterns derived from early Christian rites; sacramental because we believe God acts in history - past, present and in the time to come - and is revealed to us in tangible ways.
The primary sources for our worship services are the 1979 Book of Common Prayer and The Hymnal 1982. Although it includes prayers for individual use, the Prayer Book is called common because it is used for the worship of the gathered community. Recently approved liturgies from Enriching Our Worship, the New Zealand Prayer Book and other resources as well as original Prayers of the People are often woven into the fabric or our liturgy and printed in the Sunday bulletin.
We praise God with gesture as well as word, and engage all our senses with flowers, music, vestments and banners showing the appropriate colors of the Church year. We join with the rest of the Episcopal Church and most other Christian denominations by following the three-year Revised Common Lectionary.
Liturgical practice includes a wide variety of customs. During worship, some people make the sign of the cross, bow and kneel at various points; others do not. Feel free to do what seems comfortable and appropriate for you. The congregation is encouraged to observe silence and prepare for worship or reflect on the worship experience during the musical preludes and postludes.
Infants and toddlers are always invited to worship in the church with their parents. Childcare is available during the 9:30 service in the nursery on the Lower Level of the Parish House.
The primary sources for our worship services are the 1979 Book of Common Prayer and The Hymnal 1982. Although it includes prayers for individual use, the Prayer Book is called common because it is used for the worship of the gathered community. Recently approved liturgies from Enriching Our Worship, the New Zealand Prayer Book and other resources as well as original Prayers of the People are often woven into the fabric or our liturgy and printed in the Sunday bulletin.
We praise God with gesture as well as word, and engage all our senses with flowers, music, vestments and banners showing the appropriate colors of the Church year. We join with the rest of the Episcopal Church and most other Christian denominations by following the three-year Revised Common Lectionary.
Liturgical practice includes a wide variety of customs. During worship, some people make the sign of the cross, bow and kneel at various points; others do not. Feel free to do what seems comfortable and appropriate for you. The congregation is encouraged to observe silence and prepare for worship or reflect on the worship experience during the musical preludes and postludes.
Infants and toddlers are always invited to worship in the church with their parents. Childcare is available during the 9:30 service in the nursery on the Lower Level of the Parish House.
Worship
