Worship at St. Luke's

At the Last Supper Jesus said: “Do this in remembrance of me.” - Luke 22:19b

Worship is our central act of offering praise and prayer to God, hearing God's word, and participating in the Sacrament of Holy Eucharist as a gathered community of baptized people.

Worship: Enacting what we Believe

The things that happen in public worship matter. They matter because what we enact or do in worship largely shapes what we do as Christians in serving the world. Worship is where we gather in community to both remember all that God has done, continues to do and for us.  We enact what we believe by entering into God's presence.  Through this we participate with God and one another in our actions, symbols, and words (spoken or sung) that serve to renew and transform us for serving others in the world: by promoting justice, peace, and love.  Central to how Episcopalians worship is our gathering to celebrate The Holy Eucharist.

Our Principal act of Worship: The Holy Eucharist

Sunday is traditionally when Episcopalians gather for worship. At St. Luke's we offer two worship experiences on Sundays: 8:00 AM and 9:30 AM. Both are celebrations of The Holy Eucharist, also known as: the Lord’s Supper, Holy Communion, or Mass. Eucharist is what constitutes community – it is what makes us who we are as followers of Jesus Christ. We strive at St. Luke's for every celebration of the Holy Eucharist to show forth the grace of the Gospel (Good News – the message of Jesus Christ), attend to the whole Paschal Mystery (Christ's life, death, and resurrection), and to reflect the justice of the reign of God (sharing God's love that is inclusive of all, lifting up the poor and oppressed, promoting peace).

Our eight o'clock worship is according what is known as Rite I: this is a contemplative service of The Holy Eucharist using more traditional, Elizabethan English in our prayers and is a spoken service without music or hymns. Our 9:30 worship is a celebration of The Holy Eucharist according Rite II: contemporary English for our prayers and includes music and the singing of hymns. We also sing the Psalm and parts of the Eucharistic Prayer are sung.

In addition to Sunday mornings, St. Luke's offers a celebration of The Holy Eucharist on Wednesdays at Noon in our chapel. This worship is according to Rite II without music or singing. It is best described as a contemplative and short service that offers an opportunity to worship mid-week in an intimate setting (typically about 12 participants).

Throughout the Church Year there are also other observances (for example: Advent, Christmas, Lent, Holy Week, St. Luke's Day) that are celebrated at St. Luke's. Principal celebrations are The Holy Eucharist and others may be either The Holy Eucharist or a form of Evening Prayer (or sung evening prayer known as Evensong).

In the next section (Liturgy and Ritual) we describe what you can expect to find in a celebration of The Holy Eucharist in an Episcopal Church.

Liturgy and Ritual

Worship in the Episcopal Church is said to be “liturgical,” meaning that the congregation follows service forms and prays from texts that don’t change greatly from week to week during a season of the year. This sameness from week to week gives worship a rhythm that becomes comforting and familiar to the worshipers.

For the first-time visitor, liturgy may be exhilarating… or confusing. Services may involve standing, sitting, kneeling, sung or spoken responses, and other participatory elements that may provide a challenge for the first-time visitor. However, liturgical worship can be compared with a dance: once you learn the steps, you come to appreciate the rhythm, and it becomes satisfying to dance, again and again, as the music changes. At St. Luke's we provide mostly comprehensive worship bulletins that provide much of the text of the worship and clearly state where to find hymns or text not printed in the bulletin.

The Word of God: Liturgy of the Word

The worship begins with a silent procession (8:00) or hymn in praise of God (9:30) as the choir, lay ministers, and clergy enter.

The Celebrant extends a greeting to call the congregation’s attention to the beginning of worship.

The Celebrant offers a prayer (Collect for purity) that asks our hearts to be pure for worship.

The Gloria in Excelsis, Kyrie Eleison, and Trisagion are songs of praise to God that date from the 4th and 5th centuries C.E.

The Collect of the Day is a prayer that gathers the congregation into the themes we are praying for that day.

The Lessons

• The Old Testament (Hebrew Scriptures) are read to recall our connection with Judaism and to learn the teachings of the Jewish prophets.
• A Psalm (song to God) is said or sung between the OT and NT readings.
• The New Testament Epistles (Letters) and other NT books are read so that we are connected to the actions and teachings of the early Church.
• The Gospel is the record of Jesus’ life, ministry, teachings, death, resurrection, and ascension. Because of this it is held in highest honor. A procession often precedes the reading of the Gospel to mark its importance in our worship. A Deacon or Priest read the Gospel as a part of their function as ordained ministers.

The Sermon is an illumination of God’s Word for those gathered. The preacher communicates the Church’s understanding of God’s reconciling work and helps us understand Holy Scripture and its implications for our lives today.

The Nicene Creed: A statement of Christian faith adopted by ecumenical councils in the 4th century. In some churches it is the custom to make a deep bow at the point where we say, “ […] by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man.” This is a way that we can identify with Christ, who came down from heaven for us and for our salvation.

Prayers of the People: Worship is active. The people of God offer prayers to God, being especially mindful of what is going on in our lives and the life of our communities, our nation, and our world. The people offer their own intentions at various places in the prayers.

Confession of Sin: As a corporate body gathered for worship we confess our sins to God. The Bishop or Priest pronounces words of absolution to remind everyone that God is always ready to forgive our sins.

The Peace: St. Paul has encouraged us to greet one another with Christian love as brothers and sisters in Christ. We greet one another with a handshake or hug and words such as: “Peace be with you.”

The Holy Communion

This is the holiest part of our worship. Jesus comes to us in the elements of bread and wine and we are spiritually nourished by Christ's spiritual presence.

The actions of the Holy Communion follow the actions of Jesus Christ at the Last Supper – the first Eucharist:
1. Bread & Wine are Taken -- The Offertory
2. Bread & Wine are Blessed – The Great Thanksgiving
(Consecration where Jesus’ presence is revealed in bread and wine)
3. Bread is Broken – The Breaking of the Bread (Fraction)
4. Bread & Wine are Given – Receiving Communion. Communion is received by extending your hands out, placing your open right hand over your open left hand. The cup is received by slightly guiding the cup toward your lips, allowing the Eucharistic Minister to maintain control of the cup.

Post-Communion Prayer: We offer our thanks to God for spiritually feeding us in Christ’s Body and Blood in the elements of bread and wine.

Blessing by the Priest: The priest offers a blessing of Christ’s Church on the people.

Dismissal: A deacon or priest offers a dismissal to end the liturgy. The brief nature emphasizes the urgency of going forth into the world to do God’s work.

Seasonal Observances
Throughout the Church Year we gather in observance of special Holy Days such as Christmas, Lent, Holy Week.  We even gather to honor St. Francis and all of God's creation in celebrating a Blessing of the Animals each October.  You can learn more about the Church Year and how we observe holidays through our worship on our Seasons of the Church Year page.

Infants & Toddlers are always Welcome at St. Luke's
Infants and toddlers are always welcome to attend any of our worship with their parents – this is truly a parish that loves and cares for our children of all ages; but we do provide a staffed Nursery with trained attendants during the 9:30 AM worship if parents desire to have time to worship on their own.

Children's Liturgy of the Word
Grade school children begin in worship with their families and then go out with our Children's Minister during the sermon time for their own Children's Liturgy of the Word.  They return following the sermon time so that they may receive Communion with the rest of the congregation.

Go to our Home Page to view the worship schedule