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Overwhelmingly, worship and music are named as cornerstones of our
particular identity in Christ. Our choir, organ, and those leaders
who assure that our music reaches beyond performance to deep and
profound worship of God are highly valued at St. Paul’s.
Worshippers at St. Paul’s appreciate how ancient traditions of
liturgy and sacrament apply to contemporary living. They relish
preaching that will tie the two together. Worship at St. Paul’s is
about being transformed – by God’s love – to be more like Christ. We
want to live our identity as a cathedral by serving both the city
and the diocese with more and varied worship options.
The
worship of God in the Episcopal Church is often described as
liturgical. This means that we have set traditions, ways
of doing things, that are repeated week by week and year after year.
We follow the Church Year – that is, we keep the seasons and feasts
of Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Holy Week, Easter, Ascension,
and the period after Pentecost. The music, vestments,
preaching and teaching in our services change in keeping with the
traditions of those seasons, but they remain the same during a given
season.
The
principal worship service is the Holy Eucharist, or Holy Communion.
Our early service, at 8 am, uses the form known as Rite I, with its
more traditional language, and no choir. At the later service,
10 am, we use Rite II, a more contemporary format, and the music
of choir and organ plays a vital role.
The
Holy Scriptures are central to our worship, with readings from four
different parts of the Bible at each service: the Old
Testament, the Psalms, the Epistles, and the Gospels. The specific
passages are determined by what is known as the Revised Common
Lectionary, a three-year cycle of Gospels using Matthew, Mark, and
Luke in successive years, with some passages from John interspersed.
Other
worship services include a weekly Healing Service and a monthly sung
Evensong (fall through spring).
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