What to expect when you visit

When you visit Church of the Resurrection, you’ll notice that our worship is a little more traditional than in many churches. We use the liturgy as found in the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer (1928). This liturgy has ancient roots, the prayers are taken from scripture, it provides readings from Holy Scripture, and sets a reverent and holy setting. We celebrate the Sacrament of Holy Communion on a weekly basis. This sort of worship has at least three important aspects:

It is centered on the Holy Scriptures. Much of our entire prayer book is taken from scripture. We read from the scriptures each week and our sermons are always biblical. Our faith is anchored in the authority of the Holy Bible. We have not changed the meaning or intent of scripture to accommodate shifting social mores. This means that we are in continuity with the faith of the Apostles and all Christians throughout the ages.

It is centered on the Sacraments. Because we believe in having both the Word of God and the Sacraments of Christ’s Church present in every service our worship experience returns our focus to Jesus. Some churches emphasize emotional experiences, music or sermons. We enjoy these but believe that when Holy Communion is the center of worship, our lives, the world and our faith take the right perspective.  A church that is sacramental also retains a sense of the sacred and a sense of the great mystery we call God.  Not all truth is fully understood by the use of reason alone, we need the sacraments with their signs and symbols to communicate the transcendence of God.

It is centered on God’s Majesty. We believe that God is glorious and the author of all that is beautiful. So our worship is also majestic and beautiful. While we think there can be times to praise God in a casual way, we believe that when we offer to God our lives as a sacrifice it should be done with reverence, awe and a sense of mystery. The 1928 Book of Common Prayer, like other historic and ancient liturgies, best preserve this sense of reverence and mystery. We are poorer without it.  This also means that we use traditional hymns, not because we are stuck in the mud, but because we believe that God is Holy and the music and means that we use to worship Him should be different than what we get in the world.  When something is dedicated only to serve God we call it "sacred" or "sanctified".  In the same way our music and worship should reflect this difference, as something unlike anything else in the world and set apart for God alone.  We know it is not trendy, but we do believe it is true.

While we respect the historic faith and approach God reverently this does not mean that we are closed to modern expressions of faith and worship. We are not “stuck in the mud”, sour saints. But we think that our “joy in the Lord” is something that is nurtured through daily prayer and worship. When we do this our reverence on Sundays is blessed with a sense of God’s sacred presence. Our teaching and piety encourage people to live in the power of the Spirit on a daily basis.  We encourage the gifts of the Holy Spirit to be cultivated in the lives of our parishioners and believe that the power of the Holy Spirit should be demonstrated in our daily lives.

So we invite you to join us as we gather to worship the God who created us, loves us and redeems us.

*We invite all Christians who have been baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit to join us for Communion. And if you haven’t been baptized, you are welcome to receive a blessing at the altar.

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