Ecumenical Advent Sunday 4: Grace Episcopal

[hermionesviolin]

[Advent day 22] Jeremiah 23:5-6 5 "The days are coming," declares the LORD,
      "when I will raise up to David [Or  up from David's line] a righteous Branch,
      a King who will reign wisely
      and do what is just and right in the land.

6 In his days Judah will be saved

Comments

[hermionesviolin]

> > We claim to be both Catholic - that is, true to the ancient Christian faith - and Protestant - truly reformed.
> I'm having a bit of a hard time swallowing this about the Anglican Communion in general, I have to admit. Was it really Catholic, not catholic? The latter I get, but...

Yeah. Lower-case "catholic" makes sense, but it's definitely capitalized in the Welcome bulletin. Feel free to ask your Episcopal people about it :)

> > We have no required confession of Faith, except the Apostles' Creed and Nicene Creed,
> 'Except' the Creeds? Um, those ARE confessions of faith...and pretty darn big ones!!!

:) Yeah, kinda like how the "Twelve Things" Orthodox essay mentions how they don't have a general confession (and the idea that "In our experience, we don't have any general sins; they're all quite specific." totally makes sense to me) yet there was totally what felt like a general confession prior to Communion when I went.

> > However, if you have a cold or other communicable illness and prefer to intinct (that is, dip the bread in the wine), a small intinction cup is provided for that purpose.
> *thinks back to what Prof. Spinks said to us about how intinction is actually germier than using the shared cup--though I guess if they have a separate cup for that purpose, it isn't so bad.*

Yeah, it was a separate smaller cup.

> > list hymnal page numbers in the bulletin but for some reason the hymnal doesn't give hymn titles
> Yeah, I dislike that about the Episcopal hymnal. Among other things, such as the fact I rarely recognize or like the hymns.

I didn't particularly recognize the hymns, and none of them particularly drew me, but I'm somewhat used to not recognizing hymns and it bugged me less than it sometimes does, and of course I'm used to not liking hymns :)

> > The choir processed in along with the minister and others, and it felt so High Church to me
> Yeah, St. John's is not so much with the processionals, which I'm kind of glad about.

I don't really mind the processionals. What was weird for me was realizing that United *used* to do have the choir and all process in and here I was feeling like it was foreignly high church.

> > The first bit of the service was the lighting of the Advent wreath.
> St. John's never did this! It was very sad...the Advent wreath was sitting up there each Sunday, all flamey, but no one paid any attention to it during the service.

I don't understand how churches that do the Advent Wreath thing

> > The seminarian (from Harvard Div, natch)
> Boo. :)

:P Yes, because clearly we're supposed to import from Connecticut and boycott Harvard.

> Did you have to flip around in the BCP, or was most stuff printed in the bulletin? It doesn't sound like you had the Penitential Order at the beginning... How much kneeling was there? I'm just trying to get a feel for how different parishes' liturgies differ.

After the Lighting of the Advent Wreath, there were OPening Sentences and Collect for Purity, then Gloria, then Collect of the Day, and then the first reading.

To quote from the Welcome bulletin:The weekly service bulletin will lead you through the service. The prayers in it are taken from the Book of Common Prayer, the small red books in the pew racks. Those who are long-time Episcopalians may prefer to follow the service in the BCP, but most newcomers find the service bulletin easier. You can follow the Bible readings in the service bulletin or in the brown Bible in the pew racks (page numbers are in the service bulletin). Hymns and songs are in the blue Hymnal (page numbers are in the service bulletin).
The only stuff you couldn't actually read along in the bulletin (save the sermon, of course) were the hymns. Words&music for the Responsorial and the Doxology were even printed in the bulletin.

The only kneeling indicated in the bulletin was the Sanctus, though I feel like people knelt another time later as well. (I just sat.)

[sk8eeyore]

At St. John's people kneel quite a bit-- during the penitential order throughout Advent, always during the Prayers of the People, during much of the Eucharistic prayer (though some choose to stand during this), while receiving Communion, and often during the post-Communion prayer. I like that the bulletin says something like, "During the parts of the service marked with a 'K' you're welcome to kneel OR stand; and sitting is always acceptable."

[hermionesviolin]

When people went up to get Communion they knelt. I didn't see if people were kneeling when they returned to their seats.

Under "Sanctus" it said, "The people stand or kneel," and I considered standing, but no one else was, so I just sat.