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Worship

CHRISTIAN ESSENTIALS Copyright © 2018, 2019, 2020 TEC Christ Church

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LEARN AT HOME

WORSHIP NARRATIVE

Worship is a practice at the very heart of what it means to be in communion with God. It can be highly liturgical; it can be deeply quiet and personal. Worship occurs wherever we find ourselves in a space where adoration and gratitude flow in response to God.

Worship is as old as some of the oldest stories in the Bible. When Jacob fled his homeland after betraying his brother, he stopped for a night in a place known as Luz. He searched for a stone to serve as his pillow and fell asleep, presumably tired and frightened. That night, Jacob dreamed of angels ascending and descending a ladder to heaven. At the top of the ladder, God appeared and made a promise to Jacob, saying, “Behold, I am with you” (Genesis 28:15). This was no ordinary dream. Jacob awoke with a powerful understanding that his vision of God had changed his life, as well as sanctified the ground on which he slept. Jacob turned the hard rock into an altar and renamed the holy spot, Bethel, meaning house of God.

Every space we occupy could be named Bethel – our churches, offices, homes, schools,

relationships – it’s all sanctuary. If we lived with that awareness, we could walk through our lives, like Jacob, proclaiming, “How awesome is this place! This is no other than the house of God, and this is the gate of Heaven” (Genesis 28:17). Imagine what our lives would look like if we practiced gratitude and adoration in every aspect of our lives, making worship a habit.

A worshipping community is a house of God and often a spiritual home. In our home, we like to worship together, combining all we bring individually into a common voice. This, too, is a venerated practice. Community worship took on great importance in the early church, beginning in the very first few years after Jesus’ death. After the Apostles first forty days of different visions of Jesus, they received the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, and began to evangelize, growing the movement. In Acts, we hear that “all who believed were together and had all things in common; and they sold their possessions and goods and distributed them to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they partook of food with generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people” (Acts 2:44-47). As the movement grew, we know that Paul continued to write young churches with advice and counsel, and with an understanding that worship was part of what was binding people together.

Worship is and always has been a response to God: a response that praises, speaks, listens, and sings. It requires the involvement of our hearts, minds, souls, and even our bodies. It is private and shared. It wears different faces. In a church home, worship can countless liturgical expressions of praise, supplication, and thanksgiving. It offers a chance for renewal of the most important relationship in our lives – with God.


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LEARN AT HOME

TERMINOLOGY

ACOLYTE – an individual who assists the clergy during worship by lighting candles, acting as a torchbearer or crucifer, and helping prepare the altar for communion.

ALTAR – the structure in a church building where offerings are presented. During the Eucharist, the elements of bread and wine are consecrated.

BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER – the Official book of worship for The Episcopal

Church. The BCP provides liturgical forms, prayers, and instructions, enabling a

common worship experience throughout the Episcopal Church. (Revised 1979)

CELEBRANT – the clergy presiding over the worship service. The celebrant is also

known as the officiant or a presider.

CHALICE BEARER – layperson who assists at Holy Communion by administering the

wine.

COLLECT – a short, written prayer inviting God’s presence, followed by a petition and

a blessing. Collects are often part of the liturgy, and those in the Book of Common

Prayer follow the church calendar.

CRUCIFER – the individual who carries the cross (or crucifix) into the church and leads the procession.

DAILY OFFICE – the daily prayer services, traditionally observed in the Episcopal Church as Morning Prayer, Noonday Prayer, Evening Prayer, and Compline. The Daily

Offices include readings from Holy Scripture, especially the Psalms, prayers, and might

include the Confession, the Creed, and Eucharist.

EUCHARIST or HOLY COMMUNION – a principal sacrament instituted by Jesus at

the Last Supper for the continual remembrance of his life, death, and resurrection – with

thanksgiving. This sacrament is celebrated by receiving the bread and the wine as the

body and blood of Jesus Christ.

HYMNAL – the collection of hymns, tunes, and service music authorized for use in services in the Episcopal Church. (Revised 1982)

LECTOR – an individual who reads Holy Scripture and the Prayers of the People during

worship services.


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LECTIONARY – the ordered system for reading Holy Scripture at the Eucharist and

the Daily Offices. The Book of Common Prayer contains two lectionaries, the Eucharistic

Lectionary (3-year cycle) and the Daily Office Lectionary (2-year cycle).

LESSONS – passages of Holy Scripture read at worship services, which traditionally

include a passage from the Old Testament, the Psalms, the Epistles, and one of the Gospels. The particular readings for every week are determined by the Revised

Common Lectionary.

LITURGY – translates into “the work of the people” and is the form (or order) that

directs how public Christian worship will be conducted, incorporating matters of faith and tradition. Episcopal liturgies are set forth in the Book of Common Prayer.

LITURGICAL CALENDAR – the sequence of the seasons in the Christian year: Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, and ending with the season after Pentecost.

A color represents each season; the church linen, as well as the priests and

deacons vestments, change with each church season.

OFFERTORY – the portion of a worship service during which gifts of thanksgiving are gathered and presented to the celebrant, along with the bread and the wine.

SACRAMENT – an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace.

SACRISTY – the location in the church housing the vessels, linens, and liturgical

elements.

PARTS OF THE CHURCH2

NAVE – the long narrow part of a Roman basilica or a Christian church – the part where people sit in a

modern church.

CHANCEL – space around the altar.

NARTHEX – gathering area between the nave and

entrance doors.

AISLES – sides of the church that run alongside the nave.

SANCTUARY – area around the altar separated from

the church often with a railing.

TRANSEPT – an area that crosses (creates a cross) in

the nave.

CHAPEL – a building or space for worship that is not a church.

Diagram: fisheaters.com

https://quatr.us/architecture/roman-basilicas-architecture-ancient-rome.htm

https://quatr.us/romans/history-christianity-world-religions.htm


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Worship: Worship is the central practice, done in community or alone, in which we create space to listen, reflect, and respond to God’s presence.

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come before him. Worship the Lord in holy splendor; tremble before him, all the earth.

1 CHRONICLES 16:29-30

Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”

MATTHEW 22:371


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SMALL GROUP

GATHER As participants gather, facilitators welcome participants and reflect on questions from last session and review individual practices from “Build It Into Your Life.” Once all participants have arrived, the group transitions.

CENTER

Hold silence for one minute or more to allow participants and facilitators the opportunity to

center, prepare, and focus on the Christian Essential Worship.

PRAY Read aloud by one member of the group.

Gracious Father, we pray for your whole church. Fill it with all truth, in all truth with all peace.

Where it is corrupt, purify it; where it is in error, direct it;

where in any thing it is amiss, reform it.

Where it is right, strengthen it; where it is in want, provide for it;

where it is divided, reunite it;

for the sake of Jesus Christ thy Son our Savior. Amen.

FOR THE CHURCH, Book of Common Prayer Pg. 8163

READ

A member of the group reads aloud the Essential Definition and the Scripture passages.


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CHECK-IN

Check-in using one or more of the following: (20 minutes)

1. Share a response or question related to NARRATIVE or TERMINOLOGY.

2. What spoke to you, touched you, or challenged you in the NARRATIVE or

TERMINOLOGY?

3. Facilitators ask a DISCUSSION question from Page 10.

WORSHIP VIDEO Use the space below to capture thoughts, ideas, and questions provoked by the video.

NOTES:

Share a thought or an idea from the video.


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SMALL GROUP

REFLECTIONS Facilitators will select different voices to read reflections aloud.

If you had a temple in the secret spaces of your heart, What would you worship there?

What would you bring to sacrifice? What would be behind the curtain in the holy of holies?

Go there now.

- TOM BARRETT, What’s In the Temple?4

People encounter God under shady oak trees, on riverbanks, at the tops of mountains, and in long stretches of barren wilderness. God shows up in whirlwinds, starry skies, burning bushes, and perfect strangers. When people want to know more about God, the son of God tells them to pay attention to the lilies of the field and the birds of the air, to women kneading bread and workers lining up for their pay. Whoever wrote this stuff believed that people could learn as much about the ways of God from paying attention to the world as they could from paying attention to scripture. What is true is what happens, even if what happens is not always right. People can learn as much about the ways of God from business deals gone bad or sparrows falling to the ground as they can from reciting the books of the Bible in order. They can learn as much from a love affair or a wildflower as they can from knowing the Ten Commandments by heart.

- BARBARA BROWN TAYLOR, An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith5


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SMALL GROUP

DISCUSSION

Facilitators will select one or more questions for small group discussions. (25 minutes)

1. Share what type of worship speaks to your soul.

2. A “thin moment” is a moment in time where the distance between heaven and

earth (God and you) feels thinner. Recall a time you experienced a “thin moment” or were in a “thin space.”

3. If you were to build an altar anywhere in the world, where would you build

it, and why?

4. Who do you know that celebrates life and God? What attracts you to them?

5. What do you worship and sacrifice in the secret spaces of your heart?


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SMALL GROUP

BUILD AS A GROUP

Facilitator will select and lead one of the practices to be experienced by the group. (20 min.)

1. EXPLORE THE DAILY OFFICE

Explore a WORSHIP service by participating in one of the Daily Offices of the Episcopal Church.

Morning Prayer Rite II Book of Common Prayer Pg. 75 Noonday Prayer Book of Common Prayer Pg. 103 Evening Prayer Rite II Book of Common Prayer Pg. 115 Compline Book of Common Prayer Pg. 127

2. WALK AROUND THE CHURCH

Tour the church with an Altart Guild Member and explore the space as if you were a first-time visitor. Notice the symbols, colors, architecture, and how space is used.

3. EXPERIENCE FOOT WASHING

On the night before Jesus was crucified, while sharing a meal with his disciples, Jesus got up from the table and washed the disciples’ feet as an act of servanthood. Read John 13:1-16 and wash each other’s feet.

4. TOUR THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER

Using the outline on page 15, explore the Book of Common Prayer. See the handout or the description and history of the Book of Common Prayer.


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BUILD IT

INTO YOUR LIFE

Select one of the practices below to focus on in the coming week. Journal about your experience.

ATTEND A WEEKDAY WORSHIP SERVICE at CHRIST CHURCH CHARLOTTE

Tuesday 6:00 PM Holy Eucharist in the Chapel

Wednesday 12:00 PM Healing & Holy Eucharist in the Chapel

Thursday 7:00 AM Holy Eucharist, Breakfast and Bible Study

ATTEND A DIFFERENT WORSHIP SERVICE

Attend a different worship service than you normally attend. Pay attention to the

rhythm of the service and how it is similar or different. Notice the music, prayers, and congregational responses.

Alternatively, consider attending a worship service at a different church, denomination, or faith tradition. Ensure you are being respectful of the

traditions and customs.

PRAY THE DAILY OFFICE

Set aside 10-20 minutes every day to pray one of the Daily Office services below.

You can download the BCP Mobile App or visit www.bcponline.org.

Morning Prayer Rite II Book of Common Prayer Pg. 75 Noonday Prayer Book of Common Prayer Pg. 103

Evening Prayer Rite II Book of Common Prayer Pg. 115

Compline Book of Common Prayer Pg. 127

CHOOSE A QUESTION FROM THE DISCUSSION PAGE Journal about your responses.

http://www.bcponline.org/


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CLOSING PRAYER Read aloud by one of the participants.

Everliving God, whose will it is that all should come to you

through your Son Jesus Christ: Inspire our witness to him, that all may know the power of his forgiveness and the hope

of his resurrection; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Amen.

FOR THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH, Book of Common Prayer, 8166


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Liturgical Calendar of the Episcopal Church

Season Begins Color Theme Length

Advent 4th Sunday before Christmas Blue or purple Life before Christ; preparation for Christ’s coming

4 Sundays

Christmas December 25th White or gold Birth of Jesus 12 days

Epiphany January 6th White for feast day; green for season

Ministry to non-Jews; visit of wise men; missions

As many as 9 days

Lent Ash Wednesday Palm Sunday Maundy Thursday Good Friday

Purple Red Red Black

Penitence and self-examination Christ’s entry into Jerusalem Institution of Holy Communion Crucifixion

6 weeks (Holy Week is the last week in Lent)

Easter 1st Sunday after the full moon following March 21st (called a moveable feast)

White or gold Resurrection Lasts until Pentecost

Ascension 40 days after Easter White or gold Christ’s ascension 9 days

Whitsunday/ Pentecost

10 days after Ascension Day Red Gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church Sunday that ends the Easter Season

Pentecost After Easter Green Growth of the Christian in Christian life (called “Ordinary Time”)

Between 23 and 28 Sundays


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The Book of Common Prayer 1979: Outline

Concerning the Service of the Church 13 The Calendar of the Church Year 15

The Daily Office

Daily Morning Prayer: Rite One 37 Daily Evening Prayer: Rite One 61 Daily Morning Prayer: Rite Two 75 Noonday Prayer 103 Order of Worship for the Evening 108 Daily Evening Prayer: Rite Two 115 Compline 127

Daily Devotions Individuals & Families 137 Table of Suggested Canticles 144

The Great Litany 148

The Collects: Traditional Seasons of the Year 159 Holy Days 185 Common of Saints 195 Various Occasions 199

The Collects: Contemporary Seasons of the Year 211 Holy Days 237 Common of Saints 246 Various Occasions 251

Proper Liturgies for Special Days

Ash Wednesday 264 Palm Sunday 270 Maundy Thursday 274 Good Friday 276 Holy Saturday 283 The Great Vigil of Easter 285 Holy Baptism 299

The Holy Eucharist An Exhortation 316 A Penitential Order: Rite One 319 The Holy Eucharist: Rite One 323 A Penitential Order: Rite Two 351 The Holy Eucharist: Rite Two 355 Prayers of the People 383 Communion under Special Circumstances 396 An Order Holy Eucharist 400

Pastoral Offices Confirmation 413 A Form of Commitment to Christian Service 420 Celebration and Blessing of a Marriage 423 The Blessing of a Civil Marriage 433 An Order for Marriage 435 Thanksgiving for the Birth/Adoption of a Child 439 Reconciliation of a Penitent 447 Ministration to the Sick 453 Ministration at the Time of Death 462 Burial of the Dead: Rite One 469

Burial of the Dead: Rite Two 491

An Order for Burial 506

Episcopal Services Ordination of a Bishop 511 Ordination of a Priest 525 Ordination of a Deacon 537 Litany for Ordinations 548

Celebration of a New Ministry 557 Consecration of a Church or Chapel 567

The Psalter, or Psalms of David 585

Prayers and Thanksgivings 810

An Outline of the Faith, or Catechism 845

Historical Documents of the Church 864

Tables for Finding Easter and other Holy Days 880

The Lectionary 888 Year A 889 Year B 900 Year C 911 Holy Days 921 Common of Saints 925 Various Occasions 927

Daily Office Lectionary 934

Seasons of the Year 936

Holy Days 996 Special Occasions 1000


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RESOURCES BOOKS:

The Bible, New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) The Book of Common Prayer 1979 The Hymnal 1981 The Faith We Sing

An Altar in the World, Barbara Brown Taylor Divine Hours, Phyllis Tickle Hearts on Fire-Praying with the Jesuits, Michael Carter, SJ A Pilgrim People, John Westerhoff

Spiritual Disciplines Handbook, Adele Ahlberg Calhoun

ONLINE RESOURCES

www.bcponline.org The Book of Common Prayer

www.episcopalchurch.org The Episcopal Church www.dionc.org The Diocese of North Carolina www.lectionarypage.net www.thebibleproject.com www.ministrymatters.com/worship www.pray-as-you-go.org www.textweek.com

Resources compiled and recommended by parishioners. Christ Church Charlotte does not endorse all the beliefs or statements held by authors or online resources provided above.

FOOTNOTES WORSHIP

1 The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, 1995 by the Division of Christian Education of the

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. All rights reserved. 2 List of Church architectural terms: ttps://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_church_architecture_terms 3 The Book of Common Prayer, 816

4 Tom Barrett, “What’s in the Temple? From Keeping in Touch, 1993

5 Barbara Brown Taylor, An Altar in the World, Page 12-13 6 The Book of Common Prayer, 816

http://www.bcponline.org/

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/

http://www.dionc.org/

http://www.lectionarypage.net/

http://www.thebibleproject.com/

http://www.ministrymatters.com/worship

http://www.pray-as-you-go.org/

http://www.textweek.com/