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The principal weekly worship service is the Sunday Holy Eucharist, also known as:the Lord's Supper or Holy Communion. Worship is accompanied by the singing of hymns, and some parts of the service are sung. All worship in the Episcopal Church is based in the Book of Common Prayer, which gives worship a familiar feel, no matter where you go.

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 however, there are some minor changes during different seasons 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.

In spite of the diversity of worship syles in the Episcopal Church, Holy Eucharist always has the same components and the same shape.

The Liturgy of the Word

We begin by praising God through song and prayer, and then listen to readings from the Bible. Usually one from the Old Testament, a Psalm, something from the Epistles, and a reading from the Gospels. The Psalm is usually sung or recited by the congregation.

Next a sermon interpreting the readings appointed for the day is preached.

In certain seasons of the Church year, the congregation formally confesses their sins before God and one another. This is a corporate statement of what we have done and what we have left undone, followed by a pronouncement of absoution. In pronouncing absolution, the presider assures the congregation that God is always ready to forgive our sins.

The congregation then greets one                 another with a sign of peace.

 

The Liturgy of the Table

Now begins the Eucharistic Prayer, in which the presider tells a the story of our faith, from the beginning of Creation, through the choosing of Israel to be God's people, through our continual turning away from God, and God's calling us to return. Finally, the presider tells the story of the coming of Jesus Christ, and about the night before His death, on which he instituted the Eucharistic meal (communion) as a continual remembrance of Him.

The presider blesses the bread and the wine, and the congregation recites the Lord's Prayer. Finally, the presider breaks the bread and offers it to the congregation, as the gifts of God for the people of God. The congregation then shares the consecrated bread and the wine. At Christ Church, the people all come forward to receive the bread and the wine. All baptized Christians, no matter age or denomination, are welcome to receive communion. Visitors who are not baptized Christians are welcome to come forward during the Communion to receive a blessing from the presider.

At the end of the Eucharist, the congregation prays once more in thanksgiving, and then is dismissed to continue the life of sevice for God and to the world.