Summer worship at 9

You never go away from us,

yet we have difficulty in returning to You.

Come, Lord, stir us up and call us back.

Kindle and seize us. Be our fire and our sweetness.

- St. Augustine of Hippo, Confessions

Dear people of Emmanuel,

You are already looking ahead, I trust, to our one-service-at-9 summer Sunday worship schedule. The local Lutherans and Presbyterians went to their respective one-service summer schedules weeks ago! Here we go.

Being prepared for the when of our summer worship, let me briefly turn our attention to the how. The form will be simpler, notably for the entry rites (from the opening acclamation through the bidding for the Collect), but also throughout.

The Eucharistic rite will be from Enriching Our Worship I. This is not new for Emmanuel, but for a while we’ll want to pay attention to, for instance, changes in language for the People’s responses and to portions of the Nicene Creed in which the language differs from that in the Book of Common Prayer. Making a change in worship can be like breaking in new shoes that are a little uncomfortable at first but soon carry us along agreeably.

As much emphasis as we Episcopalians place on the how of worship (that is, the forms of it), I find that the renewing sense of God’s presence that we seek in worship can’t be bottled or guaranteed. The most well-planned liturgies in the most pleasing of temples can be dead as dust. The simplest of services, even with bad lighting, mispronunciations and an out-of-tune piano can elevate, delight and renew us. Why is that?

Some of that wild card quality in worship may have to do with who shows up for it and why. I’m praying that the who of our summer worship will include you. May our whys include seeking and finding the Holy One, not only in our worship and music but also in how we are present in fellowship to one another and in how we welcome any guests who come our way.

The Rev. Patrick Raymond

Interim Rector