Worship
At St. Martin's, worship is both the catalyst for and the
culmination of all other activities. Through celebration of the
two great sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist, we are renewed
in awareness and strengthened in our commitment as a Covenant
people.
Integral to this process at Martin's is participation in the
cycle of the Church year. As we repeatedly move through the
seasons of the Church Calendar, we bring the events of our lives
as individuals and as community into contact with the patterns of
our Lord's earthly life and ministry. The structure of our worship
services changes in order to accommodate these seasonal
perspectives.
For example, Eucharistic Prayer "A", with its strong
sacrificial imagery is used during Lent while Prayer "B" is
assigned to the season of Advent and one of the authorized
Supplemental Eucharistic Prayers is used for the Feast of St.
Francis. The Holy Eucharist is celebrated, using Rite II
Eucharistic Prayers at 9:15 on Sunday mornings. On those occasions
when a priest is unavailable, Lay Readers officiate at Morning
Prayer on Sunday mornings.
Other Daily Offices, such as Compline, along with such
spiritual exercises such as the Stations of the Cross, are a
regular party of our worship together.
Holy Week provides our most intense period of worship
activities. Whenever possible, the Palm Sunday liturgy includes an
outdoor procession and members seated throughout the congregation
participate in the reading of the Passion Narrative. Our
observance of Maundy Thursday is designed to include participation
of all members of St. Martin's as we share an agape meal and a
communal foot washing, celebrate the Maundy Thursday liturgy of
Eucharist and the stripping of the altar.
An all night vigil is then maintained until the 7:30 AM Good
Friday service. Since only a few individuals are free to attend
the early morning service, we have introduced an evening
observance using a wide variety of approaches including
traditional versions of Tenebrae as well as innovative dramatic
presentations.
A worship Committee is formed from time to time, not only to
review our own approaches but also to examine current scholarly
opinions being expressed in our seminaries. Form these activities,
study programs are designed which investigate the need for
modifications to our worship practices.
The atmosphere of our worship is perhaps best described as a
"joyful seriousness". While there are times when the focused
attention is such that a dropped pen could be heard during a
sermon or prayers, the group is not disturbed by a young child's
movements or sounds of laughter at an appropriate place during a
sermon. It is our hope that we will continue to take our worship
activities with great seriousness while remaining quite able and
willing to laugh at ourselves.
Through all of our worship experiences, our objective is to be
drawn more closely together within the Body of Christ and to be
more clearly defined as God's Holy People in order that we might
better serve the world. At the same time, we are deeply aware that
such activity occurs within holy space and brings the participants
into mystical contact with he Divine and so we respond with awe at
the great mysteries in which, by God's Grace, we are privileged to
participate, to the Glory of His Name.
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