Worship
UNIVERSAL CALL TO WORSHIP
1 Praise the Lord, all you nations! Extol him, all you peoples!
2 For great is his steadfast love toward us, And the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever
Praise the Lord
PSALM 117
OUR MISSION
Responding to God’s call by:
Providing an inviting, welcoming, and nurturing community for all to worship God, Encouraging and supporting lay ministries,
Proclaiming the good news of God’s love through word and deed.
ST. PAUL’S PARISH PRAYER
ALMIGHTY AND EVERLASTING GOD, hear our Prayers and grant to this parish all things necessary for its spiritual well-being: enlighten and guide our leaders, our clergy, wardens, and vestry; strengthen and increase the faithful, visit and relieve the sick, turn and renew the hard-hearted or careless, bring again those who have wandered, remove from us anything that resists your grace or hinders your praise and to give witness to your goodness, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen
Taken from the St. Augustine Prayer Book
Jesus Knocking at The Door of Your Heart
This is a Christian metaphor from Revelation 3:30 that signifies Jesus’s desire for a close relationship with individuals. It represents Him waiting patiently for an invitation to enter one’s life, not forcing His way in. By opening the “door through faith believers can have a deep, personal relationship with Christ, which leads to inner peace and transformation.
The invitation can be expressed through prayer, repentance, and a reviewed commitment to faith.
The Bible verse promises that if anyone opens his door, Jesus will “come into him and dine with him, and he with me”. This is seen as a promise of fellowship and communion with Christ.
AS YOU ENTER
After entering the vestibule of St. Paul’s from Pine Street, which at one time was the porch added to the bell tower circa 1906, you go through the glass doors into the Narthex which is the ground floor of the bell tower. The bell is rung to call the community to worship. The bell tower was constructed in 1880/1881.
As you step from the Narthex you are entering the Nave where the pews await the worshipers. This nave was reconstructed in 1880/1881. Immediately to the right is a credence table for the offertory plate. There is a baptismal font to the right of the isle as you enter. On the backs of the pews are the church hymnals, Books of Common Prayer, and visitor cards. At each end of the pews and in the middle are the black hymn books. From time-to-time hymns are chosen from them.
Just before the arch of the Chancel is the sanctuary where the Holy Eucharist is celebrated. The participants receive the bread and wine (the flesh and blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ) in remembrance of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ as they stand or kneel at the rail.
Up two steps is the Chancel which was added during the 1880/1881 reconstruction and the low Altar which was donated to St Paul’s by the Marzoa family. The priest celebrates the Holy Eucharist from here. On either side of the Chancel are seats for the Priest and Deacon and acolytes. To the rear is the high Altar. To the left is a seat for the visiting Bishop and to the right the credence table where the sacraments of the Holy Eucharist are placed. The 10 banks of pipe for the organ are on the right wall of the Chancel and equipment for the organ is in a room in back of the organ which was once the vestry room. The
former low altar of the Chancel is beneath the Gothic Window to the right of the exit
of the church.
The large window at the rear of the Chance is the Te Deum Window willed to our church in 1930. It replaced the original Gothic Window put there in 1880/81.
The exit on the left side of the Chancel leads to the Sacristy, a portion of which was part of the reconstruction of St. Paul’s in 1880/1881. There was an entrance to the Sacristy provided for rear access to the church.
THE ONCE A MONTH WORSHIP COMMITTEE MEETING
The worship committee is a group of lay volunteers who serve a coordinating role for aspects of Parish life related to worship and of the community activities. It provides consultation to clergy in reviewing the liturgical calendar and coordination among the several ministries operating at St. Paul’s.
Meetings are called prior to change of season (and scheduled at the conclusion of the current meeting) and are chaired by the Rector or delegated representative. Members include Music and Prayer Committees, Altar Guild, Ministry, Hospitality, Parish Secretary and other at large members from the congregation.
THOUGHTS
“Either sin will keep you away from God’s word or God’s word will keep you from sin.”
“Most of us wouldn’t think about missing a meal, yet we miss our spiritual“meal” when we neglect God’s word and we end up spiritually weak.”
From the revolving calendar of the Rev. Billy Graham
FORWARD DAY BY DAY
When we leave church on Sunday or close the Sunday Zoom service we are provided with the material for a life with our heavenly father for Monday through Saturday. It gives us devotional support that will enrich our soul and strengthen our spiritual Self.
Forward Day By Day is a booklet of daily Inspirational meditations reflecting on a specific Bible passage, chosen from the daily lectionary readings as listed in the Revised Common Lectionary or the Daily Office from the Episcopal Church’s Book of Common Prayer. It is published quarterly, the daily meditations are rich in substance and offer a wide range of witness and experience. Each month’s meditation is written by a different author “Inspiring readers since our first issue was published in 1935, Forward Day By Day remains a significant resource for daily prayer and Bible study to more than a half million readers and listeners worldwide.”
The internet publishes daily the Day By Day devotions found in the current Day By Day monthly pamphlet.
HANDICAPPED
Access to the nave for the handicapped is provided through the side door on Academy Street. The church has a wheel chair if needed as well as an elevator to the great hall..
ZOOM SERVICE
Fred and Judy Dean offer to the parish members with a computer the full service each Sunday as well as a replay to the previous week’s service. Those at home only have to provide their Book Of Common Prayer for service references.
MONDAY SHARING GROUP
On Mondays at 1:00 PM from September through May the sharing group meets on many subjects of life.
All are welcome to attend.
Bring a friend.
THE CHURCH BELL
On Sunday morning, and prior to the service, the church bell is rung to announce the morning service. The church bell was placed in the bell tower in the early 1880’s.was made by Joseph Bernhard of Philadelphia, PA. He apprenticed under John Wilbank (1788-1843) who owned foundries in Germantown and Philadelphia. PA. Bernhard later purchased Wiltbank’s foundry in Philadelphia. Bernhard recast “sister bell” of the LIberty Bell, in 1847. In early America bells were in high demand for communication by town halls, churches, fire houses, and others. Bernhard did a good business.*
*An attempt was made to get the whole bell in the picture. Space constraints did
not do justice to the bell.
The Episcopal Church Seasons and their colors
Many churches observe the “Church year”. This ancient custom parallels the life of Jesus, l beginning with advent, then His Birth; rising to a peak on His glorious
Resurrection. We celebrate other events in the short Life of Christ and –a month before Christmas–we begin the cycle again. In the Episcopal Church, as in many others, the hangings on the altar, pulpit, and lectern, as well as the stole worn by the clergy, represent the seasons of the church year.
Advent is the beginning of the church year. There are four Sundays of Advent, so it begins about a month before Christmas. This is a “fixed” season; four Sundays before The advent color is purple. I church tradition, this is the color of penitence and reflection.
Christmas, a time of great rejoicing. The liturgical color for this day is white. The color remains white through the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6. Epiphany
commemorates the showing of Jseus to the Gentiles, specifically the Magi, the Wise Men of the Nativity story, who were the first to know of His divinity. The season proclaims Jesus as Savior of the whole world. The first Sunday after Epiphany Sunday marks the baptism of Jesus and the color is often white. For the rest of the Sundays in Epiphany season, green is the color[[the universal color of nature, signifying regeneration, hope, and immortality.
The Epiphany season ends on Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. In some churches ashes from the previous year’s palm leaves on Palm Sunday are imposed
upon the foreheads of believers. Ash Wednesday is 46 days before Easter Day. The color for Ash Wednesday and the rest of Lent is purple for penitence.
Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter Day, is a time of rejoicing, The Color can be red, or purple The beginning of Holy Week, On Good Friday the altar is of all its colorful language, and a purple beil covers the crosses.
Easter Day–white. What else! The highest day of the Christian year. The date for Easter is the Sunday after the first full moon after the venal equinox on March 21. It can be no earlier than March 22 or later than April 25.
Fifty days after Easter we Celebrate Pentecost, commemorating the gift of the Holy Spirit to the whole world. The color for this day is red, signifying the Holy Spirit. (An old name for Pentecost is Whitesunday, so named because many baptisms were done on this day,with the baptismal clothing being white.)
Following Pentecost is Trinity Sunday, with white hangings, and then the long season of Trinity, with green as its color, lasting for about six months and ending on the first Sunday of Advent.
Liturgical colors are not scriptural! They follow custom, not dictate. In the Middle Ages lots of red, yellow, and blue were used, and then in the somber centuries following, the colors were muted. We’re a color-coded church.
Source: The Episcopal Church Welcomes You
Leonard Kohout