Worship

Holy Eucharist

Sundays in Advent @ 5 PM
and Christmas Eve @ 5pm!

“Eucharist” is the ancient Greek word for “thanksgiving,” and we will be experimenting for quite some time with different ways this ancient ritual might unfold in this new community of practice. But our gathering always follows this basic pattern:  

We center ourselves in our bodies and root ourselves in the presence of a loving, liberating and life-giving God; we listen to the words of scripture and wonder together how its wisdom speaks to us today—and how it orients us to the horizon of justice, grace and healing that we long for. We open our hearts together in prayer. Trusting in the mercy and compassion of God, we can tell the truth about what we want and how we so often get in our own way, hurting others and ourselves; God’s forgiveness frees us from shame and guilt to start again: to keep on practicing being the people we are called to be.  

The center of this service is when we gather around a table where we offer ourselves and our gifts to God—and God offers Godself to us as food. In this holy communion, mysterious things can happen, if we allow it. We who are so different are joined together into one. The boundary between this world and the kingdom of God becomes porous: we sense that those who have gone before us are not gone, but surround us, and we join their song. The bread and wine we share is somehow more than matter; it is nourishment offered from God’s own body for the parts of our souls that are starving. 

 

Open Space, Quiet Space

Sundays, 7:00 PM

The sanctuary is open for as a space of rest and stillness. There is no program, nothing you need to do, or say, or achieve. It is a space to just be present: to grieve, catch up, practice gratitude, listen to our hearts, etc., etc., etc. Nothing more, and nothing less. 

There will be candles lit in the center of the room, and you are invited to do whatever your body needs to find ease in the candlelight. You might: lie down on the floor, sit on a meditation cushion or bench, find a chair along the walls, find enough light to read or journal, daydream… 

Compline

Monthly (On Hiatus)

In early 2024 we experimented with a chanted service of Compline: the prayers that monastics have said before bedtime for centuries. We blended the chanting of these ancient prayers with other pieces of devotional music, including some playful reinterpretations of pop melodies to accompany a chanted psalm (Billie Eilish, Beverly Glenn-Copeland, the Magnetic Fields, Neil Young). Mostly we worked with a choral quartet, but also did a very special compline with guitarist Jay Sorce—and we may do more down the road! For now this Compline is on hiatus as we put our creative energy elsewhere. 

This Little Light

Upcoming—we dream about this…

We are dreaming about a 30 minute service for kids 7 and under (and their families). We will sing songs, we will tell stories; we will wiggle and wonder together while following the big arc of the Episcopal liturgy, where we gather to break bread together in the presence of God. This is a body-positive, gender-inclusive, no-judgment space for any kid to learn about a God who is Love, and a supportive space for parents who are wondering how to help their kids develop a healthy spiritual life based on curiosity and wonder.   

We’re thinking this will be at 9am on Sunday mornings—but if you think that time is ridiculous, reach out to Fr. Carl and vote for our other option: 4pm!