What to Expect at an Episcopal Church

Worship is the center of our community’s life together and the Eucharist is the center of our worship. All baptized believers of any age or Christian tradition are welcome to the Communion table.

If you are attending a service at St. Timothy’s for the first time, here are some things you may notice, especially if you have never worshiped with an Episcopal congregation. No one is a spectator in our services — all are participants. The people in the congregation are participants in our worship as much as those with different functions who sit up front.

We refer to our services as Liturgy, which means the official corporate worship of the Church (corporate being what we do together as a Body, as opposed to what we do as individuals). The word “liturgy” comes from the Greek, meaning “a work done by the people.”
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The first time or two, it is just fine to simply let the sights and sounds of the Liturgy wash over you, and worry less about making sure you get everything right than about opening your heart, mind, and senses to the experience of worship. Then you can begin to learn to participate more actively in the service. Our service bulletin has everything you need to follow along. It’s designed to allow you to participate fully in the service without having to handle a Book of Common Prayer or Hymnal.

Please feel free to ask our Vicar, Rev. Peter Wallace, or the person next to you in the pew if you would like more information about St. Tim’s. We are happy to help.