Worship at The Chapel of the Cross maintains the simple dignity and beauty of historic “Low Church” Anglicanism. The Liturgy (the work of the people) is the corporate worship of God’s royal priesthood, not primarily an individual experience, and invokes the ministry of God's Holy Spirit in Word and Sacrament. Therefore, God's Word read, preached and tasted are central to the Christian liturgy. God's people order their actions, words, and prayers by the Holy Scriptures - God's Word, written.
The early Church, continuing in the ordered and common prayers of Israel, gave themselves to the breaking of bread, fellowship, the apostles’ doctrine, and “the prayers.” The Book of Common Prayer is nearly all direct quotes from the Bible, logically arranged and organized to enable God’s people to prayer with one voice, or “in common.”
The principal services are the Daily Office (Morning and Evening Prayer) and the Holy Communion. These two services together express the worship God so carefully taught His people in the Old Testament, now fulfilled and completed in Christ.
The liturgy of the Reformed Episcopal Church is the theology of the reformed and catholic English Church. Unlike the separated communions of the more radical reformation, the English Church was able to maintain its episcopacy and its liturgy. We continue to follow this historic pattern of worship principally because we believe it to be an eminently biblical and effective form of expressing our corporate praise to Almighty God.
In life’s weightiest and loveliest occasions we repeat the best and most cherished words of our language, intuitively recognizing that spontaneity is inadequate at such times. Worshiping almighty God is the queen of such occasions. Most importantly, however, in the ancient liturgy, God's revelation in the Bible remains central, giving us confidence that our worship is acceptable to God, for we speak to Him using the very words He has given us.
Although it is sometimes difficult at first to move between the bulletin, the hymn book, and the prayer book, most people become accustomed to the pattern of the service after a few weeks and find it a beautiful way to express the adoration that we owe our Lord.
Our people will welcome you to divine worship, and one of them will be more than happy to sit with you and “walk” you through the service to make your introduction to liturgical worship more comfortable. Please ask.
When coming to worship for the first time, it helps to know that the congregation says the prayers and responses that appear in italics in the Prayer Book, and that, in general,
We look forward to worshiping with you soon.