Saint Benedict Episcopal Church

Worship Times:

Sunday 8:00 & 10:00 Eucharist

Effective August 17th, services will be held at 10:30 instead of 10:00a.m. 

Tuesday 8:30 Centering Prayer

Wednesday 10:15 Eucharist

Current Ministry Schedule

Upcoming Ministry Schedule

Lectionary Page Link for Readers

We are a diverse community, and our worship reflects that: from the quiet and reflective atmosphere at 8:00 on a Sunday morning to the exuberance of the 10:00 service on a Second Sunday when our children help to shape the liturgy. Our motto is passionate living through Christ’s teachings. We hope that passion finds its way into our worship and that our worship is engaging, inviting, and easy to follow. And children of all ages are welcome with open arms! We are grateful for the ancient patterns of worship we have received from centuries of Christian tradition. At the same time, we joyfully incorporate language, music, and movement of our own time. Our choir leads congregational singing and makes their own offerings of special music. We offer a wide range of musical offerings. We are blessed to have several musicians in our congregation that offer guitar, flute and violin. No matter what style we use on Sunday, we always share stories from the Bible and from our lives, pray for the needs of the world, share the bread and wine of Holy Communion, and then go into the world to make God’s presence known in our daily lives.

Liturgy and Ritual

Worship in the Episcopal Church is said to be “liturgical,” meaning that the congregation follows service forms and prays from texts that don’t change greatly from week to week during a season of the year. This sameness from week to week gives worship a rhythm that becomes comforting and familiar to the worshipers. For the first-time visitor, liturgy may be exhilarating… or confusing. Services may involve standing, sitting, kneeling, sung or spoken responses, and other participatory elements that may provide a challenge for the first-time visitor. However, liturgical worship can be compared with a dance: once you learn the steps, you come to appreciate the rhythm, and it becomes satisfying to dance, again and again, as the music changes.

The Holy Eucharist

In spite of the diversity of worship styles in the Episcopal Church, Holy Eucharist always has the same components and the same shape. Eucharist is the Greek Word for Thanksgiving. Each week we gather to give thanks for the ways that God has shown up in our lives both individually and as a community.

The Liturgy of the Word

We begin by praising God through song and prayer, and then listen to as many as four readings from the Bible. Usually one from the Old Testament, a Psalm, something from the Epistles, and (always) a reading from the Gospels. The psalm is usually sung or recited by the congregation. Next, a sermon interpreting the readings appointed for the day is preached. Next, the congregation prays together—for the Church, the World, and those in need. We pray for the sick, thank God for all the good things in our lives, and finally, we pray for the dead. The presider (e.g. priest, bishop, lay minister) concludes with a prayer that gathers the petitions into a communal offering of intercession. In certain seasons of the Church year, the congregation formally confesses their sins before God and one another. This is a corporate statement of what we have done and what we have left undone, followed by a pronouncement of absolution. In pronouncing absolution, the presider assures the congregation that God is always ready to forgive our sins.The congregation then greets one another with a sign of “peace.”The Liturgy of the Table

Next, the priest stands at the table, which has been set with a cup of wine and a plate of bread or wafers, raises his or her hands, and greets the congregation again, saying “The Lord be With You.” Now begins the Eucharistic Prayer, in which the presider tells the story of our faith, from the beginning of Creation, through the choosing of Israel to be God’s people, through our continual turning away from God, and God’s calling us to return. Finally, the presider tells the story of the coming of Jesus Christ, and about the night before his death, on which he instituted the Eucharistic meal (communion) as a continual remembrance of him.The presider blesses the bread and wine, and the congregation recites the Lord’s Prayer. Finally, the presider breaks the bread and offers it to the congregation, as the “gifts of God for the People of God.”The congregation then shares the consecrated bread and the wine.

All Are Welcome

At the end of the Eucharist, the congregation prays once more in thanksgiving, and then is dismissed to continue the life of service to God and to the World.