Your entire family is welcome at Church of the Nativity. All members of your family, regardless of age, may participate in the services. Style of dress is your choice.

Entering the Church
Greeters welcome all who enter. If you desire, they will answer your questions about the service. On your first visit, we invite you to sign our guest book.

* The Service Sheet, which contains the entire service, including hymns, service music, and prayers
* Today's Readings, which contains the text of the lessons and the psalm for today
* The Announcements, which let you know what is going on at Nativity

It is the custom upon entering church to kneel in one's pew for a prayer of personal preparation for worship. For some, it is also a personal custom to bow to the altar on entering and leaving the church as an act of reverence for Christ. Many Episcopalians do not talk in church before a service but use this time for personal meditation and devotions.

The Service

The service is a celebration of the Holy Eucharist, which is the Greek word meaning "Thanksgiving." In the Eucharist, we give thanks for what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. It is also known as Holy Communion, for in it we commune with God and also with each other as the Body of Christ.

The service is a drama that we all enter. The first act of the drama is "The Liturgy of the Word," based on Jewish worship that preceded Christianity. God's mighty acts in history are recalled through scripture and applied to our lives in the sermon. The second act of the drama is "The Liturgy of the Table." Through repeating the words and actions of Jesus' last meal with his disciples, we ourselves join the story and make it our own. In a mystery, bread and wine become the outward signs of inward grace received.

Bible
The Episcopal Church authorizes many bibles for use in public worship. At Atonement, readings are usually from the New Revised Standard Version. Our worship bulletin on Sundays includes the lessons of scripture for the service. Of course, you may bring a bible, but what you need for the service is in the bulletin.

Book of Common Prayer
The primary guide for worship in the Episcopal Church is the Book of Common Prayer, 1979. The page numbers from The Book of Common Prayer are usually announced by the ministers throughout the service, but do not be embarrassed to ask your neighbor for the page number if you get lost. Look for the red book near your seat.
Hymnal

Church of the Nativity uses the 1982 Hymnal of the Episcopal Church. Service music to accompany the Holy Eucharist is in the front; these pages have an "S" prefix. Hymns are in the remainder of the book, by number. It is the custom in our church for everyone to sing hymns and service music, except for the anthem sung by the choir during the offertory. Some hymns date back to the earliest use of music in Christian worship; other hymns are modern compositions of both word and music. Usually we have piano accompaniment, but occasionally we use other instruments. Look for the blue book near your seat.

Communion

At Nativity, all Christians including children and non-Episcopalians are welcome to receive communion at God's altar. Priests or lay Eucharistic Ministers will offer you the bread and wine consecrated as the body and blood of Jesus Christ. You may receive the wine from a common cup or you may "intinct" by dipping the bread in the chalice. If you wish to receive a blessing rather than the Sacrament, simply cross your hands over your heart as a signal for the priest.

Kneeling optional

Episcopalians have been accused of injecting confusion into the service with all the standing, sitting and kneeling. The general rule is to stand to sing, for affirmations of faith such as the Creed, and for the reading of the Gospel. We sit during readings from the Old Testament, the psalms, or New Testament Letters, the sermon, and the choir anthems. We stand or kneel for prayer to show our gratefulness to God for accepting us as children or as an act of humility before God.

Also optional...

At Atonement, the clergy and the lay persons participating in the service follow customs such as making the sign of the cross and bowing to the altar as a way of showing their love and respect for God. Whether you follow these customs is entirely up to you.
Following the Service

The clergy greet the people as they leave. Many people stay in the parish hall to have a cup of coffee and engage in conversation. You are welcome join us.

A Few Inside Tips

If you would like to learn more about the Episcopal Church, go to The Seekers' Center at the Episcopal Church USA or to What is the Episcopal Church? from Anglicans Online.

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