Taking a short break from church before Holy Week.

[hrmjustin]

Next week I will be there for hours on end so I am staying home this morning.

[cbayer]

1. What do you do with your church?

[hrmjustin]

2. I personally am a MC, chalice bearer, thurifer, sub-deacon, and torch bearer.

I also volunteer for kitchen duty which will keep me busy next week.

[cbayer]

3. Wow! I don't even know what half of those things are.

What kind of a church is it.

[hrmjustin]

4. Episcopalian.

Thurifer is the person who swings the censer or thurible. MC makes sure everyone does their job. Sub-deacon is the third sacred minister at the altar who assists the deacon. The sub-deacon is filled by a lay person or a clergy person. Sub-deacons ware a tunic and alb but no stole unless they are an ordained person. Chalice bearers give the communion cup out only. In the Episcopal church clergy give out the bread for the most part.

[freshwest]

5. This is why I get confused when an Episcopalian takes me to church. Lot going on at once.

And all the hymns are unfamiliar. But I may go on Easter.

[hrmjustin]

6. We have our own hymnal.

The episcopal mass is a lot like the Roman Catholic Mass. Many of our hymns are from 19 and 20th century hymnity

[freshwest]

7. Not growing up in the RCC, it's all a mystery to me.

It must take years to learn all the prayers and practices. I fear I'm too old to start, so I fumble along. They tolerate that.

[pinto]

8. Your counterpart here locally must have been the one who "directed" me at an Episcopal service.

I was invited to speak at a service during the week that the AIDS quilt was here in town. This church was instrumental in helping make it happen.

When I got to the church they told me I would enter with the processional, following the clergy, et al as a guest. I froze for a second. Then figured I would simply follow the lead and take a place on the bench beside the altar 'till I was asked to get up to say my few words. (I was picturing a Catholic church set up.)

But when we got to the altar, there was no bench! Someone realized I was obviously lost and discretely indicated where I should stand while the service proceeded. It was probably the MC or a sub-deacon I guess.

In any event I made some brief comments and all went of well. Had no clue whether this was common in Episcopalian services. (Lay persons are rarely, if ever, on the altar during Catholic masses.)

I was humbled, excited, somewhat surprised by the invite and really enjoyed being a part of the service. And grateful for some on site direction...

[hrmjustin]

9. Sounds like an MC.

I am glad it was a good experience for you and I hope you always feel welcome at our churches.

[pinto]

10. I'm considering joining one. I chose the consideration as a Lent exercise.

[hrmjustin]

11. Here is a guide to finding a church.

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/find-a-church

[wryter2000]

26. You'd be very welcome

We look like we're all pomp and circumstance, but we honestly don't take ourselves seriously. We all have a story of something dumb we did during a service, and we laugh about them. There's always someone to nudge you in the right direction.

[kwassa]

12. Your church has more formalized positions than our Episcopal church. Is this Rite 1?

we have no MC or sub-deacons. We don't even have deacons.

Rector, assistant rector, chalice bearers, ushers. And, we rarely do incense, as it is hell on singer's throats, and the choir really doesn't like it.

[hrmjustin]

13. We use rite 2.

Most Episcopal Churches in NYC are very formal.

[kwassa]

14. In the Washington diocese, not so much.

Depends on the church.

[hrmjustin]

15. I go to the cathedral when I am in DC.

[cbayer]

16. I'm going to DC this spring and would like to re-visit the cathedral.

I went to a number of events there as a child, so it would stir up some memories.

[hrmjustin]

17. It is a great place to go.

They have a good assortment of outreach, fellowship, and worship.

[kwassa]

20. The cathedral is a wonderful place.

Now they not only do president's funerals, they do same-sex marriages, too.

I just love the cathedral itself, as a structure.

[hrmjustin]

22. I like Gary Hall the new dean.

Very progressive man! He was stationed at All Saints Pasadena CA which is a very liberal parish. One of my priest knew him when she was stationed there.

[kwassa]

23. I have yet to meet him.

and I'm sure I will at some point. He is definitely out there. We have a long tradition as a very liberal diocese.

[hrmjustin]

24. Bishop Chane is also a good progressive man.

[hrmjustin]

18. I like your new Bishop.

She seems to be very progressive.

[kwassa]

19. She preached at our church a couple of weeks ago.

Budde has a very positive presence, very encouraging.

[hrmjustin]

21. She is great on tv interviews.

She did one on Religion and Ethics Weekly on PBS a few weeks back and she was great. You might know this already but you can watch services from years past on the cathedral website and I have seen several of her sermons and they are great.

[wryter2000]

25. I've been fairly active in Lent

We have a prayer service and soup supper every Wednesday in Lent. I've attended all of them and made soup.

I'm altar guild, so I'll be pretty busy during Holy Week. I'll be covering Tennebrae on Wednesday night and Good Friday for three hours on Friday.

I love Holy Week and Easter. I'm so not a Christmas person.

[hrmjustin]

27. I love Holy Week and Easter as well.

I also love advent.