Praying in the Episcopal Church

I think my eyes have really been opened to new ideas since I have been attending a local community worship service at an Episcopal Church. One thing Episcopalians do well is prayer. As Baptists, we like to make and write our own prayers. The only prayer we probably know by memory is the Lord’s Prayer. However, in the Baptist church we usually pray together, but in a passive way. In my church, we usually say the Lord’s Prayer together after the minister prays the invocation. The pastoral prayer is led by either me, or the youth pastor. The congregation listens and is supposed to pray with me, but it is a seemingly passive way of praying.

However, in the Episcopal Church, we’ve been praying in an active way. Different people help lead the prayer and the congregation has to respond. The congregation is required to take a more active role, whether or not they are paying attention to what is being said. I like this method because many different people are helping lead the prayer and that makes it seem more inclusive. I also like the idea of having prayers already written, especially because I worry that I pray the same thing over and over again. I try to keep my own personal agenda out of it and that is hard to do. If it were up to me I would pray for those who feel broken every week. That is just something that is always on my mind, but I also need to keep everything in balance. I sometimes think it would be nice if I didn’t have to write a prayer.

I really think the Episcopalians do prayer well, but I don’t want to say that Baptists should be just like them. I just think that Baptists ought to be more creative about how they pray. It would be cool to see my Baptist church pray a prayer that required them to respond. At least I would know that the congregation was awake. It would also be nice to say some prayers that were already written, to provide some variety from what I would pray. Writing a prayer is sometimes a needed thing, because there is something that the Spirit lays on me. However, it is also a struggle that I have to deal with. The beauty of being a moderate Baptist is the fact that we get to experiment with different things. Our church has been experimenting with doing communion by way of intinction and it has been a great thing. Letting the church try new things and decide what it likes to do is so healthy. That’s what the church is about; letting the Holy Spirit move.

Vacationing in the Episcopal Church

For the past few months I have been attending a community worship service at a local Episcopal Church. I had been sensing the need to have a place to worship where I am not responsible for anything. As a minister it is difficult to worship in a worship service where I am praying, reading scripture, teaching the children’s moment, or doing the announcements. To sit in a pew is a privilege and one that I take advantage of on Sunday nights.

My first visit at this service was an eye opening experience. I don’t mind getting out of my comfort zone and I knew that this service would be totally different than what I grew up with. I am Baptist through and through and I felt like a foreigner on the first visit. A good friend of mine wisely said that one should visit a church twice, just to be sure. On the second visit, I felt like I could take more of it in because I knew what to expect. The newness of it all had worn off somewhat and I could really immerse myself in the whole experience. Soon I found myself in a Baptist worship service on Sunday mornings and vacationing in an Episcopal Church on Sunday nights. Sometimes I would even attend this community worship service on Sunday nights and then race off to my Baptist church for a meeting. It has become that important to me.

I have really enjoyed this little worship service for many reasons. It is considered to be a community worship service and lots of different people attend it. Folks from many different denominations attend it and it is a beautiful thing to see everyone praying together, taking communion together, and singing together. The worship style is very Celtic and there are lots of moments for reflection. They purposely leave space in the worship service so we can reflect on the scripture and pray.

I love this little worship service for many reasons, but I think the biggest reason I love it is the fact that this hour on Sunday night is for me. It is my little way of breaking out of the little Baptist world that I have found here in Richmond and engaging another part of the community. In my world full of papers, tests, missions and church work it is nice to be able to worship with these folks. They have truly made me, a Baptist, feel at home in their sanctuary and I am truly grateful. It is so wonderful to see a church like this purposely opening their doors to everyone, even if the priest was floored to find out that they have a young, Baptist, minister/seminarian in their midst every Sunday night.

Holy Cow

It's been a long time since I've updated this thing. Part of it is because I'm not so sure what to do with this site. When I was in my undergrad I needed someplace to grind my theological ax. Now that is not so much the case.

If anything, my head is bloated with ideas and I don't feel brave enough to post anything. I've got a few things whirling around in my head, and I'll post them soon.

Life is good and I'll take it. My life hasn't been this good in a long while. Just trying not to blink and let this moment pass me by.

I'll post something thoughtful soon. Pinky swear.