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Worship

Sunday   – 9:15 a.m. Holy Eucharist, Rite II 

Sunday:   The Lord's Day, the first day of the biblical week. The NT specifies that on this day Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to his disciples. At an early date Sunday-rather than the Sabbath (Saturday)-became the occasion for Christians to meet together and celebrate the eucharist. Its meaning was enriched by reference to the creation of light and the work of the Holy Spirit (Gn 1:1-5). Pentecost has generally been considered to have fallen on the "First Day." Under Christian emperors, Sunday became a public holiday. Attendance at the eucharist and at vespers on Saturday and/or Sunday evening became normative for many centuries. After the Reformation, Puritans sought to impose austere regulations reflecting the biblical Sabbath, whereas Anglicans have regarded social gatherings, sports, and other entertainments appropriate after church. The Holy Eucharist is "the principal act of Christian worship on the Lord's Day and other major feasts" (BCP, p. 13). Collects for Saturday evening and Sunday, and Sunday eucharistic prefaces, articulate the themes of creation, the Resurrection, and new life in the Spirit appropriate for Sunday as the day of the eucharist. In The Hymnal 1982, Hymns 47-52 express these classic Sunday themes, including "O day of radiant gladness" (Hymn 48). 

Liturgy:   The term "liturgy" may refer to the rites or texts that order the church's worship. It may indicate in particular the eucharist, which is also known as the Divine Liturgy (BCP, p. 859). In eastern Christianity, the term is applied more narrowly to the eucharist and not to other rites of divine worship. In the west, it includes all public rites and offices of the church. 

Eucharist :  The sacrament of Christ's body and blood, and the principal act of Christian worship. The term is from the Greek, "thanksgiving." Jesus instituted the eucharist "on the night when he was betrayed." At the Last Supper he shared the bread and cup of wine at a sacred meal with his disciples. He identified the bread with his body and the wine with his blood of the new covenant. Jesus commanded his disciples to "do this" in remembrance of him (see 1 Cor 11:23-26; Mk 14:22-25; Mt 26:26-29; Lk 22:14-20). Christ's sacrifice is made present by the eucharist, and in it we are united to his one self-offering (BCP, p. 859). The Last Supper provides the basis for the fourfold eucharistic action of taking, blessing, breaking, and sharing. Christ's body and blood are really present in the sacrament of the eucharist and received by faith. Christ's presence is also known in the gathered eucharistic community.  

 In the BCP, the whole service is entitled the Holy Eucharist. The first part of the service is designated the Word of God. It usually includes the entrance rite, the lessons and gradual psalm, the gospel, the sermon, the Nicene Creed, the prayers of the people, the confession of sin and absolution, and the peace. The second portion of the service is designated the Holy Communion. It includes the offertory, the consecration of the bread and wine in the Great Thanksgiving, the communion of the people, and the concluding prayers of thanksgiving and dismissal. A blessing may be given prior to the dismissal.

The eucharist is also called the Lord's Supper, Holy Communion, the Divine Liturgy, the Mass, and the Great Offertory (BCP, p. 859). The Hymnal 1982 includes a section with a variety of hymns for the Holy Eucharist (300-347), including "Come, risen Lord, and deign to be our guest" (305-306), "My God, thy table now is spread" (321), "Now, my tongue, the mystery telling" (329-331), and "I am the bread of life" (335).

Morning Prayer:   Morning Prayer once was the chief Sunday service in most Anglican churches on three out of four Sundays, the First Sunday usually being a celebration of Holy Communion. This practice has not continued because the eucharist has been recognized as the "principal act of Christian worship on the Lord's Day" in most parishes (see BCP, p. 13), However, Morning Prayer is clearly designated as a daily service for the worship of the church. This usage reflects the ancient tradition of the Daily Office.

 In many times and places, daybreak has been a time of prayer. Jews prayed in their synagogues at sunrise as well as at other times each day. This Jewish pattern of prayer formed the basis of the Christian monastic Daily Office, with its prayers or "hours" at seven times in each day. Thomas Cranmer's revision of the Daily Office for the first English Prayer Book (1549) reduced the number of services to two-one for morning (Matins) and one for evening (Evensong or vespers). In the Second English Prayer Book (1552), the morning service was given its present name, Morning Prayer. 

Many elements of Morning Prayer come from the monastic hours of matins (e.g., Venite and Te Deum), lauds (e.g., Benedicte, omnia opera Domini, a "chapter" of scripture, Benedictus Dominus Deus, collect of the day), and Prime (e.g., a second "chapter" of scripture and the Apostles' Creed). Psalms were recited at every one of the offices, with the whole Psalter recited once a week. In the 1549 BCP, psalms were read at both Morning and Evening Prayer, with the whole Psalter read "in course" once each month. In subsequent Prayer Book revisions, psalms have come to be used more selectively, although a monthly cycle of psalms read "in course" is still provided as an option. In the 1549 Prayer Book, the very short monastic "chapters" were lengthened to full chapters of both the OT and NT at both Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer. In the 1979 BCP, only one lesson must be read, and the appointed lessons are not so long. 

Rite 1, Rite 2:   Although the structure of Rite 1 and Rite 2 liturgies are essentially the same, the options and requirements of the rites differ in certain respects. For example, the Rite 1 Eucharist requires the collect for purity in the entrance rite (BCP, p. 323), but the collect for purity may be omitted in Rite 2 (BCP, p. 355). The summary of the Law is optional in the Rite 1 Eucharist, but it is not included as an option in the Rite 2 Eucharist. The prayer for the whole state of Christ's Church and the world (BCP, pp. 328-330) is presented as an option in the Rite 1 Eucharist, but this prayer is not included in the Rite 2 service. The BCP also provides six forms for the prayers of the people which may be done in traditional or contemporary language. The Rite 1 Eucharist includes two biddings to confession, the first of which dates to 1548. This bidding begins, "Ye who do truly and earnestly repent you of your sins" (BCP, p. 330). It is not found in the Rite 2 Eucharist. The Rite 1 Eucharist allows one or more of four sentences of scripture to be said after the confession and absolution. These sentences, previously known as the "comfortable words," do not appear in the Rite 2 Eucharist. The Agnus Dei and the prayer of humble access may be said after the breaking of the bread in the Rite 1 Eucharist (BCP, p. 337). These prayers are not presented as options in the Rite 2 Eucharist, although a suitable anthem may be used after the breaking of the bread. A blessing by the bishop or priest is required after the postcommunion prayer in the Rite 1 Eucharist, but this blessing is optional in the Rite 2 Eucharist (BCP, pp. 339, 366).