Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.
Matthew 13:52
What's it like to worship at Good Samaritan? We are part of The Episcopal Church and worship according to its guidelines. We are a combination of the old and the new. If you are coming from a Catholic background, we will look pretty familiar to you. We have a "liturgy"--an order for the way the service should go. The service is a combination of music, prayers (both written and spontaneous), four readings from the Bible, and a sermon based on those readings and how to apply them to our contexts today. Like other churches, we use the readings scheduled in the lectionary, a three-year cycle of readings from both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. The form of service comes out of our Book of Common Prayer.
If you come from an evangelical tradition, you might find it "formal" at first due to the worship leaders in robes and the orderly form of our service. But we are a very casual congregation, and we encourage clapping, singing, and lots of questions. Many of our members used to attend evangelical churches and have found a home at Good Sam. Most of us dress casually, but a few dress up.
Our service is typically a Eucharist, which means "thanksgiving." This means that, after the reading and the preaching, we have a Communion service. The priest prays for the Spirit to make the bread and wine holy, and we believe in the Real Presence of Jesus in the bread and wine. We then share that Communion meal together just as the very first Christians did.
When we worship in person, we provide childcare and Sunday School. Or if families wish, kids of all ages are welcome to stay with their parents, grandparents, or guardians in our spacious sanctuary. We provide drawing activities at the entrance to our sanctuary.
Our music is mostly contemporary, sometimes traditional, from three different hymnals.
When you arrive, you'll be greeted by greeters and ushers who will offer you a temporary name tag, if you want. After the service, we gather for refreshments, and there is also an adult forum.
In the Episcopal Church, we believe in involving as many people as possible in worship. Here are some ways to help:
- Our altar guild cleans linens and prepares our chapel and our large sanctuary for Communion with chalices, patens, bread, wine, and linens.
- Our flower guild prepares floral arrangements for typical Sundays as well as large, decorative displays for major celebrations such as Christmas and Easter.
- Our ushers assist people as they enter church and also help people as they go up to Communion.
- Our greeters meet people at the entrance to church to make them feel welcome and to offer them name tags and information about the church.
- Our livestream team helps us to livestream and record our services for those who cannot attend in person. They also edit and post sermons and complete services.
- Our readers read one or more of the Biblical readings or the Prayers of the People.
- Our Eucharistic ministers distribute Communion.
- Our choirs present a wide variety of music styles, which you can read about here.
Email our worship ministry if you are interested in helping us to praise God.