We are a rather odd bunch here at Trinity, that is if you compare us to the average Episcopal Church. When it comes to our services, thee's and thou's float through the air as our worship ascends on high. To some we might seem like a church out of place and time. To those same people I would say, "You are partially right."

Worship is inherently anachronistic and in the best of ways. Stepping out of time and space, we dip our toes in the Jordan River, sit at the Last Supper, stand at the foot of the cross, and gaze into the empty tomb even as we peek into the heavenly realm and receive a foretaste of the wedding feast of the Lamb. And yet, while we are here and now caught up in the convergence of past and future, we worship in the immediate presence and present of Almighty God. 

Now, I am not suggesting that there is a "right" answer when it comes to the Rite question. But I would offer that right worship is necessarily rooted in something more than than just right now. Our worship, our adherence to the Book of Common Prayer passed down to us through the ages, provides for such rootedness.

And we are beginning to see around the world, that such grounded worship which may well appeal to those looking for more than the passing culture of the day. There are those, many of my generation and even younger, who are searching for something with weight, something with substance, something transcendent. 

To that end, I share with you this article, from the Covenant blog of the Living Church penned by friend and classmate, Fr. Clint Wilson:
 

Though he centers upon the service of Evensong, perhaps the quintessential Anglican choral service, much of what he has to say applies to traditional worship across the board, and thus applies to us as well. Enjoy and do check out the Evensong from Canterbury Cathedral below!

 

 

Hebrews 13:1-8

Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them; and those who are ill-treated, since you also are in the body. Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled; for God will judge the immoral and adulterous. Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, “I will never fail you nor forsake you.” Hence we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid; what can man do to me?” Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God; consider the outcome of their life, and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever.

Luke 14:1,7-14

One sabbath when Jesus went to dine at the house of a ruler who belonged to the Pharisees, they were watching him. Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he marked how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, “When you are invited by any one to a marriage feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest a more eminent man than you be invited by him; and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give place to this man,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, go up higher’; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. For every one who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your kinsmen or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”

AUGUST SCRIPTURE CALENDAR

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