Worshiping Together
Fact Sheet
Q: Why are we doing this?
A: For fellowship and witness. Being together in worship cuts against the cultural forces that divide people according to age, sex, socio-economics. The gospel brings ‘togetherness’. ‘Togetherness’ witnesses to visitors and to our city that the Lord is at work.
Q: Why will there be no music at our 8:30am service?
A: Because it is a traditional service, exclusively using the Book of Common Prayer and a sermon. Our corporate worship service happens at 10:15am, with a solid liturgical backbone, extended choir, more instruments, Sunday School and Nursery.
Q: Is our 10:15am service still Anglican?
A: It will remain a very traditional Anglican service and nothing will be taken away. Instead, a few newer worship songs will be added and blended. This is not the beginning of a slide away from an identifiably Anglican worship service. Rather, it represents a prayerful effort to be who we are in the body of Christ in Burlington.
Q: What liturgy will we use?
A: The Book of Common Prayer will always provide the foundation for our liturgical worship. However, even our new province, the Anglican Church in North America, has recognized that the liturgy needs to be carefully and prayerfully transposed into modern language. J. I. Packer is leading the commission to produce a biblically faithful Anglican prayer book for the ACNA. In the meantime we will use resources like the Book of Common Prayer from the Church of Ireland; a liturgy that is for all intents and purposes a modern language version of the Book of Common Prayer.
Q: What does our bishop think about this change?
A: Our bishop, Charlie Masters, fully supports our move to worshiping together. In fact, he believes that it is a necessary step at this time. He is available to talk with any St. George’s parishioners who have questions or concerns. Our Rector and Wardens would also be happy to speak with you on this subject.
Q: How can I participate in this transition?
A: Blending historic and contemporary worship styles will be a journey. Our worship service will not find its final form in the first month. Having said that, you can expect it to look very much like what we have done over the summer and at special festivals. You can participate by helping us to form and shape the worship service over the next year. You can help by offering constructive feedback.
Q: What’s next?
A: Sunday September 11th will be our fall launch Sunday. During that service we will present all of the ministry initiatives for the coming year, including our plan to worship together. Following the service we will have a time of corporate prayer.
Click here to read Ray David’s article, “The Case for Worshiping Together”.
