Welcome to St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church!
Come as you are and be our guest! We will do our best to make you comfortable and greet you with a warm and welcoming smile. We are all here for the same purpose: to worship God.
Sunday Morning Worship Services:
8:00 AM – Worship with Holy Eucharist Rite II (no nursery, no music)
10:00 AM – Worship with Choral Holy Eucharist Rite II (Nursery available)
Click HERE to watch online. The link will take you to the live feed on Facebook. You do not need a Facebook account to view. Click the link and then scroll down our page to the video stream. CLICK HERE for the online bulletin to follow along with us.
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Upon entering the worship space you will pass our baptismal font. Water is an important symbol in Christian worship and is symbolically placed at the entrance of the worship space to remind us that we first enter into life with Christ by passing through the water of baptism. Holy Water is blessed by our priests for religious and devotional uses. It may symbolize purification, blessing, dedication, and renewal of Baptismal Covenant. Those who wish, when the water is present, may touch it with their fingers, and place a drop of it on the forehead while making the sign of the cross on the forehead, chest and shoulders. As you take your seat, you will notice the cross and the altar are central to our worship. They remind us that we come to give thanks and worship and also that we will be fed. There are candles that will be lit, symbolizing the presence of Christ.
Worship in the Episcopal Church is liturgical, that is, we follow a liturgy out of a prayer book. This prayer book is simply and appropriately named, The Book of Common Prayer, as it is a book used by everyone, not just the priests. In front of each seat there will be a red Book of Common Prayer, a blue or red Hymnal, and a yellow songbook called Alleluia III. We use all three in our worship and the bulletin will guide you through the service. Please don’t hesitate to ask someone sitting nearby for assistance, as we want you to get the most out of the worship.
You will notice that some folks stand during portions of our service while others kneel or sit. Some make the sign of the cross on their forehead and over their heart. Many bow in reverence to the cross as it passes in procession. In general, we stand to sing, to hear the Gospel read, and to affirm our faith saying the Creed. Other times we may kneel or sit.
In the middle of the service we share a welcome message and our announcements for the week, followed by The Peace with each other. You will see us giving each other handshakes and some will hug others as we feel like family to each other. If hugging is not for you, we will offer a handshake or even a wave! To some it might feel like the service is over at this point… but it’s not over, the best is yet to come! We celebrate the Eucharist (Holy Communion, The Lord’s Supper) each Sunday morning and we find it to be a time of great thanksgiving and joy. We welcome all at the altar and all baptized are invited to receive communion…and yes, we do celebrate the Eucharist with wine.
If you prefer not to receive communion, please feel free to come to the altar for a simple blessing from the priest. We hope that you will find our liturgical worship meaningful in its timeless beauty and thoughtfulness.
A note about children…we welcome children to be a part of worship at St. Patrick’s! It is our desire that children get the most out of their worship experience and feel welcomed and connected. Children are ALWAYS welcome to remain with their parents during the service; however, we do have a nursery available if you would prefer your young one (usually less than 5 years) to be cared for in the nursery.