Our Worship

At the heart of our 'common life in Jesus' is worship. In the Anglican tradition, worship is centered in the Eucharist, or the Lord's Supper. Eucharist comes from the Greek word "thankful," and that is what our worship is about – giving thanks to God. We thank God for our creation, our preservation, our salvation, and the hope for a redeemed creation (already present but longed for in fulfillment). Everything we do as a church is based on, and grows out of this assembly of God's people to give thanks.

Our worship is based in tradition. We follow the ancient 'ordo' of Gathering, Listening to the Word, Eating at the Table, and Dismissal – being sent into the community to live as Christians. We are thankful for the tradition. It is not dead ritual, but rather the gift from our forebears of a way of life that shapes us. We seek to adapt the tradition to our life in Oroville, California in the year 2009, thus, we use the slogan "Ancient Faith-Modern Life." The Christian Church has been worshipping in this way for 2000 years. We hope to pass on this great tradition to those who come after us.

In one sense, our worship is our primary work (liturgy means "work of the people"). We don't come to "get" something from worship; we come to fully participate in the great work of God's People in giving thanks, and to be transformed in our lives by his grace. The Eucharist is not about watching others (the priest, or musicians, etc.) do things. It is all of us together joining in a common work of prayer – to praise, to listen, to pray, to confess, to commune.

"In reply to the question 'For whom is worship?' Gaddy insists, 'Worship is for God. Only! The chief aim of worship is to please God—whether by adoration and praise, prayer and proclamation, confessions and offerings, thanksgivings and commitment, or by all of these actions combined.' The point of worship is to recognize that 'God alone matters'" [ —From Marva Dawn, Reaching Out without Dumbing Down, A Theology of Worship for this Urgent Time (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1995), p. 80., quoting C. Welton Gaddy, The Gift of Worship (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1992), p. xvi.]

Worship at St. Paul's is not confined just to Sunday Morning Eucharist. At the Dismissal, we are sent out into the world to live the life of Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.

In Romans 12:1, Paul states, "I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship."

We are called to make our whole life a 'sacrifice of worship' to God. In the Anglican tradition, we begin this weekly service by the disciplines of prayer and the reading of the Scriptures. This is done in our homes, and at times in public gatherings, such as Morning and Evening Prayer. Grounded in hearing and being shaped by Scripture, we are urged by our Baptismal covenant to:

1. to continue in the apostle's teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers,
2. to persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever we fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord,
3. to proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ,
4. to seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbors as ourselves.
5. to strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being. [ —Book of Common Prayer p. 304-5]

Through our gathering on Sunday morning, and our daily time in prayer and Scripture, we seek to live out our Baptismal vows and make all of our lives "spiritual worship."