Eleanor Grammas – Church Visit #1

All Souls Anglican Church

25W741 Jewell Road, Wheaton IL, 60187

January 19, 2014

Anglican (more liturgical)

Describe the worship service you attended. How was it similar to or different from your regular context?

As heirs of Catholic tradition, this worship service followed Common Worship which includes services and prayers used in the Church of England.  All Soul’s worship service was different from the contemporary worship services that I typically attend. Traditional hymns and prayers were sung throughout the liturgical service.  This week’s service was special because the congregation was celebrating a baptism. A sermon on Baptism was given by Reverend John Michael Strachan, who had been ordained that same weekend and whose child was being baptized. Communion was open to all who were baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and was distributed at the altar, as opposed to being passed down through rows of the congregation. The Lord’s Prayer was recited before the giving of Communion. Finally, the service ended with a blessing, dismissal and the giving of a lighted candle to the newly baptized. The sanctuary was small and was arranged with lined pews and additional pews lining the perimeter.

What did you find most interesting or appealing about the worship service?

Singing the traditional hymns was most appealing to me because I often find worshiping through music to be more edifying than listening to a sermon. I liked how there was a hymn that corresponded with most parts of the service. For example, there was the Processional Hymn, Communion Hymn and Recessional Hymn. These hymns offered an interesting inlet of worship throughout the service. I also think that singing provides another way for the congregation to be a part of the worship service and to participate as one united church. My favorite hymn was “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence” because it shed some new light on the meaning of Communion. Part of the hymn reads, “He [Jesus] will give to all the faithful, his own self for heavenly food.” The hymn discusses pondering heavenly things and reminds us that Jesus came down to earth, in the flesh, to give himself as a sacrifice.

What did you find most disorienting or challenging about the worship service?

I found Holy Communion most disorienting because I am not used to receiving it while kneeling at the altar or in such a traditional fashion. In my non-denominational church, trays of crackers and grape juice are passed down the aisles of the congregation and everyone takes communion at the same time, as instructed by the pastor. I have also participated in Communion through intinction at All School gatherings. However, at All Soul’s, the bread was distributed by the reverends while the congregation knelt and held out their cupped hands at the altar. That was followed by receiving the blood of Christ in a shared Eucharistic chalice. Also, the altar was unique in that groups knelt in a circle around the altar and the reverends would distribute Communion by rotating around the inner part of the circle. Interestingly, those not wishing to receive communion could also approach the altar, kneel and cross their arms in order to receive a blessing from a reverend.

What aspects of Scripture or theology did the worship service illuminate for you that you had not perceived as clearly in your regular context?

While attending All Soul’s liturgical worship service I gained a better and deeper understanding of both baptism and communion. It was very special to take part in celebrating in a baby’s baptism and welcoming him into the church. From the ceremony and the sermon, I was reminded that Baptism is an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace. The Reverend presented Baptism as simply going into the water (death to sin) and coming back out alive (rebirth to righteousness).  I also came to view Communion in a new light. The kneeling and cupping of hands puts one in the posture of a child who seems to depend on the sustenance given by the Father. In other words, Communion is more about coming, like a child, to the table (altar) and being fed and sustained by the Jesus’ body and blood. The fact that Communion was taken in groups surrounding the altar also contributes to this theme of coming to the table, as one family, one church and sharing in the gift of salvation, thanks to Jesus’ sacrifice.