How We Worship
Singing Justice!
It is through justice work and the singing of praise
that the Surprise of God is consummated. (Hildegard of Bingen)
Belonging to the larger Body of Christ, our call is to help recreate the Church for the future, to be new wine in new wineskins, a church in reverent relationship to all of creation. (The Vision of St. Hildegard's Community)
In our liturgy and life together we are co-creators of a new humanity, part of God's ongoing creation and salvation of the world.
Liturgy, shared worship, is both justice work and praise, a demonstration of love in the face of suffering and death, having the same profound effect on the world as action for social justice. Our founding vision was to create justice-making worship.
Liturgy is a living work for a living people preparing for the great Surprise of God.
We are called to engage the whole human story of suffering and joy, and to sing praise to the God who yearns toward us with mighty and everlasting love. To pray aloud about the deadening effects of racism, sexism and other systems of domination is intrinsically an action for justice.
Such liturgy is risky and controversial, like all work that threatens the powers that be. We believe that our work of making liturgy is justice work.
The Year in Liturgy
(click to see larger image with pop out info.)
The Liturgical Year is our engagement with Sacred Story, where Christ-Sophia moves among us, calling us to awareness, boldness and passion. The Year is a meditation on Christ based on both Hebrew and New Testament scriptures. The first half follows the life of Jesus from birth to ascension and the empowerment of his followers at Pentecost. The second half, Ordinary Time, meditates on his teaching and healing ministry.
As we live into the spiral year after year, Sacred Story comes alive in us; we are changed and our world is changed.
Language: We are called to make justice with the language of liturgy itself. The words we say and sing are chosen mindfully, liberating our understanding of God and humanity, by the use of expansive language, and metaphor that stirs our imagination. We are watchful to avoid hidden messages of domination, denigration and violence. We write or adapt our own prayers and song texts, and draw from inclusive sources.
Eve liturgy space
photo by Michael Godwin
Worship in Community: Gathering, we are seated in a circle--relational, not hierarchical--including the priest, musician and servers. We meet in the parish hall, rather than the sanctuary, for space to have circle, dance and movement. It is temporary space: sitting under a fabric canopy, we "fold our tent" each week, reminding us that our only security is in God. We move to a round table for the Eucharist, often dancing around it with our closing song.
Creative elements: original ritual and prayers, dressing of Sacred Space and beauty-making, music composed for songs and Eucharistic prayers--interact with historical Anglican/Episcopal structure, stirring imagination and deepening our engagement.
The Lectionary: The gospels and other scriptures are chosen from the Revised Common Lectionary, a list of Old Testament, Psalms, Epistle and Gospel readings for the Sundays and Feast Days. It thus provides structure for worship in a series that begins anew every three years. We always read the Gospel for the day, usually one or more of the other appointed readings, and a choice from other literature that relates to the theme.
