A Unique Solution to a Common Problem
Every Episcopal Church faces decisions about how we can best ease the anxiety common to newcomers who are unfamiliar with our liturgy. As someone who came to The Episcopal Church just after college, I remember well the learning curve and I had the benefit of a cradle Episcopalian as a fiancé to assist me in learning how to juggle a Prayer Book, hymnal and bulletin while trying to sit, stand and kneel at the proper times.
At St. John’s, Savannah, the Rector, the Rev. Gavin Dunbar, found the problem even more acute. As one of several congregations in the Diocese routinely worshipping with the 1928 Prayer Book, he found that even seasoned Episcopalians could zig when the rest of the congregation zagged. For example, when the bell rings to announce the start of the liturgy, St. John’s members would kneel, while many visitors would stand, look around awkwardly then join the kneelers. Wanting to live into the hospitality to which Christ calls us, the church created two attractive cards which sit up out of the Prayer Books throughout the church. One is marked Holy Communion (the early service each Sunday), the other Morning Prayer (the principal Sunday liturgy at St. John’s on many Sundays). The height of the Morning Prayer card is shorter than the one for Communion, so both are equally visible.
Dunbar notes the response of members has not been all positive, “Some people find them just another piece of paper to deal with – Parish Paper and Prayer Book and Hymnbook.” Though he observes that comment has been from people already familiar with St. John’s worship. He adds, “One further idea, which came in hindsight – we should have made cards sized to fit in standard library pocket, so that keeping them tidily in place would be easier. They are slightly too wide.” The cards in pockets in Prayer Books would have prevented them from falling out, getting set on the pews and otherwise wandering around the nave.
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How your congregation goes about welcoming visitors will have much to do with your context and so there is no one-size-fits-all solution. No Episcopal Church, however, gets a pass on considering the problem and thinking through an appropriate response.
The Rev. Canon Frank Logue
Canon to the Ordinary
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