The Liturgy
The Character of the Liturgy
St. Mark's sees itself as a liturgically aware church centered in the Eucharist. The shared power of the liturgy makes of this inclusive and varied parish a community. It is here that congregants gain nourishment for their Christian witness in the world both as members of a parish and as individuals. Worship follows neither "high" nor "low" church practice in the customary sense, though the Sunday eucharistic service is usually chanted and recently includes a sung introit and communion antiphon. Services normally follow BCP Rite II; Rite I is used to mark special seasons. Occasionally, other liturgies (e.g., from the New Zealand prayer book) have been used. The 1982 Hymnal, Wonder, Love and Praise, and Voices Found are used for congregational singing.
Services
Easter Service
On Sunday there are two eucharistic services: at 8 a.m., a simple, spoken liturgy, held in the chapel, with a sermon but no music; at 10 a.m., the main liturgy, held in the nave, with music provided by the organ and choir. A coffee hour follows the second service.
Eucharistic services, with music, are also scheduled on major feast days during the week: Epiphany, All Souls, Ash Wednesday, and Holy Week (Tenebrae, Thursday, Friday and a Vigil either Saturday night or early Sunday morning). The community also gathers for memorial services with Eucharist, with music often provided by choir members able to attend during the day.
The Evensong service scheduled on the second Sunday of each month from September through May is well attended. Most services are sung by the Schola Cantorum and occasionally by the full choir. The service is followed by an organ recital and reception.
Liturgical Guilds
All of the usual guilds are active at St. Mark's: LEMS, vergers, acolytes, readers and bidders, flower guild, altar guild. The parish has a full set of liturgical furnishings, including many beautiful hand-sewn vestments. A broadly representative worship committee actively assists the rector in ensuring that our worship is a beautiful and meaningful experience. The interim rector has organized a liturgy committee including clergy, the music director, and members of the parish. Still in the beginning stages, this joint effort is creating an openness for reflecting on the theology behind the liturgy, and for facilitating a collaborative approach to liturgical concerns.
Flower Guild prepares flowers for the altar
Verger before the 10:00 am service
Current Liturgical Concerns
Parishioners consistently list the liturgy, with its integrated music, as one of the greatest strengths of the parish. As in many parishes, the congregation is a mix of those who come from Episcopal backgrounds and those who come from other traditions. Thus worshippers have a variety of worship experiences and expectations, and while there is general delight in the liturgy, there is also a great desire to understand it more deeply. In the past, notable scholars in the congregation (Massey Shepherd, Louis Weil) have contributed to changes in the church's liturgy, and others continue to do so. On the other hand, in recent years there has been little liturgical variety, and many parishioners would like to try approaches that might have a broader appeal to the surrounding community. Yet a strong concern that the liturgy remains nourishing to the current membership is also manifest. During the past year, the interim rector and adjunct priest Lizette Larson-Miller have broadened St. Mark's liturgical vocabulary and increased the congregation's understanding of that vocabulary. The parish looks forward to continuing this deepening of its worship under the new rector.
Some parishioners, although they highly value the music ministry, think that the very strength of the music program has resulted in something of an imbalance between the spoken part of the liturgy and the music, between congregational and choral roles. Some have expressed a desire for more silence during the service.
What might be missing liturgically? The church year is strictly observed, but other than at Epiphany, All Souls, Ash Wednesday and Holy Week, little advantage is taken of other feast days and commemorations. Apart from Eucharist in the chapel at midday on Wednesdays and Fridays, there are no liturgies during the week. Some congregants have expressed a desire for occasional services of Morning Prayer. Others have suggested a regular service of Compline as a way of reaching out to university students. We might well in the future explore the possibilities of non-eucharistic liturgies both to nourish the present congregation and for outreach to members of the community.
Such outreach is a present area of concern. Located across the street from a major university in a secular and liberal community, how can St. Mark's find effective ways to make its worship opportunities known and attractive to the community that surrounds us?
In conclusion, St. Mark's is a parish that has a long tradition of seeing beauty and grace in the liturgy as a way to communicate with the divine. It is a community that is still exploring the ways it is sustained by the liturgy, and how worship becomes the summation of prayers and activities during the week and, at the same time, provides nourishment for the week to come.