Why Liturgy? |
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The word liturgy means
"the work of the people." It is not the only way to pray, but when we
gather as a community to worship, the liturgy is the faith of the church
expressed through our prayers. No matter where we are in our personal
spiritual journey, the liturgy still gives us the faith of the church. A
great example is the "Collect for Purity:"
Almighty
God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no
secrets are hidden; cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the
inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and
worthily magnify your Holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
As
the Anglican Church in North America is currently preparing a new Book of Common Prayer, we will, in the interim, continue to use a modern
language version of the historic English Rite.
We also use the following resources:
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The Christian Life Hymnal is,
in our opinion, simply the best option out there for churches who want a
hymnal that blends the best of evangelical, revivalist, traditional,
seasonal, and contemporary standards. With this one resource,
congregations can sing songs like "Holy, Holy, Holy," "The Church's One
Foundation," "How Great Thou Art!" "To God Be the Glory," "There is
Power in the Blood," "Pentecostal Power," "Rescue the Perishing,"
"Shine, Jesus, Shine," and "Shout to the Lord." It contains the best
hymns of Christmas, Easter, and the other liturgical seasons.
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Along with our hymnal, we are able to widen our musical canon with a
Christian Copyright Licensing, Inc. (CCLI) license to provide printed
copies of Contemporary Praise & Worship music. This affordable
resource is based on your congregation size, and has features that allow
changing the key to songs, printing lead sheets and congregational
harmonization (hymnal style). This has proven to be a great complement
to our hymnal. | |
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In creating a culture of worship, we encourage everyone to open their
pew Bibles and follow along as the Scriptures are read. The English Standard Version is
a very readable, yet scholarly, trustworthy translation of the
Scriptures. For us, to be an 'Open Bible' church means to have a text
available for everyone to hear and read God's Word in Christian Worship. | |
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Worship Is A Divine Drama!
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During
worship, we reenact God's saving deeds in the person of Jesus Christ. We
worship with all five senses, with our bodies and our spirits, joining
the worship that is in heaven (Revelation 4:1-11; 8:1-5).
Although we are open to spontaneity as the Spirit leads, we do follow a
liturgy, and it expresses the faith of the Church. It is modeled after
the ancient Jewish synagogue service of the Word and also the Passover
and Sabbath family services of the Table.
"Holy! Holy! Holy Lord God of Hosts! Heaven and earth are full of Your Glory!"
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