The 11:00 Eucharist

The 11:00 Eucharist is a vibrant, colorful service with a Gospel procession, chanted Eucharistic prayer, dancing, and lots of congregational singing supported by a choir. In our community, all ages worship together. Here is an outline of the service.

What to expect: The Eucharist, beginning at 11:00 AM

• Gathering
  • When the church bell rings, everyone gathers around the altar table in the rotunda. The vested party enters, and the presider prays. As the choir sings a prelude, the vested party greets the assembly. The cantor leads everyone in singing Holy God, holy and mighty, holy immortal one, have mercy on us.
• Procession and lamp lighting
  • As the cantor chants the psalm of the day, everyone else sings an Alleluia refrain, and we all walk to the seating area. As we go, the candles and lamp at the lectern are all lit.
• Opening Acclamation
  • The presider leads the people in blessing God.
• Hymn of Praise
  • We all sing Glory to God or some other song of praise.
• Acclamation of Faith
  • We all sing Shema Yisrael: Hear of Israel, the LORD your God, the LORD is one.

• Readings
  • We hear readings from the Hebrew Scriptures, Christian Testament, and Gospel. After each reading, there is a two-minute silence. The silence begins and ends with ringing bells. Before and after the Gospel reading we sing an acclamation.
• Sermon and Sharing
  • The presider or another minister preaches the sermon. A silence follows the sermon. The preacher invites the members of the assembly to share their own experiences.
• Gospel Procession
  • As the people sing Alleluias and psalm verses, the preacher carries the Gospel book through the crowd, where people greet it with a touch, kiss, or bow.
• The Lord's Prayer and free intercessions
  • We sing the Lord Prayer. In the middle of the prayer, we stop singing, and people call out their own prayers beginning with a prayer for peace. We finish singing together.
• The Procession to the Table
  • We sing a hymn and as we sing, everyone walks together to the altar table in step: three steps forward and one step back.
• The Great Thanksgiving Prayer
  • The presider prays with the people over the gifts of bread and wine.
• The Communion
  • Jesus welcomes everyone to his table, so we give the bread and wine, which are Christ's Body and Blood to everyone without exception. The gifts of bread and wine are shared, person to person, throughout the congregation. As Communion is received by everyone, the choir sings.
    

• Collection
  • As the choir sings again, everyone brings their gifts of money for the work of the Church up to the altar table.
• Blessings
  • People celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, or other special occasions come to the table, and we sing blessings to them.
• Carol
  • We sing and dance the final hymn of the day around the altar table.
    

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