Now, some folks might think Episcopalians are too concerned with worship — with pomp and circumstance, elizabethan english, and fabulous vestments. In some instances, these folks would be right. But in other instances, they’d be seeing and understanding only half of the picture.

You see, while many other (non-sacramental) Christians are formed primarily by the hearing and preaching of God’s Word in worship, Episcopalians (and other sacramental Christians) are formed both by the hearing and doing of God’s Word in worship — not to mention seeing, tasting, touching, and smelling. That is to say that Episcopal worship isn’t just for show and pageantry, but is, at a much deeper level, for the cure and transformation of souls through the repetitive actions of Kingdom living. And this Kingdom living is pointed at in the basic building blocks of our worship — 1) gathering with others who are often different from us, 2) steeping in the beauty and guidance of God’s holy and loving Word, 3) sharing our deepest needs and hopes and desires with God, 4) reconciling ourselves with God and with each other, 5) gathering for a common meal at which all people are welcome and at which all receive the same gift, and 6) going forth back into the world “to bring good news to the poor… release to the captives… sight to the blind… freedom to the oppressed,” and promises of God’s justice for everyone we meet.

Episcopalians worship rightly when we worship, not to withdraw from the world, but to throw ourselves more fully into the world — having seen it anew through God’s eyes, in which all living things are precious and worthy of our care and concern. As we pray at the end of the liturgy, “now, Father, send us out to do the work you have given us to do, to love and serve you as faithful witnesses of Christ our Lord.”

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