You may wonder when to stand or kneel. The general rule is to stand to sing, to say the Creed which is our affirmation of faith, and for the proclamation of the Gospel. Psalms are sung or said sitting. We sit during readings of the Lesson and Epistle (a letter to the early Church preserved in Scripture), the sermon, and the choir anthems. We stand or kneel for prayer, emphasizing either our gratefulness to God or as an act of humility before God. You will find the services of the Episcopal Church beautiful in their ordered dignity, God-centered, and yet mindful of the nature and needs of human beings. It is customary to bow to the altar on entering and leaving the church as an act of reverence for Christ. In preparation for worship people will usually kneel in their pew for a personal prayer. The time before the service is also used for personal meditation and devotions. At the end of the service some people kneel for a private prayer before leaving. Others sometimes sit to listen to the organ postlude.
What We Wear: To add to the beauty and festivity of the services, and to signify their special ministries, the clergy and other ministers customarily wear vestments. Choir vestments usually consist of a robe, called an alb, and a scarf. The clergy wear an alb and a stole, a narrow band of colored fabric. Deacons wear the stole over one shoulder, priests and bishops over both shoulders. At the Holy Eucharist (Holy Communion) a bishop or priest frequently wears a chasuble, a circular drape, over the alb. Colors change with the various Seasons and Holy Days of the Church Year. The most frequently used colors are white, red, violet, blue, and green.
The Church Year: The Episcopal Church observes the traditional Christian calendar. The year commences with the Season of Advent, during which we prepare for Christmas. It begins on the Sunday closest to November 30. Christmas itself lasts twelve days, after which we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany (January 6) and enter the Season after the Epiphany. On the Epiphany we acknowledge Christ as the savior of the whole world and as God's Light come into the world. Its symbol is the Star of Bethlehem which led the Wise Men, who represent the races of the earth, to pay homage to the Christ Child. Lent, the forty days of preparation for Easter, begins on Ash Wednesday. The date of Ash Wednesday is determined by the date of Easter and varies from year to year because Easter is based on the cycle of the moon. Easter Day is the Sunday following the first full moon of spring. This method of determining the date of Easter is preserved from the method used to determine the date of the Jewish Passover since we believe Jesus died and rose at the time of Passover. The Easter Season lasts fifty days, concluding on the Feast of Pentecost, which means fifty. The Season after Pentecost last until the next Season of Advent begins. The Bible readings are chosen for their appropriateness to the season.
