Our Worship

SUNDAYS @ 10:30 AM

Since the early days of Christianity, it was said that what Christians pray leads to what they actually believe (lex orandi, lex credendi). Liturgy does more than provide us with well-written prayers and an ordo for worship services. Liturgy molds the Church in her image. The Book of Common Prayer is the prayers of the saints, the prophets, the apostles, and - most importantly - the eternal Logos. Standing upon the very words of scripture, the Book of Common Prayer forms Christians because God’s words will not return to him void. Praying with the communion of saints united to Christ in baptism and Eucharist can have no other effect than closer union with God.

It is commonly said that there are three streams that nourish and give life to our Anglican worship. While each local church tends to accentuate one of these streams more than the others, Anglicans as a whole are committed to holding all three streams together - the Scriptures, the Sacraments, and the Spirit. Anglican churches are unified around these three streams, though diversified in their expression.

Anglicans believe that we meet and experience God through the Scriptures, God’s inspired Word that contains all things necessary for salvation. The Scriptures reveal the story of God working to restore his good creation from the effects of sin and death through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. It is the story the church finds itself a part of, and so it is the story that we strive to embody in our own context. The liturgy and lectionary ensure that Anglicans are among the most prolific Bible-reading Christians in the entire world.

Anglicans believe that we meet and experience God through the Sacraments, especially in Baptism and the Eucharist. A Sacrament is an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace; it identifies a place where God has promised to meet his faithful people. Though God is indeed present everywhere, we encounter him through the Sacraments in a unique way. The Sacraments, along with the liturgy itself, reminds us that this physical world matters and one day it will be filled with the light and life of God. The Sacraments are a foretaste for the church of that coming heaven-and-earth reality.

Anglicans believe that we meet and experience God through the Holy Spirit. By definition, the church is made up of those empowered by the Holy Spirit to follow Jesus Christ in seeking first the kingdom of God. Anglicans trust that God works through his Spirit in a variety of ways: in baptism and the Eucharist, our prayers, the laying on of hands, serving the poor, anointing with oil, and healings, among other things. And since the Spirit of God is among the people of God, each person is called upon both to cultivate the fruits of the Spirit and to utilize the gifts of the Spirit.

SACRAMENTAL

St. Stephen Church practices the living historic forms of the liturgies of the Church and the sacraments of Holy Eucharist and Baptism. We draw on the traditions and wisdom of the Historic Church and are unashamedly part of the one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. At the center of our worship is the sacrament of the Body and Blood – the Holy Eucharist – in which we believe that grace is imparted by the real presence of Christ. Our services start at 10:30 a.m. every Sunday morning.

EVANGELICAL

St. Stephen has a high view of Holy Scripture, believing that it contains all things necessary for salvation and godly living. We are committed to the faithful reading, studying, teaching, and preaching from the Scriptures; as well as believing that the Holy Scriptures are a wellspring for spiritual maturity. We believe in the importance of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, a holy life, and a commitment to evangelism and missions.

CHARISMATIC

St. Stephen Church is open to the work of the Holy Spirit and believes that God’s people have always been a spiritually gifted people. From the Apostles to the modern Church, Christians have been endowed with a power beyond themselves; a power from the Holy Spirit Himself. We not only allow, but anticipate the Spirit’s presence and working through this gifting in both worship and in daily acts of service.