WHAT TO WEAR: At St. Michael's on a Sunday morning, you will feel comfortable wearing jeans and a t-shirt or a coat and tie or dress. Many would call our worship casual. You will see some people dressed in their Sunday best. You will see others wearing jeans or even shorts in warmer weather. So whatever you wear, you will see others dressed in a similar way. God doesn't really care what you wear to church so neither do we.


WILL I HAVE TO STAND UP OR INTRODUCE MYSELF?: No. At St. Michael's we don't ask our guests to stand up and identify or introduce themselves. We have a small insert in the bulletin that you can fill out. This gives us a record of your visit and allows you to share information about yourself if you would like, as well as submit a prayer request or ask to be added to our mailing list.


WHAT KIND OF WORSHIP:

Communion: Everyone who follows Jesus is welcome to receive Communion at St. Michael's. We celebrate an "open" table, meaning that the Lord's Supper is open to all who believe in Christ, not just members of St. Michael's or the Episcopal church. We celebrate Communion by coming down the center aisle to the communion rail at the front of the church. There you will be offered a piece of bread broken from a common round loaf prepared each week. Then you will be offered the wine (we use real wine) from the chalice. You can consume the bread and then take a sip from the chalice; or you may hold the piece of bread and dip it in the chalice. Some prefer not to receive the bread and wine. They come forward and kneel at the rail then simply cross their arms across their chest. This lets the servers know that they aren't receiving Communion. In this way, everyone still celebrates together.

The Bible: We follow the Revised Common Lectionary for our Scripture lessons each Sunday. This means that we have a set order for reading through the Bible that thousands of churches around the world follow as well. We believe this puts us in unity with God's church (whatever denomination) around the globe. Every Sunday you will hear a passage of Scripture from the Old Testament books, as well as a Psalm from the Old Testament. You will also hear a passage from the New Testament letters plus a passage from one of the Gospels. Yes, this is EVERY Sunday! We call this the Service of the Word portion of our worship. You will hear God's Word (and lots of it!) every Sunday at St. Michael's.

Sermons: The sermon at St. Michael's is usually about fifteen to twenty minutes. Our paster, The. Rev. Dr. Jim Watson, has many years of experience in preparing sermons and teaching in a college classroom. You will hear a well prepared sermon/teaching on one of the Scripture lessons for that Sunday. Fr. Jim usually includes a story or two from his own experience to highlight a lesson from Scripture (and leave us laughing).

Music: Most of the music at St. Michael's would be considered very contemporary. Yet we sing from the Episcopal Hymnal as well. We almost always begin our service with the first song (the Processional)from the Hymnal. St. Michael's Music Team (Music Team) consists of up to 12 singers, keyboards, from one to four guitars (on any given Sunday, a bsss guitar, occasionally a live drummer, and sometimes a digital drummer. When you worship at St. Michael's you will hear hymns, contemporary worship song, African-Amercian Spirituals, music from Taize and original compositions as well. From the prelude worship music to the last song (the Recessional) you will sing ten to twelve songs every Sunday.

The "Style" There is no easy way to describe the overall worship experience at St. Michael's. It is comtemporarily traditional. We follow the order of worship in the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer. We use written prayers yet we have a time of open prayer as well. We use responsive readings and prayers (a leader reads or prays and the congregation respond together). There are both traditional and contemporary elements to our worship. We believe this is what makes the worship at St. Michael's unique. We kneel during some prayers and stand during others. You will see some people who lift their hands during worship songs or prayers. You will also see others who make the sign of the cross on their chest or genuflect (briefly kneeling to one knee). So in whatever "style" of worship you are comfortable you will find something familiar in the worship at St. Michael's. And maybe you will find a new way to connect with God as well.