Continuing with my evaluation of worship styles at liberal churches, I attended St Andrew's Episcopal Church for Easter Vigil. And in the same way that I'm exposed to rapid switches from mild sunny days to windy snowstorms in Toledo, I had a similar experience with my church shopping tonight.
Before rushing to St Andrew's for my second Easter Vigil, I'd witnessed a very contemporary worship at a conservative (pretending modern and liberal) church. My Easter Vigil at CedarCreek was nothing near solemn. It was a complete Rock concert. And I knew that a few minutes later, I would probably experience a rapid climate change at St Andrew's. And I was right.
Still, what I saw here at St. Andrew's surpassed my expectations. This was one of the most traditional services I had ever experienced in Toledo. Their worship was even more traditional than Grace Lutheran (which is a traditional, moderately conservative church BTW). The complexity and variety of the rituals that I witnessed over this 1.5 hour long service was so much that I failed to even grasp everything let alone write about it. I can compare it only with the Greek Orthodox churches that I had visited in Cyprus.
The brief explanation here is far too brief to explain what was going on. Even what I observed last year at a Catholic Church (although a collegiate one) didn't match what I saw here. There was much incense burning (and I was surprised to see that in America in a non-Orthodox church), ministers bowing repeatedly at each other at different stages, all sort of prayers and hymnals, a lot of Bible reading, moving various sacred objects from one place to another. If it were not for the use of tiny flashlights (instead of candles) to read the texts at the darkened altar, or a Crucifix where Jesus' hands were spread out (instead of being nailed to the cross), I could have assumed myself observing rituals in a historical monastery centuries ago.
Fortunately, their prayer bulletin was very informative, explaining things and giving references to the prayer books for further explanation and details (and this reminded me of Grace Lutheran). By the end of the service, I'd turned my pew into a library desk, spreading all the stuff and was trying (inefficiently though) to catch up with the vast variety of rituals and intricacies of the liturgy.
Near the end of the service, it came to Asperges and people were sprinkled with holy water. I was thinking of the news story I had read a few hours ago about the Pope baptizing a famous (or infamous?) Muslim convert in a widely publicized show. Then, I thought whether I would be an apostate by receiving sprinkles of water of baptism. And then, I thought that probably it would make me eligible to receive Communion (although Asperges is not technically the same as baptism and still I couldn't take Communion as a Muslim). Thinking about these things, made me smile. And when the pastor reached me at the last row and saw my smiling face, he treated me with an extra dose of holy water (3 splashes focused just on me).
After the service, I was invited to the reception downstairs. Yay, cookies. Sometimes, I might look shy about mingling with strangers, but when I do, I quickly count myself an insider and behave very intimately (think of my Agios Dometios experience in Nicosia at the beginning of this post). While I was examining the yummies on the table and trying to make my hard decision, a small boy (maybe 3 or 4 years old) asked me to help him with spreading cheese over his crackers. While I was helping my tiny little brother, I noticed the smiling gaze of church members. I enjoy such moments indeed.
Before rushing to St Andrew's for my second Easter Vigil, I'd witnessed a very contemporary worship at a conservative (pretending modern and liberal) church. My Easter Vigil at CedarCreek was nothing near solemn. It was a complete Rock concert. And I knew that a few minutes later, I would probably experience a rapid climate change at St Andrew's. And I was right.
Still, what I saw here at St. Andrew's surpassed my expectations. This was one of the most traditional services I had ever experienced in Toledo. Their worship was even more traditional than Grace Lutheran (which is a traditional, moderately conservative church BTW). The complexity and variety of the rituals that I witnessed over this 1.5 hour long service was so much that I failed to even grasp everything let alone write about it. I can compare it only with the Greek Orthodox churches that I had visited in Cyprus.
The brief explanation here is far too brief to explain what was going on. Even what I observed last year at a Catholic Church (although a collegiate one) didn't match what I saw here. There was much incense burning (and I was surprised to see that in America in a non-Orthodox church), ministers bowing repeatedly at each other at different stages, all sort of prayers and hymnals, a lot of Bible reading, moving various sacred objects from one place to another. If it were not for the use of tiny flashlights (instead of candles) to read the texts at the darkened altar, or a Crucifix where Jesus' hands were spread out (instead of being nailed to the cross), I could have assumed myself observing rituals in a historical monastery centuries ago.
Fortunately, their prayer bulletin was very informative, explaining things and giving references to the prayer books for further explanation and details (and this reminded me of Grace Lutheran). By the end of the service, I'd turned my pew into a library desk, spreading all the stuff and was trying (inefficiently though) to catch up with the vast variety of rituals and intricacies of the liturgy.
Near the end of the service, it came to Asperges and people were sprinkled with holy water. I was thinking of the news story I had read a few hours ago about the Pope baptizing a famous (or infamous?) Muslim convert in a widely publicized show. Then, I thought whether I would be an apostate by receiving sprinkles of water of baptism. And then, I thought that probably it would make me eligible to receive Communion (although Asperges is not technically the same as baptism and still I couldn't take Communion as a Muslim). Thinking about these things, made me smile. And when the pastor reached me at the last row and saw my smiling face, he treated me with an extra dose of holy water (3 splashes focused just on me).
After the service, I was invited to the reception downstairs. Yay, cookies. Sometimes, I might look shy about mingling with strangers, but when I do, I quickly count myself an insider and behave very intimately (think of my Agios Dometios experience in Nicosia at the beginning of this post). While I was examining the yummies on the table and trying to make my hard decision, a small boy (maybe 3 or 4 years old) asked me to help him with spreading cheese over his crackers. While I was helping my tiny little brother, I noticed the smiling gaze of church members. I enjoy such moments indeed.
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