St. Aidan's Episcopal Church
Worship at St. Aidan’s
Weekly Worship
Worship at St. Aidan’s ranges from the lively to the contemplative. Our space is flexible and our chairs are often set up in the round, creating a strong sense of communal worship. We also shift our space seasonally to deepen our engagement with the turning of the church year, hanging colorful banners that were lovingly created by a member of the congregation.
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Communion anchors our worship on Sunday mornings at 8 and 10am. The earlier service is contemplative, contemporary and fully spoken. We receive Communion from one another and pray for one another. Our 10am service is lively and musical (including our choir). Both services have a progressive theological outlook, an informal-yet-ordered feel, and welcome children. Sunday School, which you can read more about here, takes place during the first half of the 10am service. Children of all ages are welcome to receive communion. Companion animals are also welcome, and it is common for a few to be present on any given Sunday.
Prayers for healing are offered by lay members at the 10am and by the clergy presider at the 8am. St. Aidanites were first trained in healing prayer by the Reverend Francis Geddes, author of the The Congregation as Healing Community. Our tradition of healing prayer was deeply impacted by the losses we experienced during the AIDS crisis in the 1980s and ‘90s. We have long embraced the membership and leadership of LGBTIQ people.
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Four times during the year (generally in January, April, July, and October) we combine the 8 and 10am services to one 9am service followed by a Quarterly Parish Meeting. We do this in the spirit of relationship-building and communal input on various projects.
St. Aidan’s also offers several opportunities for worship during the week. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays we have a brief service of Morning Prayer at 7:30am. On Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-10am we have Contemplative Prayer—a space of quiet for wordless meditative prayer.
On Wednesday evenings we have a Contemplative Communion service which includes a space for communal reflection instead of a homily as well as simple, Taizé-style communal chant. As at the 8am Sunday service, we gather around the altar and distribute Communion to one another. At various times during the year this service is followed by a simple supper and a Christian Formation series or other event.
For other weekly events hosted at St. Aidan’s, including self-help groups, click here:
