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01
The Book of Common Prayer
In the Anglican Tradition (churches around the world descendant of the Church of England), our worship is guided by the Book of Common Prayer, the first edition of which was forged among the reformations in England in the 16th century. In The Episcopal Church, the Book of Common Prayer 1979 (BCP) is the current edition. The BCP includes the public worship services like the Eucharist, as well as special liturgies for Holy Week and the rites for all of the sacraments – baptism, confirmation, marriage, ordination, and anointing of the sick. Burial rites and many other prayer offices are found here, too. The traditions that form our prayer book keep us connected to the Apostles' teaching and fellowship from millennia ago, and they connect us with fellow Christians around the globe in our common worship today.
02
The Sacraments
Sacraments are sure and certain ways Christians believe God's grace shows up. God bestows grace in countless ways, but the Sacraments are specific rituals of the Church where we have no doubt God is present.
Most Sundays and other feast days, we celebrate the Eucharist (commonly called the Mass), in which we receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion. Jesus Christ instituted the Holy Communion on the night before he was killed in a ritual meal shared with friends (and even his betrayer) around a table. Christ's death on the cross the next day was the one sacrifice for the sins of the whole world that brought true atonement. Christ offered himself as the bread of life, and continues to offer himself to us in the bread and wine – consecrated by a priest on the altar – as we offer the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. The service includes readings from the holy scriptures, a sermon, prayers for the church and the world, and hymns led by our organist.
At Saint James Church, ALL baptized Christians (regardless of denominational affiliation) are welcome to receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion from Christ’s altar. Holy Baptism is full initiation into the Church and grants any who have been baptized a share in the Church’s feast, which Christ offers of himself to his Body on earth; the bond between Christ and his Church is then strengthened by the Holy Eucharist (BCP, 298 & 858-860). Because Christ is fully present in each the Bread and Wine, you may receive in only one kind (Bread or Wine) for any reason.
In addition to the Great Sacraments of Holy Baptism and the Holy Communion, we believe God's grace shows up in Holy Unction (anointing of the sick), Holy Matrimony (Christian marriage), Confirmation (mature Christian commitment), and Holy Orders (ordination).
03
A Creedal Faith
We are members of Christ’s “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.” This line comes from the Nicene Creed, a fourth-century summation of Christian beliefs, and is often referenced as the Four Marks of the Church. Each of the Four Marks is both a description of and challenge to the church, and we hold to each of them as we minister in Springfield in the 21st century.
ONE: Jesus Christ is our great high priest. In our Lord’s high priestly prayer (from St. John’s Gospel), Christ prayed for his disciples to be one as he and the Father are one. St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians reminds us that “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.” The work of the church, then, is not to be divisive, but to unify. While each branch of Christianity and even each Christian may present diverse expressions of their Christian faith, we intend to be about the work of unity. In drawing all together, St. James Church welcomes those from all socio-political backgrounds, has women and gay-identifying persons among its clergy, and embodies both traditional and contemporary liturgical practices.
HOLY: God is holy. Each time we gather for the Holy Eucharist, we join our voices with Angels and Archangels and with all the company of heaven, who for ever proclaim God’s holiness. From the beginning of time, God’s chosen people and all of creation have been called to recognize God’s holiness and live holy lives in response. We have matriarchs and patriarchs in the Bible who exhibit holiness; we celebrate saints and martyrs throughout the ages who have modeled godly living. Our holiness isn’t insular, though. The Church is called to sanctify our world. By including more and more persons in the Christian faith through our passion for unity, we are attempting to send more and more holy people into the world to be about God’s mission of infusing the world with divine love and justice.
CATHOLIC: Our theology, in affirming the creeds of the universal Church, makes us catholic by having orthodox beliefs. Being catholic (an adjective meaning universal, not the proper noun related to the Roman church) means we affirm those truths of Christianity throughout the ages, as detailed in the Nicene and Apostles’ Creeds. Our inclusive orthodoxy reveals the work of being catholic or universal, which is that of reconciliation. As we reconcile ourselves and our world with God, hold to these universal truths as we fully embrace all persons. As the variously attributed statement goes, “in essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.”
APOSTOLIC: As Episcopalians, we trace our Anglican lineage all the way back to Christ’s founding of the church with the first Apostles. ‘Episcopal’ simply refers to having bishops. The Church of England was founded in A.D. 597 when Pope Gregory I sent Augustine of Canterbury on a missionary venture to evangelize the Anglo-Saxons in Britannia as the first Archbishop of Canterbury. Since then, the Church of England (known as Anglicans) has maintained the apostolic succession. Anglican missionaries planted churches in the American colonies and, after the American Revolutionary War, the churches divorced themselves from the Church of England and established The Episcopal Church as we have it today. Our own Bishop of West Missouri, seated in Kansas City, maintains the apostolic line descending from Christ to the present day. Being apostolic means reaching backward and forward – back into the tradition handed from the first Apostles and bringing it forward into the future, ongoing work of the church. In continuing the apostolic work, we proclaim the Christian faith both in our worship and in our work. As our Baptismal Vows remind us, we proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ. Our words and our actions, individually and corporately, continue to spread God’s love and strive for God’s justice in the world around us.
04
True Inclusion
When we say all are welcome at St. James Church, we mean it. We wholeheartedly welcome persons of every orientation, status, ethnicity, disability, gender, language, and identity into our beloved community. We believe each and every person we meet is a beloved child of God, so who are we to exclude? In The Episcopal Church, we not only welcome you to join for worship, but you are welcomed into the full life of the church. All of us are called into deeper relationship with God and with one another, and we would love to have you join us as we all follow Jesus wherever he leads us.