Frequently Asked Questions

The Episcopal Church is a pragmatic Church…it emphasizes the behaviors, the habits, the practices that make up Christian living. The Episcopal church is a pragmatic church with a mystical edge. To be a member of the church you do the perfectly ordinary things the church does…

To do these ordinary things, however, is to invite and risk being grasped by the living God. The Book of Common Prayer is an outline for what the church does to become itself, to become what it is by grace, the body of Christ.

From Opening the Prayer Book by Jeffery Lee page 124, Cowley Publications 1999.

The Book of Common Prayer is the book members of our faith use to worship, both together and in private devotion. It contains prayers, praises, and selections from the Bible to be used at different times and occasions. It offers us services for daily use, such as Morning and Evening Prayer, with a section that provides us with daily lessons so that, by following them, we may read almost the entire Bible in an orderly sequence during a two-year cycle as well as services for Sundays with a section indicating the Sunday lessons in a three-year cycle so that we may read almost all the Bible by following it.(Book of Common Prayer pages 37-126; 934-995).

There are services for communion, and to mark every major event of our lives: birth, growth, marriage, children, work, sickness, thanksgiving, sin, and death. The Prayer Book is based on the biblical and historical faith of the church, and it meets our needs as children of God, living in today’s world, with all its joys and problems.

1. We have Christ’s teaching and example in the Lord’s Prayer, and in the temple and synagogue worship in which He participated.
2. The church, from the beginning, has used such forms of prayer and worship, not only the Lord’s Prayer, but also psalms, hymns, the Aaronic blessing (Numbers 6:22-26), and others which were used by the Jews. Traces of early liturgies are found in the New Testament (Romans: 10:9; 1 Corinthians 11:23-27; Ephesians 5:14; 1 Timothy 3:16; 2 Timothy 2: 11-13).
3. We believe the Holy Spirit inspired the church to create forms which are universal, true in faith, expressing the wisdom of the ages far more perfectly than any individual could invent.
4. By using written prayers, the whole congregation can pray together, and not rely on impromptu prayers offered by the minister, who may not always be inspired to find adequate words to express the prayers of the people.
5. These prayers create a unity and fellowship with other Christians in all places and ages who have used them in their worship.

Science can explain the physical world through the use of our senses, perception and reason. Science does not determine values or assign priorities; neither does it teach us morals. It cannot explain beauty, love, good and evil, free will, art, music, life purpose or what happens after death.

Science cannot explain how or why the universe was created out of nothing.

Religion seeks to find meaning and purpose to life. Through our religion we discover our place in the world and the universe. It deals with ethics, values, human relationships and the relationship of people to the world. It provides us with insight into what happens after death in this life.

Religion seeks to know God and the relationship we have with Him. Religion attempts to learn God’s will and purpose for us.

To be “Saved” in the Christian sense means to be freed by Christ’s sacrifice of Himself for us. When He died for us, He broke the power of sin and death over us, allowing us to enter a new life of love, service and joy, in communion with God, by faith in Christ, and through grace and the power of the Holy Spirit. In this sense, fully accepting Christ’s teachings, we are “saved”.

(References: Matthew 1:21; John 3:16, 10:10; Acts 4:12; Romans 8:2; 2 Corinthians 5:17)

Many people ask why we do not have periodic “Altar Calls”. We do every Sunday when we invite people to confess their sins before coming to Holy Communion.

Hell is eternal death in our rejection of God (Book of Common Prayer, page 862). God offers us a choice to believe or not believe in Him. He will not force our choice. Those who choose to reject God are eternally separated from Him in the knowledge of having made that choice.

The concept of Hell can be traced to the Old Testament belief that the dead existed in a pit of darkness and silence called Sheol. It was not a place of torment. Gehenna is a later Old Testament concept of a place of fiery punishment.

In the traditional language of the Anglican Church, Jesus Christ “descended into hell”; in the contemporary version it is “descended to the dead” (Book of Common Prayer, pages 53 and 96).

The Harrowing of Hell is an Apocryphal concept found in the Lost Books of the Bible and Dead Sea Scrolls in which Christ contended with Lucifer for the souls of the righteous dead such as Abraham and Jacob, who died before the coming of Christ and/or without knowing Christ. According to these works, He had to personally deliver them to heaven because they were not baptized as Christians.

References:

Hades: Luke 10:15; Acts 2:31;Revelation 20:13; Baruch 2:17
Gehenna: Mathew 5:22. 10:28, 18:19; Mark 9:43; Luke 12:5; 2 Esdras 2:29; Mathew 3:12; Mark 9:43; Luke 3:17; Revelation 20: 14-15
Sheol: Mathew 18:12, 22:13;25:30

See also:
Eternal punishment/Eternal Life: Mathew 25:31-46
Parable of the talents: Mathew 25:14-30

Holy Baptism is the sacrament by which God adopts us as His children and makes us members of Christ’s body, the church, and inheritors of the Kingdom of God (Book of Common Prayer, page 858). Baptism is the primary Sacrament of the Church, just as it has been since the first century. Baptism is a response to God’s call to and love of all of us. Baptism initiates us into the Body of Christ and we are given assurance of the grace and forgiveness of God.

Persons of any age who feel called to enter into Christ’s kingdom and who are not baptized, are most welcome to be baptized. Consistent with ancient tradition, every baptismal candidate must have at least one sponsor. Sponsors are present at the baptism and serve as Christian friends and mentors throughout one’s life. We recommend that you choose people with whom you expect to be life-long friends. At least one sponsor will be a member of Grace Episcopal Church. At baptism, we are required to renounce Satan, repent of our sins and accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior (Book of Common Prayer, page 858).

Let us know if you desire to become a member of the Church. The number is 646-4288. We believe there is only one baptism required for acceptance in to Church as a member of the body of Christ. If you have been baptized in another church, you do not need to be baptized again.

Babies should be baptized soon after birth. This way, they are brought into the family of the church and into the New Covenant with God. They become members of Christ and inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Parents and sponsors (godparents) are responsible for raising children in the Christian faith and life. They make the promises to God on behalf of the baby. The parents and godparents make an additional commitment to raise the child in the Christian faith.

Confirmation is the adult or rational step taken to express a mature commitment to Christ. Through this act one receives strength from the Holy Spirit through prayer and the laying on of hands by a bishop (The Book of Common Prayer, page 860). It reaffirms the promises made at baptism either by the baby’s sponsor or the adult being baptized.

The sacramental rite of confirmation takes place when the Bishop of West Missouri visits the parish, about every 18 months. Before confirmation, one participates in a preparatory class. Preparation for Confirmation should help the candidates discover the meaning of Christian commitment in their lives, and explore ways that their Christian commitment can be lived. Please contact the Rector if you are interested.

Baptized persons who have been members of another Christian fellowship and who wish to become members of the Episcopal Church may make a public affirmation of their decision in the presence of a bishop. The bishop lays hands on each candidate for reception and says, We recognize you as a member of the one holy catholic and apostolic Church, and we receive you into the fellowship of this Communion (BCP, p. 418).

The road to confirmation is one of prayer as well as study of the Holy Scriptures and Book of Common Prayer. It is the educated choice one makes of one’s free will to accept Christ as one’s Savior.

Holy Eucharist, also known as the Lord’s Supper or Holy Communion, is sometimes called the Divine Liturgy, the Mass and the Great Offering (The Book of Common Prayer, page 859). As the sacrament commanded by Christ for the continual remembrance of His life, death and resurrection until His coming again, it is the principal act of Christian worship.

Eucharist comes from the Greek word for thanksgiving. It is the reenactment of the Last Supper:

The night He was betrayed, He shared bread and wine with His disciples and commanded them to eat the bread and drink the wine “in remembrance of me”

1 Corinthians 11:23-26; Mark 14:22-25; Mathew 26:26-29; Luke 22:14-20.

In Episcopal doctrine we teach the ‘real presence’ of Christ’s body and blood in the sacrament of the Eucharist. The bread wafer and wine do not literally become Christ, but through faith, we receive His presence through the Act of Consecration by the priest.

Any baptized Christian attending Episcopal services is invited to the Lord’s Table. Those who are not baptized may receive a blessing from the priest.

Prayer is responding to God, by thought and deed, with or without words. (The Book of Common Prayer, page 856). We like to think of it as a conversation with God, where we open our hearts and minds to Him. By opening ourselves to His will, we can “hear” or discern His will.

The principal kinds of prayer are:

• Adoration: enjoying God’s presence
• Praise: rejoicing
• Thanksgiving
• Penitence: confessing and repenting
• Oblation: offering ourselves, lives, and labors to God’s purposes
• Intercession: remembering the needs of others
• Petition: asking for help with our own needs

Meditation is thinking about the things of God and what they mean for our lives. It includes all forms of prayer and ranges from wordless adoration to concentrated everyday thinking based on the light of God’s love and will. Meditation is our chance to listen to God.

Meditation also includes Lectio Divina, reading a passage from the Bible several times and asking what God is saying to us through it. This way, we seek to learn God’s plan for us.

Another form of meditation is to focus on a Bible passage or life event and journal it based on what we perceive as God’s intention. Noted Christian apologists (defenders and explainers of the faith) and Anglicans C.S. Lewis and Dorothy L. Sayers are examples of writers who published their meditations.

The Psalms are a collection of anthems or poems, some of which date to the time of King David. Other Psalms date to later times, such as during the Babylonian Captivity. For over 2000 years, they have been used by Christians and Jews to praise and thank God as well as to offer God our penitent hearts.

The Psalter, located in The Book of Common Prayer, is the Book of Psalms. The Psalms have been translated for easier reading or singing aloud, ideally by a congregation. It is also used for individual prayer on the same basis. There are two recommended methods for using the Psalter:

1.In the back of The Book of Common Prayer, there is a Daily Office Lectionary which lists the readings for us to read each day as a part of Morning and/or Evening Prayer. Included in this list are the Psalms to be read.

2.The Psalter is marked into daily readings for Morning and Evening Prayer. We may read the Psalms of the day in the morning until coming to the notation for Evening Prayer. We may then read the Psalms for evening until coming to the notation for the next day’s Morning Prayer.

The asterisk* at the end of a line in a Psalm marks a time to make a notable pause to meditate on what one has read.

A collect (pronounced call-ect) is a special prayer written about a specific subject. Collects are available for each Sunday, for major feasts and saints days, for categories of saints (theologians, martyrs, missionaries, teachers, etc), for special subjects (illness, guidance, families, the Church, society, the earth, etc) and for special rites (ordination, marriage, baptism, etc.)

Collects are written in both traditional and contemporary language. They may be found in The Book of Common Prayer on the following pages:

Traditional Sunday Collects pp 159-185
Traditional Holy Day Collects pp 185-194
Traditional General Collects for Types of Saints pp 195-199
Traditional Collects for Various Occasions pp 199-210
Contemporary Sunday Collects pp 211-236
Contemporary Holy Day Collects pp 237-246
Contemporary General Collects for Types of Saints pp 246-250
Contemporary Collects for Various Occasions pp 251-261
Collects at the Prayers of the People pp 394-395
Prayers for the Sick pp 458-461
Prayers and Thanksgivings pp 814-841

There are also Special Collects for Morning and Evening Prayer:

Morning Prayer Rite I (Traditional) pp 56-58
Morning Prayer Rite II (Contemporary) pp 98-101
Evening Prayer Rite I (Traditional) pp 69-71
Evening Prayer Rite II (Contemporary) pp 122-125

The Collects and Prayers on this website are the Traditional versions.

Canticles are drawn from biblical tests other than the Psalter. They are said or sung as part of all worship services. Canticles may be found in The Book of Common Prayer on the following pages:

Morning Prayer Rite I (Traditional) pp 44-45, 47-53
Evening Prayer Rite I (Traditional) pp 65-66
Morning prayer Rite II (Contemporary) pp 82-83, 85-96
Evening Prayer Rite II (Contemporary) pp 119-120

A list of suggested Canticles for Morning and Evening Prayer is found on pages 144-145