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Worship and Music
Worship is at the core of St. Mary’s Church, when we come together as a family and praise God. Our 9:00 a.m. service embodies our Episcopal tradition (Rite II) and our 10:30 a.m. service is more contemporary, both in music and liturgy. St. Mary’s attempts to include different liturgical styles and welcomes new ideas to help us expand our ministry. Both Sunday services would not be possible without the high degree of lay involvement at St. Mary’s. This includes our acolytes who range in age from 9 to 16 years old, lay readers, Lay Eucharistic Ministers, ushers, the tireless Altar Guild, the Lay Eucharistic Ministers who take communion to shut-ins, and our choir and contemporary service worship team.
Sunday
§ 9:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist. Traditional service (Rite II) with full choir, organ, hymns; nursery care provided.
§ 10:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist. Liturgical service with contemporary Christian music, lead by a worship team of vocalists and musicians; nursery care provided; Sunday School pre-K-6th grade, Rite 13 (7th - 9th grade). Focused on families, this service provides for greater interactivity for our children. Following Sunday School, the children join their parents at the Peace, are treated to a brief “children’s sermon”, and then join in our active and lively Eucharist celebration.
§ 9:00 p.m. Compline. Sung on the second Sunday of the month. Men’s choir composed of some of our choir members, students from the Pacific Lutheran University Music program, and from other churches.
Wednesday
§ 10:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist. Combined with the weekly service for St. Mary’s Christian School with music provided by the children (see Music below).
Major Church Services
§ Lent: Stations of the Cross every Friday during Lent except Good Friday. The stations are marked by stained glass images financed and made by parishioners in 2007.
§ Palm Sunday: Procession of the Palms from the Parish Hall into the church at the start of both services.
§ Easter: Combined choirs, trumpet accompaniment at both services.
§ Christmas Eve:
4:00 p.m. Family service with children’s pageant and Eucharist.
11:00 p.m. Midnight Eucharist with full choir and organ; singing of Christmas
carols begins at 10:30 p.m.
Music
Music is an integral part of St Mary’s worship and spiritual life and we are thankful for the strong quality of leadership in our various music programs.
We are blessed by the leadership of Dr. Richard Nance, Director of Choral Activities at Pacific Lutheran University, as our choral director. He holds a Master’s degree in Choral Music and a Doctorate in Musical Arts. Dr Nance is also a composer of note. Dr. Rachel Root, our organist, has a Master’s degree in Organ and a Doctorate in Choral Music. These two talented professional musicians have produced a thirty-voice choir of highest standards. They lead us each Sunday morning at the 9:00 a.m. traditional service.
St. Mary's Worship Team leads the Sunday 10:30 a.m. family worship service with contemporary Christian music. The Worship Team began in 2006 and currently consists of vocalists, piano, guitar, and percussion. Most of the members are dedicated volunteers from the congregation.
On the second Sunday of each month at 9:00 p.m. is the well-attended Compline service. This service is a half hour of quiet meditation, music, scripture and devotional reverence.
Music is also an important part of our mid-week service. Wednesday morning Eucharist is a sharing time with St. Mary’s Christian School’s 98 preschool to 4th graders. A child, carrying the cross, leads the children’s procession into the sanctuary from the school. They sing their joyous song of glory and praise to the Lord. Music and song are significant throughout their service. The children exit before the Eucharist as we all share the Peace.