For a Mormon girl who has never been out of Utah more than two weeks at a time, I can say that I've probably had a somewhat diverse sprinkling of religious experiences outside of my faith. Most of these stem from my early career as a choir member, singing in Presbyterian and Catholic churches, and even Grace Cathedral, the famous Episcopal locale in San Fransisco. Needless to say, I've spent a lot of this time in the choir loft.
In addition to these experiences, I've attended an Evensong at St. Paul's in London on the Epiphany (January 6th--the 12th day of Christmas) and mass at Notre Dame in Paris. I've been to the United Church of Christ to perform pieces of Handel's Messiah, and I've been to an Evangelical Baptist church to hear one of my friends sing. All of these have been beautiful experiences, but I'm only now beginning to get the hang of things a little. This Sunday, Kevin and I attended services at St. Mark's Cathedral downtown with our friends and fellow bloggers Christina and Dave. They will later come to LDS services with me and Kevin, just to see what the experience is like. The first thing I noticed is that this Episcopal cathedral is beautiful! All the pictures here are from the inside.
The service was a little bit of a whirlwind for me. I'm used to parking in my pew for my worship, but this service required a lot of participation by the congregation. It was the second Sunday celebration of Easter, and the hymns were glorious Alleluia pieces. I was excited to hear some familiar pieces we use in Mormon services too, including Randall Thompson's "Alleluia" and the Doxology:
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
One thing that always brings a smile to my face is the sharing of peace. I've seen this at other Protestant churches, and it's where the congregation mingles, shakes hands, and offers peace to the neighbors around you. I don't know why I smile--maybe it's partly because I feel somewhat conspicuous as a visitor, but also I think that it's just a happy thing to do.
I was excited to get a closer look at these services from a historical perspective as well. As a graduate student, I studied in depth the religious goings-on of 16th- and 17th-century England. I spent over a year studying the symbols of the Eucharist and how they relate to a marriage between Christ and the Church, and the only paper I've published in an actual literary journal was on John Bunyan's A Pilgrim's Progress and the textual conflicts of predestination and works. I also studied Thomas Cranmer's original Book of Common Prayer, which is used in American Episcopal services today with some modification (as the Dean of the cathedral explained to me after the service). I probably drove everyone crazy with discussing the origins of the book, but hey, that's what gets me going from a literary sense.
The coolest experience was the Holy Communion. I wanted to see the Eucharist up close for the first time, and was humbled that it was all right for me to go up and receive the Body and Blood from the priest even though I'm not a confirmed member of their faith. What I wasn't expecting was the personal way the sacrament was offered, with a blessing said on each individual each time they received these tokens.
The sermon was on Thomas after the resurrection. The pastor had an interesting take, and jokingly suggested that maybe Thomas was one of those people who scored high on the sensory scale of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. One thing that he mentions is that many witnesses said, "I saw the Lord," but when Thomas sees Jesus, he sees the Lord and God. It was a nice turn that reminds me of the sermons I love that re-define Martha's role, and that's why I posted the Martha and Mary window from the Cathedral here.
The Nicene Creed
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
