Today I attended The Church of the Holy Faith. It is a building that blends southwestern and traditional styles. The interior has stained glass windows and exposed beams above. They have a fine pipe organ and choir.
The greeters at the front door gave me a nice welcome though I had difficulty engaging others I saw along the way.
The organ burst out gloriously for the opening hymn "Love Divine all Loves Excelling". There was a very dignified processional with crosses at the beginning and end. This was all rite one with the most traditional forms used for everything. The language was not gender inclusive.
The woman reading the first lesson had a very large black hat. She spoke with a slight British accent and her words were very clear. The Psalm was done in Anglican Chant and Charles would have approved as it moved in a natural speaking rhythm. The Gospel procession was executed with great precision, the acolytes in perfect sync.
The sermon was delivered by the associate rector the Rev Curtis Norman. He dwelt on a number of points concerning the Luke Gospel of the good Samaritan. Who is our neighbor? It is not just those who live near us. Jesus's parable expands the definition Love depends on deeds. The mission of Jesus was to restore broken humanity. We are those broken people. When we accept his compassion, Jesus takes us off that dangerous road. We are to show that compassion to the world.
The prayers of the people were read by the priest, followed by confession and absolution. The peace was quickly celebrated and the children were led out to Sunday school.
The offertory solo was sung like last week at St Bedes by an apprentice from the Santa Fe Opera program. Mezzo soprano Renee Tatum delivered "There is a Balm in Gilead" with deep and rich tone. I hope all were moved as much as I was.
The Sursum Corda was delivered facing the congregation, but after that the Deacon, Sub Deacon and Celebrant turned to the high Altar. All during the service I needed to pay close attention to the BCP in order to come out with the correct responses.
After the prayer of Humble Access (crumbs under the table and all) we received kneeling at the altar rail. The choir sang Durufle's "Ubi Caritas.
After the recessional, "Joyful we adore thee" the organist improvised a postlude to that tune and I listened with great appreciation for his skill.
The lady in the pew with me engaged me in conversation and complimented my singing. I recognized patrons of the opera who had had our cast to their house last week. But I can not say that anyone else greeted me other than the priests at the front door as I left. And no one offered to take me to the coffee hour which I did not attend.
I found the service very moving on many levels Anglo Catholicism at its finest, great music, liturgy and ritual done with dignity and precision, and beautiful surroundings. But I have grown impatient with rite one with its archaic speech and old fashioned theology. Do we really think that God has "wrath and indignation" for us? I also cringed at the non gender inclusive language," for us and for all men" and God spoken always as "He". I grew up with this and have always admired its majesty and beauty, but now in the 21st century I do not think it represents our idea of what God is. How long will some churches hang on to this?
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