F.A.Q. - Frequently Asked Questions

1.  Do you welcome Christians from other denominations? 
Yes! In fact, only a handful of our parishioners came to us from the Episcopal Church or other Anglican groups.  We offer a church home for people of all denominations who are looking for doctrine and forms of worship consistent with centuries of Christian tradition.  We have members who came to us from Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic and other faith traditions.

2.  Do you use a Prayer Book? 
Our form of worship, generally, is guided by the Book of Common Prayer (American Edition, 1928); however, we also use older Prayer Books in the Anglican tradition and also liturgies and prayers from other faith traditions.  We use the 1549 Book of Common Prayer on the fourth Sunday of each month.  For major Feast Days where the 1928 Book of Common Prayer does not include a special liturgy, we have reached back into history for and adapted services from the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran and other Christian traditions.

3.  Will I be lost if I don't have a Prayer Book? 
No. Not at all. Our Sunday Bulletins are very user-friendly.  They include the full text of the services for the day, along with clear instructions on when to sit, stand or kneel and when making the sign of the Cross is appropriate (but not required).  All the words to be said in response to, or with the Minister or Celebrant, are shown in BOLD type.

4.  What hymnal do you use?  And will I recognize the tunes? 
The St. Chrysostom Hymnal, produced within our parish, includes many familiar hymns and canticles from the 1940 Hymnal.  To that base we have added public domain songs from the Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, Moravian Brethren, Congregationalist, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox traditions and some non-denominational traditions.

Our standard for inclusion in the St. Chrysostom Hymnal was that our parishioners liked the songs and were willing to sing them enthusiastically.  Hymnal authors include some of the greatest and most profilic hymn writers of all time, including Charles Wesley, Isaac Watts, Nahum Tate and Nicholas Brady, James Montgomery, Charles Coffin, the Venerable Bede, Joseph the Hymnographer, St. Thomas Aquinas, Christopher Wordsworth, Samuel Longfellow, Thomas Haweis, Horatius Bonar, William Chatterton Dix and many others.

5.  Do I have to be baptized again in order to be a full member of your parish?
No.  Since the earliest days of the Church, only one Baptism is permitted for the remission of sins. If you have previously been baptized into a traditional, Trinitarian Christian denomination, you will be accepted as a full member of our parish. If you wish to be formally "confirmed" that can be arranged.  If you are not sure whether you have been baptized or when, the Book of Common Prayer provides for a conditional baptism.

6.  Would I be welcome if I have no religious background?  
Yes.  St. John Chrysostom, our namesake from the 4th Century, once said that there can be no such thing as a Christian who is not concerned about the salvation of others.  We provide our parishioners with learning and study materials that will help them become firmly grounded in traditional Christian teaching.  If you come to share this same faith and can honestly say the words of the Creeds each Sunday, you will be welcomed into our parish with open arms.

7. Do you offer pastoral consultation and visits to the sick? 
Yes.  We offer both, including hospital visits and Communion for the Sick.  Your relationship with us should begin with a pastoral consultation in which your interests, needs and knowledger are discovered.  Since we are a small parish, we want everyone to be fully involved in the life of the parish.

8. Is St. Chrysostom Church "high church" or "low church?" 
Neither. We are somewhere in the middle.  For many, the phrase "high church" means the use of incense.  We do not use incense owing to the respiratory problems it causes, especially for those with other breathing difficulties.  We can not be described as "low church" because our services are quite formal, including said or sung responses and the use of bells at appropriate times during the Eucharistic rite.  At all services, both the Priest and Lay Reader or other assistant are formally dressed.  For Morning Prayer, the Priest chants or intones the service, without music, dressed in a black cassock, white stole and black tippet.  For all Holy Eucharist services, the Priest is dressed in a black cassock, white surplice, and a stole in the appropriate color for the season (the Lay Reader wears the same garments as described above for the Priest in Morning Prayer).  We do not use Chasubles.

9.  What do you mean when you say you are a Liturgical Church? 
We mean that our services are offered as solemn worship of our Creator, using a fixed form of service established in the various books of common prayer, based upon centuries of Christian practice going back to at least to the Second Century.  Anglican traditional worship is not individual but "corporate."  This means that all the members of the parish come together as one to worship and that worship must be dignified and conducted with proper respect for our Creator and for the dignity and sanctity of the surroundings.  While we believe each person must make a personal faith decision, in worship we do not see ourselves as a room full of individuals who just happen to be worshipping the the same place at the same time.

10. How do I dress for your services?
Church tradition suggests that clothes worn to Church services should be clean and appropriate for worship.  This does not mean an expensive suit and fancy shoes or the newest dress.  It does mean visitors and worshippers should not be dressed as if they were going immediately to the beach or the soccer field.

11. How is the Eucharist celebrated? 
We believe that Jesus Christ is "in us and we in him" when we receive the Bread and Wine of the Eucharistic feast.  We use a Chalice with wine and a traditional Eucharistic wafer served from a Ciborium.  For those with allergies to wheat or alchohol, other arrangements can be made.

The celebration of the Eucharist has changed little since the adoption of the Pauline form of service.  The Priest says the Canon of the Mass (the Consecration, Oblation and Invocation which invite the Holy Spirit), presides over the General Confession, which is required of all persons receiving the Eucharist, and, with an assistant, administers the elements first to himself, then to the assistant, and then to the People.  The Anglican form generally follows the pattern established by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer in the first English Book of Common Prayer in 1549 A.D.

12.  Who is your supervising Bishop or Archbishop? 
We are a parish of the United Episcopal Church of North America, which makes us part of the "Continuing Church" which broke from the Episcopal Church USA in the 1970s.  The Most Reverend Stephen C. Reber, Sr., Archbishop of the UEC, provides regular oversight.  Visit the UECNA site. Return here using the Back arrow.

13. What is your relationship to St. Joseph's Villa?   
We are a leaseholder of the St. Joseph's Villa Chapel.  We received our lease in exchange for our work in restoring the Chapel (a work which is still continuing).  We receive no financial support from St. Joseph's Villa, which is a non-sectarian, non-profit charitable organization under the Internal Revenue Service Code Section 501(c)3 and are not affiliated with or endorsed by St. Joseph's Villa.

14. I Read that you close the day on Tuesday evenings with Compline.  What is Compline and how do you pronounce it?
The ancient monastic communities said prayers at fixed times of the day.  The offices were Matins (Midnight), Lauds (after Matins), Prime (6:00 A.M.), 3rd Hour (9:00 A.M.), 6th Hour (Noon), 9th Hour (3:00 P.M.), Vespers (sunset) and Compline.  The latter is pronounced COM-plen.  If you are familiar with the PBS TV series Brother Cadfael, you will have seen the monks saying Compline at the end of the day before bed. 

Compline is a very spiritually-satisfying office.  Its purpose is to reconcile the Christian with his Creator before the end of the work day.  Compline is divided into several parts.  Following an Opening Prayer there is a Confession, four sets of Versicles and Responses, several readings from the Psalter, an Evening Hymn and a Closing Prayer and Blessing.  Read the full text.