You probably know the biblical story of the first Pentecost from Acts 2: The disciples were all together and "a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind" and "tongues of fire" rested on each one of them and they "were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues" and were heard and understood by people from "every nation under heaven." Each year in the Church we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost on the 50th day after Easter, and the season continues for months after.
Pentecost is often called the birthday of the Church because it is the time when the disciples received the Holy Spirit, and when the mission and expansion of the Good News to people of every nation began in earnest. The movement that had until then been associated with the incarnate person of Jesus broadened, and Jesus' divine life spread to fill the Church. The disciples and new believers began to understand God in a new way, living in them and working through them.
This year, there are interesting (temporary) changes afoot at St. Aidan's Church that we hope will help us to celebrate the season of Pentecost more fully.
For about a month, rather than having rows of chairs facing the Altar, we will have several rows along each side of the church facing each other. We will be able to see each others' faces and hear each others' words. We hope this change will be a reminder that we are worshipping together as the people of God rather than as individual believers and will help to highlight the sense that we are in this together, building relationships grounded in God.
Along with the new seating arrangement for the congregation, we will leave significant space by the altar to allow for movement by the entire congregation up around the altar for the Eucharistic Prayer. (Seats will be available up front for those for whom standing is difficult.) We do this already at our 8:30 a.m. service, and it has created a feeling of real community and fellowship. We do this in part at our 10:30 service, when a group of people stay at the altar until all are finished receiving bread and wine; this will enlarge the group to include the entire congregation. Gathering around the altar together is a physical manifestation of how we constitute the Body of Christ; each of us is important, but it is when we are together around a common Table that something new is formed. We hope these changes will give us the sort of tangible experience of Pentecost that the original disciples had that wild day in Jerusalem.
The truth is, the people of God can gather anywhere and everywhere to worship and God is there no matter where we sit or stand. And yet, just like our liturgy and our prayer can't help but shape our believing, the way we gather and move also shapes us. Pentecost is a wonderful and theologically rich occasion to be shaped differently for a time. In Pentecost, God comes among us in a drastically new way; what a great time to begin to think anew what Church is and what God calls us to be together!
Pentecost is often called the birthday of the Church because it is the time when the disciples received the Holy Spirit, and when the mission and expansion of the Good News to people of every nation began in earnest. The movement that had until then been associated with the incarnate person of Jesus broadened, and Jesus' divine life spread to fill the Church. The disciples and new believers began to understand God in a new way, living in them and working through them.
This year, there are interesting (temporary) changes afoot at St. Aidan's Church that we hope will help us to celebrate the season of Pentecost more fully.
For about a month, rather than having rows of chairs facing the Altar, we will have several rows along each side of the church facing each other. We will be able to see each others' faces and hear each others' words. We hope this change will be a reminder that we are worshipping together as the people of God rather than as individual believers and will help to highlight the sense that we are in this together, building relationships grounded in God.
Along with the new seating arrangement for the congregation, we will leave significant space by the altar to allow for movement by the entire congregation up around the altar for the Eucharistic Prayer. (Seats will be available up front for those for whom standing is difficult.) We do this already at our 8:30 a.m. service, and it has created a feeling of real community and fellowship. We do this in part at our 10:30 service, when a group of people stay at the altar until all are finished receiving bread and wine; this will enlarge the group to include the entire congregation. Gathering around the altar together is a physical manifestation of how we constitute the Body of Christ; each of us is important, but it is when we are together around a common Table that something new is formed. We hope these changes will give us the sort of tangible experience of Pentecost that the original disciples had that wild day in Jerusalem.
The truth is, the people of God can gather anywhere and everywhere to worship and God is there no matter where we sit or stand. And yet, just like our liturgy and our prayer can't help but shape our believing, the way we gather and move also shapes us. Pentecost is a wonderful and theologically rich occasion to be shaped differently for a time. In Pentecost, God comes among us in a drastically new way; what a great time to begin to think anew what Church is and what God calls us to be together!
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