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Worship
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 t. Stephen’s is a liturgical church. We are heirs to the traditions of worship that extend from the Apostles, through the General Councils of the early Church, to St. Gregory, St. Augustine and the early missionaries to Britain, and the Celtic monastic tradition. These traditions were reformed and adapted by England’s Archbishop Thomas Cranmer and find their focus in our Book of Common Prayer.
We celebrate the Holy Eucharist every Sunday at 8 AM. Our principal Sunday service, at 10 AM, is usually also a celebration of the Eucharist, although we use the service of Morning Prayer on the third Sunday of every month. Our schedule of services changes somewhat on the two great feast days of the Church. We celebrate our Lord’s birth with two services on Christmas Eve, a Family Carol Service at 5 PM and a festival celebration of the Eucharist at 10 PM, plus a 9:30 celebration of the Eucharist on Christmas morning. Our Easter celebration begins with the Easter Vigil at 7 PM on Easter Eve, followed by the usual 8 AM Eucharist on Sunday morning and two festival Eucharists at 9 AM and 11 AM. During Lent, we offer additional worship opportunities. We have celebrations of the Eucharist (with imposition of ashes) at 9:30 AM and 8 PM on Ash Wednesday, Eucharist at 9:30 AM and 6:30 PM on other Wednesdays in Lent, a Communion service from the Reserved Sacrament on Good Friday, and a special program on Maundy Thursday – a parish soup-and-bread dinner at 6:30 PM, followed by a celebration of the Eucharist at 8 PM. We have recently started a “commuter” service at 6:45 AM on Thursdays in Lent – for the past two years, these services have included monastic offices and forms of morning worship from various Anglican Churches throughout the world. There are ample opportunities for lay people to participate in the formal worship of St. Stephen’s. Ten of our parishioners have been licensed by the Bishop to assist in the celebration of the Eucharist and to take Communion to people who are hospitalized or otherwise unable to attend public worship. Many others assist in other ways, as Lectors (reading from Scripture during the service), Acolytes (young people who assist at the Altar), Choir members, Altar Guild members, and Ushers. Worship services for Church School students and Youth Group members are tailored to provide meaningful worship experiences for our young people and to ease their transition to worshipping adults in the Church. Our young people are also encouraged to participate in Church worship with their parents – any baptized Christian of any age is welcome to receive Communion at our Altar! BAPTISMS, WEDDINGS, FUNERALS and MEMORIAL SERVICES can be scheduled by calling the Rector at the Parish Office, (516) 767-0363. Baptisms can be held during the principal service on Sunday morning, or can be scheduled at other times if necessary. Additional service information can be found in the Calendar section of this Web site, or in the monthly BANNER and the weekly service bulletin, or can be determined by calling |
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