Worship & Music
Worship at the Church of Saint Clement is holy and reverent, casual and joyful.
We hope you will join us at one of our services. Come as you are!
Services
Every Sunday we celebrate the Eucharist (Holy Communion). We listen to stories from Scripture and inspired preaching, pray for one another and our world, greet one another in peace, share the Body and Blood of Christ and are dismissed to be Christ’s heart, hands, mind and feet in a world desperate to know, feel and experience the love of God.
Our liturgy is traditional and follows the form outlined in the Episcopal Church’s Book of Common Prayer. We worship at 10:00am on Sundays, accompanied by choir and piano. Hymns are taken primarily from two Episcopal Hymnals: The 1982 Hymnal and Lift Every Voice and Sing, a collection of hymns from the African American tradition.
Music
We have a small but mighty choir, ably directed by our highly accomplished Director of Music, Anne Tyler. We always are looking for new people to join the choir - both vocalists AND instrumentalists. Pianists, flutists, cellists and many more have been known to make cameo appearances on Sunday mornings! Choir rehearsals take place Thursday evenings during the program year (roughly mid-September through mid-June). The choir sings on Sunday mornings and for seasonal services during Christmas and Holy Week. If you feel so inclined to "pray twice" (in the words of Saint Augustine), please contact the Parish Office for further details. All God's Critters have a place in choir, and we would love to hear your joyful sound!
Architecture
The architecture of Saint Clement is unique. We have no windows in the sanctuary! When it was constructed, the sanctuary won several architectural awards and accolades and was one of the first churches to have the altar in the center of the Sanctuary, between the pulpit and the font.
Communion
The Holy Eucharist “the Great Thanksgiving” is the center of our life together, just as the altar is at the center of our sanctuary. Each week we are fed and nourished by Christ himself. However as we move through the space - and the liturgy - we become aware of different things.
The clergy and acolytes begin the opening procession at the font where we are reminded of our baptism and that we are the beloved children of God. As we hear the word of God proclaimed, our attention shifts to the pulpit. We then move around the entire sanctuary greeting one another with a word of peace. We come to the table for Holy Communion. At the end of the service, the clergy return to the font and from there we are dismissed by the clergy, reminding us once again that we go into the world washed in the waters of Baptism, having made promises at our baptism to seek and serve Christ in all people, loving our neighbors as ourselves, to strive for justice and peace among all people and to respect the dignity of every human being.
Each week, the worship service offers us nourishment and refreshment AND gives us work to do.