Hi! Next Sunday I plan on attending my first Anglican mass. Could someone tell me the order of which it goes in? Is it similar to a Catholic mass? Any advice? Should I talk to anyone at the Church? Any activities I should participate in? All input is much appreciated. God Bless!
It all depends very much on which province you are planning to worship with. TEC Rite II can be a very short 'Mass' if the officiant takes a minimalist approach to the rubrics. A TEC Rite I service is somewhat longer. A '28 service is probably longer still, assuming you are at a parish with a competent preacher. With ACNA, who knows what you will get, but it will probably be about an hour. Communion could be served kneeling or in a line sort of deal. If you are accustomed to Novus Ordo in the States, the Mass will -hopefully- seem a bit high to you, but not unfamiliar.
The Divine Service will in some form or another be genetically traced from the classical 1662 Book of Common Prayer: http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/1662/baskerville.htm You can look at the many liturgies cited there, and as pertains to a Sunday liturgy it will most likely be the Service of Morning Prayer or the Service of Holy Communion. You may see some modern versions of that, or something identical to that book, but often the church website will indicate what liturgy they are using... for instance if they mention a 'traditional' service they may mean 1928 Book of Common Prayer, which goes right back to the 1662 BCP I mention above. You should certainly talk to the priest and the ushers, either before or after the Service, as they will be most glad to meet you and introduce you to everything that is going on, including parish ministries and opportunities.
My RC friend attended Mass at an Episcopal church with me and expressed her surprise at how similar it was to her own church service. I think she was expecting Anglican worship to be similar to a Baptist service. Some Anglican churches are very simple in style, others are far more ornate, but both should have the same theology even though their style differs. This video may be of help as it shows the basic Anglican service: http://www.christchurchkc.org/worship/ This church has both traditional and contemporary services. So the music and style may differ, but the core worship is the same. I think you will find it very similar to a RC Mass.