I am sure this will seem long winded so I apologize in advance. Hey folks, long-time lurker and first time poster here. Real quick, I come from a nondenominational Christian background (we split from the Disciples of Christ when I was still a kid) and have basically no personal experience in any liturgical setting. I have been drawn to the more "high church" threads of liturgical Christianity over the past couple of years, and Anglicanism has seemed particularly promising as a bridge to that expression as I still get cold feet when I look into outright Roman Catholicism. My problem thus far is I live in a rural setting with an Episocpal and RCC parish being the only local modes of this liturgical culture, and I simply haven't brought myself to either reconcile TEC's recent positions to my own beliefs or to take a plunge into Roman Catholicism (as already stated). I have been catching many virtual services from ACNA parishes during the pandemic, which has helped me get at least acquainted with many aspects of worship but I still feel green on a lot of the language and practices. The closest ACNA church to me is almost an hour and a half's drive (in a completely different state, too), but I have been eagerly awaiting for COVID concerns to subside so I could at least set aside a Sunday to attend a service. Since this is something I need to schedule in advance, I was hoping to get some information from this forum and, failing that I would finally personally contact them to ask the questions (though as an introvert the anonymity of an internet forum is more appealing ) My current most fundamental question regards different services the church offers at different times of the day. They offer "Spoken Mass" quite early (very early considering commute time), and then "Worship w/Holy Eucharist" later in the morning after Sunday school and the like. I do at least understand what the Worship and Holy Eucharist service entails, as I presume it is what I have been virtually taking part in these past several months, but would anyone have an idea what the Spoken Mass would be? Would it be proper to arrive later in the morning just before the beginning of the Eucharist service? I am mostly confused because I always equated "Mass" with the Eucharist, but that is from my total lack of personal liturgical experience. Sorry for the near-Novella length of what equates to a few-sentence question, but I felt context would be wanted.
Hello and welcome!! if you live in the US, then up late at 4am As to your question, it is indeed an unusual phrasing on the part of the parish; although sometimes people associate Mass with Divine Service, also a historic term and found in the Prayerbooks, being a generic label for the solemn public services of the church maybe thats what they meant Bot every divine service involves receiving the Eucharist
Spoken Mass is most likely 'low' Mass. What this means functionally is probably that the church musicians don't participate in that service. It may be the more traditional service of the two. It's rare in the ACNA, but calling it 'Mass' may be a signal that this service follows the Missal rite. I'm guessing from your handle that you live in Kentucky. If you are in Eastern Ky. It will indeed be hard to find a parish. If you wish for a little help you can message me and I might be able to hunt down a church for you to visit closer than you thought.
I suggest at least visiting the local Episcopal parish a few times (if you haven’t already) before making up your mind. Rural parishes tend to be rather conservative. In my experience, if you’re looking for the perfect church, you’ll always be looking.
I occasionally have to get myself up halfway through the night to conference with Europeans for the freelance programming I do to help pay for college, but you are right it really should be sleeping time I certainly appreciate that there is variance between parishes/their congregations and the institution itself, however in this case I know the rector (actually distantly related) and through what we'll call "theological exchanges" his expression is quite different from mine. So you would reckon both the "Spoken Mass" and later service are self-contained services, right? If I were to show up just for the "Worship w/Holy Eucharist," or as the site calls it elsewhere "Choral Service w/ Holy Communion" it would be proper - I wouldn't just be showing up in the middle of a whole thing?
I know that there is UECNA church in Kentucky. As for the ACNA, I would suggest you look at the REC (which has several members on this forum, I believe), but I would not get involved in C4SO or any of their more liberal dioceses unless there was no other option. The Anglo-Catholics continuing churches may also have a presence in Kentucky.
My church offers something similar on Saturday evenings and early Sunday mornings - usually for those that are unable to attend the larger worship at the usual time on Sundays. The "Spoken Mass" likely is the same as the "Worship w/ Holy Eucharist", just without any singing. I think it would be unusual for a person to attend both services, and certainly not expected. I would also ditto what Invictus said. If your local Episcopal church isn't doing anything in service or in community that compromises your worship, it can be an enriching experience to join a church community that you aren't 100% homogenous with. You also might find your rector to be more conservative during services, and the parish community (and council) to be meaningfully more conservative than the rector. I would suggest at least attending a service or two and getting to know your local Anglicans, even if you do decide to travel distantly to an ACNA parish anyway - and if you can't travel at present due to COVID restrictions there's nothing to lose.
Yes. Think of them as an early and a late service. For whatever reason, this has usually taken the form of the early service following a more traditional format (which can vary geographically) or simply being shorter. Generally speaking, you'll have an older crowd at the early service and they like to go to brunch after. The late service typically picks up most of the young families. You never know who will show up for Sunday school but go 2 or 3 times and you'll see most of the same faces. Sunday school goers make a habit of it.