WORSHIP SERVICES

We at St. Catherine’s are a Christ-centered Eucharistic community where worship is integral to who and what we are.  Worship is truly where we welcome one and all to join us as “we unite ourselves with others to acknowledge the holiness of God, to hear God’s Word, to offer prayer, and to celebrate the sacraments.” (Book of Common Prayer, Catechism).

Ordered according to the 1979 BCP and Revised Common Lectionary, traditional services, each with its distinct character, are conducted at the church at different times throughout the week:

Sunday, 8:00 AM.  Holy Eucharist, Rite I.   A simple, straightforward service with its own rhythm and beauty, with no music, alternating the form for “Confession of Sin.”

Sunday, 10:00 AM.  Holy Eucharist, Rite II.  A service either spoken or sung (Choral Eucharist), alternating the Eucharistic Prayers and Forms of the Prayers of the People, with full choir, using the 1982 Hymnal for the Processional, Sequence and Recessional hymns.  The service may include selections from the “Songs of the Spirit” during the ministration of Communion. In the summer months when the choir is on vacation, guest musicians and singers may perform. 

 Sunday, 10:00 AM.  Children’s Chapel.   An age-appropriate worship service for young children ages 18 months to 8 years, after which the younger children are returned to the nursery, and the older ones join their parents during “The Peace.”

Wednesday, 10:00 AM.  Healing Service with Laying on of Hands and Anointing, with Holy Eucharist, Rite II, held in the Chapel adjacent to the Nave.

 Saturday, 5:30 PM.  Holy Eucharist, Rite II, a more “relaxed,” less formal service where participants gather around the Baptismal font after “The Peace” for the blessing of the water, and gather around the altar for “The Holy Communion,” holding hands as they pray “Our Father….”

There are special festal services at Christmas, Easter and Pentecost.  At Christmas, there are three services on Christmas Eve and one on Christmas morning. Ash Wednesday is observed with three services, with the Imposition of Ashes from the palms burned on Shrove Tuesday at each.  During Holy Week, there are different services every day:  Tenebrae, a Seder, Evensong, Maundy Thursday and the Stripping of the Altar, and Good Friday services, often including meditations on "The Last Seven Words" as well as the Way of the Cross.  On Easter Day we have both The Great Vigil of Easter, and the Liturgy on Easter Day.  On the day of Pentecost, parishioners with the gift of multiple languages proclaim the Gospel of the risen Christ.

Additional services are held as befitting the liturgical season, including the celebration of St. Catherine observed in mid November to honor the saint for whom our church is named, and at Thanksgiving and The Feast of the Epiphany, when we worship ecumenically with our Lutheran brethren at Christ Our Redeemer down the road from us on Druid Hills.  

Epiphany Feast of Lights with the Rev. Wally Meyer from Christ
Our Redeemer Lutheran celebrating