Worship in the Abbey

What should you expect if you show up on a Sunday morning? We worship in a beautiful, historic, two-story storefront at the intersection of Emory Place and Gay Street. (It’s rumored our building was the first post office in Knoxville.) There is plenty of parking immediately surrounding our building.

Inside, you will find a small, quiet room with hardwood floors and tall ceilings. If you show up a few minutes before 10, take the opportunity to look around the room at the work of our featured artist for the month.

In addition to the art on the walls, you will also see a table with a cup and plate at the front of the room. That is the center-piece of our worship. We celebrate Communion every Sunday. We use wine, and every Sunday we use a loaf of bread baked fresh that morning by a family in our church.

Make sure you get a bulletin. Our worship is very participatory. That’s a big part of worship in the Anglican tradition. You will spend time standing, singing, praying, and even kneeling. Before you let that stress you out too much, know that it’s still a very ‘low-key’ gathering. The good news is, you can’t really make a mistake. Our worship is like learning a new dance step. We will likely step on one another’s toes, but we tend to laugh it off and keep going.

While it’s true that we try not to be too rigid about “getting it right,” we are excited that every Sunday we are practicing rhythms that are close to 2,000 years old. So, if you worship with us, not only will you join a long line of Christians throughout history, you will also join Christians throughout the world who are practicing these same rhythms. In a very real way, when you worship at Old North Abbey, you will be worshiping with hundreds of thousands of other Christians throughout time and space.

We will read Scripture from both the Old and New Testaments because the Bible is also central to our worship. You will hear a Psalm, Old Testament lesson, New Testament lesson and a Gospel reading. Then, you will hear someone preach on one of the texts read for the day.

If you have children age six or younger feel free to send them to “The Kids’ Table,” a special lesson time for our children offered during the sermon.

Speaking of kids, you will see a number of young families. Most of our congregation is made up of people in their twenties to people in their fifties. In all, you will see about 50-60 people total on a Sunday morning.

Worship is central to our desire to “practice a more human way to love God and neighbor.” It is the moment we gather as a community to celebrate the life, death and resurrection of the one, truly human being, Jesus. We believe him to be both fully human and fully God. Our worship, then, is a refocusing upon him. It is an attempt, on our part, to change and be changed more into his likeness. Worship is our purpose as humans, and it is the start of any positive change within individuals or communities.

Join us at 10 on Sunday mornings in 15 Emory Place. We would love for you to be part of our weekly celebration.