Welcome to All Souls Anglican Church! We are so glad you have come to worship with us. This guide explains our service to help you engage more fully in our worship experience. As our guest, our hope is that over time you will come to know and love the beauty and reverence of our worship style and be drawn closer to God while here with us.

The Structure of Our Service

Our services follow a worship pattern that includes four main components: Gathering, Word, Response, and Sending. This pattern for worship can be found in many Bible passages such as Isaiah 6:1-8 and Luke 2:8-18. Each part of our service is designed to engage your mind, heart, and actions.

Gathering: We begin by gathering in song as God’s people in God’s presence. We ready our hearts for worship by expressing our praise, love, and devotion to our Lord. We come together expecting to encounter the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit through worship.

Word: Next, we hear from God through the reading and preaching of the Scriptures. We are a church that firmly believes the Bible is God’s Word and is authoritative in our lives. Through the Word, we are reminded of who God is, who we are, what God has done for us, and how we can live our everyday lives in light of our renewed relationship with God and the world.

Response: Any time God speaks to us through His Word, He invites us to respond to Him in several different ways. We respond by:

• Professing the Nicene Creed – We stand and as one voice affirm the essentials of what we believe, using a statement of faith that was written by the early church and has been used in worship ever since.
• Praying together as a church – We are a praying church. Therefore, each week we kneel and pray silently as a member of the congregation leads each person to pray for the church, the world, and those in need in our community.
• Confessing our sin – When we hear God’s Word read and preached, we are reminded of how we’ve sinned against God and hurt others. Therefore, we kneel together, confess our sins, and are reminded of God’s forgiveness in Christ.
• Offering – We also respond to God in worship through bringing him a portion of our financial resources, acknowledging that He is our ultimate provider. An Offering Basket is placed near the front of the main aisle, and there are Offering Boxes on either side of the Main doors to the Sanctuary as you leave. If you are visiting, please do not feel obligated to give; your presence here is a gift.
• God’s Table – We respond to God’s Word by going forward and sharing fellowship with God and His people through Holy Communion. In the Gospels, Jesus invites his disciples to eat bread and drink wine, which are symbols of his body and blood offered to us as a gift. Before communion, the pastor will always pray a prayer that recounts the salvation story, remind us of Jesus’ instructions concerning the Lord’s Supper, and ask for the Holy Spirit to be present through the bread and wine.  Instructions for how to come forward to receive communion are explained each week and in this Guide (see more below). During this time, we also respond to Christ’s love for us displayed on the cross by singing praises to God.

Sending: The final part of the service prepares us to be sent out into the world on mission with and for God. We pray together, thanking God for speaking through His Word and nourishing us at His Table. We conclude with a blessing and a charge to go into the world and fulfill God’s Great Commission to “go and make disciples of all people” (Matthew 28:18-20).

Common Topics of Interest

Sit, Stand, and Kneel

We encourage participation in worship.  We believe worship incorporates our heart, our mind, and our bodies.

• Therefore, during times of prayer, we kneel as a way for our bodies to reflect the reverence expressed in prayer.
• We stand to praise God through singing, to declare important truths (such as the Creeds), and to show honor to the Lord (as when the Gospel is read).
• When we listen to God’s word, we sit to hear and learn from Him.

Although these different postures are by no means required, it is a way to engage our whole personhood in worship.

Weekly Communion

Communion is offered every week as a way to regularly focus our attention on Jesus and the great salvation He has won for us. This meal of thanksgiving has at least three levels of meaning. First, it’s about remembering Jesus’ death and resurrection by which we have forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God.  Second, it is about our union or communion with Christ and with other Christians. The sharing of a common cup is symbolic of our unity through Christ’s sacrifice. We believe it is a means of receiving His grace, which strengthens us to live a life of discipleship and mission. We believe that Christ is really present to us in a mysterious way in the bread and wine though the Holy Spirit. Third, communion reminds us of the hope we all share in looking forward to Christ’s return when we will live with him forever. We are participating in an earthly way in the heavenly banquet that is prepared for Christ and His followers for eternity.

Directions for Communion- All baptized Christians who are seeking to follow Jesus are welcomed at God’s table, even if this is not your church home. An usher will prompt your row to come forward and kneel at the rail to receive communion. To receive the bread, place your hands in front of you, one over the other, and the bread will be placed into your hand (for gluten-free, face your crossed palms down). A cup with real wine will be brought, and you can eat the bread and then drink from the cup. Or you can dip the bread in the wine, and then eat the bread. If you’d prefer not to take communion, you are still welcome to come forward to the rail and cross your arms. You will receive a short prayer for God to bless you.

Children and Youth Programs

We are a church that loves children and youth!  We want families to grow together.

• NURSERY (Infants through age 4):

Our Nursery is available during the church service. We will share the love of Jesus with the children through Bible stories, play time and fellowship (an allergy approved snack is also served). Our nursery is fully staffed and we provide a safe, healthy and loving environment. We ask that you come pick up your child prior to Communion, during the time of The Peace.

• ELEMENTARY KIDS (Kindergarten through 5th Grade):

The children will gather for Kids Church during the church service for a worship time of their own. We use the Gospel Project curriculum and children will journey through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and will learn how the entire story of the Bible reveals God’s plan of redemption through Jesus Christ. Children will return to the church service after the time of “The Peace” to share communion and the remainder of the service with the family.

• ELEMENTARY and MIDDLE SCHOOL Kids are invited to HIS BIG HOUSE on Saturday mornings, 9:15 – 11:30AM. See the link at hisbighousejax.com for more info.

• MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL Students are invited to VISION, our Youth Group, Wednesday nights, 5:45 – 8PM.

The ministry of Vision is based on Acts 26:18, “To open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light.” Built on foundational principles of discipleship, missions, ministry, worship, and fellowship, the youth ministry seeks to share the vision of Christ, the same vision as All Souls: “To know Christ and to Make Him known.” Other activities include Game Nights, an annual Ski Retreat, holiday parties, and fellowship. Outreach is also a big part of Vision’s activities, including participation in His Big House, “Free to Serve,” community outreaches, and an annual mission trip.

How do I get plugged into All Souls Anglican?

The first step is to fill out a Connect Card on the app or in the chairbacks, which you can drop in a collection basket/box.. By completing the form we will follow up with more information about the church.

The next step to connect to the community is to attend the Next Steps Class (offered every 6-8 weeks), where you will hear from the Senior Pastor about the mission and vision of the church and different fellowship opportunities and studies.