The sign in front of Historic St. Luke’s Church said “1559 Church Service 11:00 a.m.” And a few people beyond the Epiphany faithful joined us for a dip into Colonial Anglican church history!
Sunday, June 26th, Church of the Epiphany made its semi-annual trip out to St. Luke’s, on the outskirts of Smithfield, for an almost authentic 17th Century worship service. The church was built in 1632, and served the spiritual needs of first generation Virginia colonists. These colonists would have been very familiar with the hymns and service music we sang! The old hymns are still in our hymnal and the Sanctus, Agnus Dei and Gloria were composed by John Merbecke (1510?-1585?). The Biblical readings for our Eucharist did not include the Old Testament, focusing instead on the Holy Gospel and an Epistle. Until the most recent revision to the Book of Common Prayer, the Old Testament was part of Morning Prayer, but was not included in Eucharist service liturgy. The Rev. Richard O. Bridgford received permission from Bishop Hollerith to use the 1559 Prayer Book for educational purposes. The congregation had an immersion into Elizabethan English, complete with thee’s and thou’s, and an old English font where an s looks like an f. In deference to authenticity we did use female acolytes and enjoyed the Rev. Carol Sims celebration of Holy Communion – AND enjoyed air conditioning and nearby restrooms! Enjoy the pictures of our time at St. Luke’s in the following slideshow.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Photos courtesy J. Rochelle.
