What Should I Wear to Church?

What Happens When I Get to Church?

To Kneel or to Stand?

The Collection or Offering

Communion or the Eucharist

Ministry of Prayer & Healing

Coffee Hour

The Family Room

Large Print Books

Special Ceremonies

As a newcomer, you might have a few questions about what happens during ELAM’s worship and what is expected of you.

What Should I Wear to Church?
There is no dress code at ELAM. You will find that some parishioners dress up for Sunday services while others attend in jeans and t-shirts. Be comfortable and be yourself.

What Happens When I Get To Church?
On any given Sunday, you should expect the following to happen…

You arrive and enter through our main/front doors. Someone will smile and greet you — possibly holding the door for you if you need assistance. You can mingle in the Gathering Space, hang up your coat, and visit the Sunday School classrooms, washroom, etc. before entering the Sanctuary of the Ascension.

As you enter the sanctuary, a “sidesperson” will hand you a bulletin and then you can find a seat in a pew. (If you attend with children, please take them with you.) We do not have assigned seating, so feel free to sit anywhere.

When you sit down, you can glance in your bulletin – it provides the order of the service so you know what is coming next, what page to be on, which prayer or hymn book to use, and who is speaking. It also has inserts with prayers and announcements for the week. If you have any questions, please ask anyone sitting near you.

The service will start with the clergy welcoming newcomers and you may be introduced to the congregation. Special life events, e.g., birthdays, are celebrated. If you are attending the 10:00 am service, the children will be called to the front for a Children’s Focus (a “sermon” for children which is often interactive). Then the children will leave for Sunday School or the Nursery. (They will return near the end of the service.)

To Kneel or to Stand? 
At ELAM, we are pretty relaxed about personal worship preferences. If you prefer to kneel during a prayer, feel free to do so. Or stand if that is what you feel like doing. If you prefer to sit or are unable to kneel/stand, that is fine, too - please do what you feel is comfortable. Pews with kneelers (small fold-down benches to kneel on) are located mostly in front few rows of pews.

The Collection or Offering
During the 8:30 am service, a collection plate for monetary donations to the church is at the doorway into the Sanctuary. If you would like to make an offering, please place it on the plate as you enter or exit.

During the 10:00 am service, collection plates are circulated through the congregation during a hymn. If you would like to make an offering, please place it on the plate at that time.

Offerings are used to pay church expenses and to provide resources and ministries. In the pew racks, you’ll notice envelopes. If you put your donation in one of these envelopes and fill out your name and address on it, you will receive an income tax receipt for your donation. If you become a member ELAM, you can receive a boxed set of envelopes to take home and use when you come to church. If you want to give your offering to a specific ministry or the Building Fund (a fund set up to help pay off our construction costs), indicate it on your envelope; otherwise it will be used as most needed.

Communion or the Eucharist
Any baptized person is welcome to join us at Communion in receiving the Body (bread) and Blood (wine) of Christ. If you would like to participate but are not comfortable with Communion, please come forward and ask for a blessing from the person administering the bread.

*We don’t have a traditional Anglican altar rail for communion, so just follow the row ahead of you to the front to receive communion. You may eat your wafer of flat bread and then sip your wine, or eat the bread alone -- it is your choice -- but the practice of some Christians of dipping the bread in the wine is discouraged for sanitary reasons.

Ministry of Prayer & Healing
Anointing with the Oil of Healing is available when you take Communion. Just advise the clergy person administering Communion that you would like to be anointed. Anointing of the palms or the forehead is accompanied by a short prayer.

Laying on of Hands with Prayer for Healing is also done during Communion time — as noted in your bulletin — and you can have this ministry done before or after you take Communion. Just go to the Family Room (last set of doors at the northeast corner of the Sanctuary) and members of the Prayer & Healing Team will touch your arm or shoulder and pray for whatever it is that you need prayers for. Prayer requests are confidential.

Coffee Hour
Join us for fellowship & snacks in the parish hall following the 10:00 am service.

The Family Room
If you need to have a quieter area to worship in – perhaps you have a child that needs a more comfortable place or you just want a few minutes alone – please feel free to use our Family Room. It is on the north side of the sanctuary. As a courtesy to those in the nearby pews, please keep the doors closed and watch the service on the TV.
* The Ministry of Prayer & Healing does use the Family Room at Communion time to provide prayer for those in need.

Large Print Books
Large print versions of the Book of Alternative Services (green prayer book) are available. Just ask a sidesperson handing out the bulletins for one.

Special Ceremonies
Please speak with a member of the Clergy Team if you have any questions or concerns about ELAM’s worship services.
They will also be happy to discuss Baptisms, First Communion, Confirmations, Weddings, Renewal of Vows, Funerals, etc.