All Saints Episcopal Church

Vision for 9:15 Liturgy at All Saints

When we envision what is in God’s heart for the 9:15 liturgy, we imagine a gathering of 100+ people of all ages, welcoming and including members of diverse backgrounds and lifestyles. Those who come are struck by the warmth of welcome and the sense that this is a sanctuary, a safe place where seeking to know God is affirmed as exploration, discovery and learning. The assembly communicates an infectious joy, in which spirituality is felt as spiritedness and experienced as a spontaneous and playful participation in the divine drama of Jesus’ life, teaching, death, and resurrection. At the same time, the liturgy entices them into a Christ-centered intimacy with one another, and awe and wonder before the mystery and beauty of God.

The 9:15 liturgy grounds us in the common story of biblical and church tradition, but engages that story creatively, as something open-ended and kept fresh through innovation, experimentation, imagination, and play. This creativity finds a variety of expressions, in dance, storytelling, drama, visual art, the use of fabrics and other decoration, and original musical compositions. The band is made up of a variety of instrumentalists, percussionists, and vocalists, and its regular rehearsals provide a vehicle to bring new compositions and styles of music into the repertoire of All Saints. Worshippers, including children and youth, participate actively as both leaders and assembly, and roles in the liturgy are fluid. Within a clear and regular order, there is space for improvisation and the worshipper’s found response to the message, movement, and energy of the liturgy is affirmed.

Newer liturgical rites and practices from around the world church, such as the New Zealand Prayer Book, Enriching Our Worship, and others, find their place alongside traditional Anglican/Episcopal elements in the liturgy. We encounter language and symbols that speak of the diverse expressions and all-pervasiveness of the Spirit, celebrating the holiness of Creation, and imaging God in feminine, young, old, non-European, and non-human as well as traditional terms. The furnishings and elements of worship are beautiful and pleasurable to see, hear, taste, touch, and smell, but also remind us of the holiness of commonplace and homely objects.

The joy and openness of the 9:15 liturgy extends beyond the worship service, blessing the other worshipping assemblies at All Saints with its infectious spirit. This occurs very directly when the 9:15 folks move "upstairs" for special celebrations such as the family services at 5 PM on Christmas Eve and 9:30 on Easter morning, the Blessing of the Animals, and combined services on All Saints Day, the Celebration of New Ministry, and the Bishop’s Visitation. The informality and mobility of the 9:15 style make it possible to hold worship at “off-campus" locations, such as Carmel Beach and Santa Lucia Chapel.

The spirit of the 9:15 worship also finds expression outside the liturgical context, as members of the assembly join each other for intergenerational social gatherings and hands-on service and learning projects in the wider community.

Words that come to people’s lips as they describe their experience at the 9:15 liturgy include: joyous, friendly, accepting, liberating, meaningful, good-humored, informal, down-to-earth, challenging, lively, engaging, fun, creative, unpredictable, holy, and tender. People go away eager to share their experience with others, saying, “I didn’t know that church could be like that," and “finally, a place where I can seek God without pretending to be something that I’m not," and “why don’t you come and see for yourself"