After the American colonies became independent from Great Britain, the colonial congregations of the Church of England organized themselves into the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America.  This is the origin of today’s Episcopal Church.  Our first Bishop, Samuel Seabury, was consecrated by Bishops from the Church of Scotland.  We have retained bonds of affection with the Church of England, and are part of the worldwide Anglican Communion.  As such, we also consider ourselves a part of the historical “one holy catholic and apostolic Church.”  As an independent national church, however, we differ from both the Church of England and Roman Catholic Church in many beliefs and practices.
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The forms for worship of the Episcopal Church are set out in the Book of Common Prayer (the red book found in the pew racks.)  At St. Ambrose, the order of worship on Sunday may be found in that day’s bulletin, which the greeters and ushers distribute.  In the Episcopal Church, the style of worship depends on the individual congregation and varies from high-church Anglo-Catholic to low-church Protestant. “The Holy Eucharist is the principal act of Christian Worship on the Lord’s Day” according to the Episcopal Church (Book of Common Prayer (BCP), p13).  Sunday morning worship in the Episcopal tradition is a time of public and corporate worship as stated in the Prayer Book, “to set forth God’s praise, to hear God’s holy Word, and to ask, for ourselves and on behalf of others, those things that are necessary for our life and our salvation” (BCP, p79).  It is not intended that attendance at Sunday services completely fulfills the religious needs or obligations of a Christian, to say nothing of carrying out Christ’s ministry in the world.  Our corporate acts: saying common prayers, reciting creeds, singing psalms and hymns, listening to the proclamation of God’s Word and sharing in Holy Communion, simply prepare us for ministry outside the doors of the church buildings.  Hence we are dismissed at the end of worship with the words “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.”  Sunday worship, by its corporate nature, allows only limited opportunity for personal prayer and reflection.  It does, however, provide us with tools to develop such practice during the week to come, as do various midweek services and programs offered at St. Ambrose.

We typically stand for hymns and the Gospel reading, kneel for the confession and sit for the other readings and the sermon.  Some prefer to kneel during the Eucharistic prayer, though this is a custom inherited from the middle ages.  Others stand, as was the custom in the early church, following ancient Hebrew practice.  The practice of crossing oneself depends entirely on individual preference and is typically done at those points in the service when the congregation is blessed, the priest pronounces the forgiveness of sins, or immediately before or after receiving Communion.

We observe the liturgical year which begins with Advent (the fourth Sunday before Christmas), continues through Christmas, Epiphany and its season, the forty days of Lent, Easter and its Great Fifty-Day season, and Pentecost.  The season of Pentecost continues through summer and autumn to Advent.  The vestments, altar hangings and flowers reflect these seasons.  

The Episcopal Church uses the Revised Common Lectionary which appoints Bible readings for each Sunday of a three-year cycle.  For example, one year the Gospel readings will be drawn primarily from Matthew, the next year from Mark and John, then from Luke.  Readings from John are typically heard on special feast days.  The usual practice is for lay people to read the passages from the Old Testament, the Psalms and Epistles, and the clergy to proclaim the Gospel.  The Revised Common Lectionary is shared among most Protestant Denominations.

The name “Episcopal” means that our church is led by bishops, as was the early church.  Our bishop, the Rt. Rev. Robert J. O’Neill, is the Tenth Bishop of Colorado.  The bishop is responsible for overseeing the priests in the diocese, and providing leadership on major issues.

The Episcopal Church arrived in Colorado with many of the hopeful gold and silver miners in the middle of the 19th century. Father John H. Kehler traveled from Virginia to Denver City in January 1860, and delivered the first public services of the Episcopal Church in the area that would become Colorado territory. He eventually established the parish of St. John’s in the Wilderness in the series of mining camps that was called Denver City.

In 1887, Colorado became a self-sustaining diocese. The amount of territory in the diocese and the difficulty posed by traveling over it challenged many bishops; in fact, from 1892 to 1919, the Western Slope was a separate district, with its own bishop living in Grand Junction or Salt Lake City. Nonetheless, congregations were established and thrived in all parts of the state; St. Paul’s in Central City was established shortly after St. John’s in the Wilderness, and small Episcopal congregations popped up in rapidly growing mining communities across the state.

Colorado’s ten bishops have led the Church through national and local trials and tribulations, from the two World Wars, to the Depression, to the social turmoil of the 1960s and 70s, to the many economic booms and busts that Colorado’s economy has endured. Today’s Church is still challenged by distance, terrain and the diversity of communities it serves, but it remains One Body of Jesus Christ. According to long-time diocesan historiographer and historian Allen Breck, “Anyone reading the history of the Episcopal Church in Colorado is struck by the diversity within the Church and the many challenges and demands put upon its clergy and laity. But the record shows how innovative and resourceful the response has been.”