Episcopalians are a peculiar branch of the Jesus movement. We follow Jesus, yes. He is the Word.
We speak the Word, sing the Word, pray the Word, eat and drink the Word.
Jesus is 'our meat and drink' - in him is the source of life, and to receive him is to be fed by the staff of life that is the Word.
He is the Word come into the world. And in him we find the ultimate self-revelation of God.
So what is peculiar about that? It infects our worship. We center on the table where we eat and drink. Everything that happens in the service leads up to that, from initial prayer and praise and proclamation, through confession and word of grace, to the celebration of the goodness of God in bread and wine.
The focus of our worship is obvious from the shape of our gatherings. Central - where all eyes follow - is the table and on it the cup and the plate, the bread and the wine, the elements of the Eucharist, that is, the Great Thanksgiving. On one side you may see the clergy and on the other the choir or servers. The people may look at them from time to time, when they are reading or leading prayers or singing or preaching. But all the time the eyes of all are turning to the prize - the holy Eucharist, God's presence among us - and we seek no distraction from that. Once we have each as many of us as can gone up and taken bread and wine, we go out, sent by a deacon's dismissal and a priest's blessing, to carry the Word into the world.
https://www.lectionarypage.net/YearABC_RCL/HolyWk/MaundyTh_RCL.html
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