Holy Eucharist is the principal worship service at St. George’s and throughout the Episcopal Church. You might recognize this service by a different name: the Mass, Holy Communion, the Lord’s Supper, or the Divine Liturgy.

The term Holy Eucharist refers to both a sacrament and the worship service surrounding it. In the sacrament of Holy Eucharist, the priest blesses bread and wine—representing Christ’s body and blood—and shares it with the congregation. This shared sacrament connects Christ’s ultimate sacrifice to our daily participation with him and with other Christians in new life.

The worship service we call Holy Eucharist goes back to the first century, when the early Christians combined the Jewish religious practice of holy readings and prayers with the sacrament of the Eucharist. By the end of the Roman persecutions, the Eucharistic worship service had become the standard for Christian worship.

Fast forward over 1000 years to the Protestant Reformation. Every aspect of Christianity was scrutinized and judged. Some of the new Protestant denominations rejected almost everything associated with “Roman” Christianity, including the Eucharistic service itself. Today, some denominations do not offer a Eucharistic service. Others see it as a worship option, while still others employ it only for special occasions.

At St. George’s—and throughout the Episcopal Church—the Eucharist is not optional. It’s core to our Christian tradition, tying us back each week to the Last Supper, to Christ’s personal sacrifice, to Christ’s resurrection, and to 2000 years of Christian religious practice. This might seem like a style choice for us, but this ancient service and “these holy mysteries” are central to our lives as modern, practicing Christians. For us, like other Christian traditions, Christ is truly present to us in the Eucharist.

We welcome you to participate with us in this ancient and holy tradition.

Children and young people are fully engaged in the worship and prayer life of the church, with educational opportunities that do not separate them unnecessarily from full participation with the rest of the congregation.

Children’s Chapel: Every Sunday during the first half of the 10:30 a.m. service

Youth Group: Second Sunday of every month from 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.

Children’s Chapel
Before the readings and sermon are given during the 10:30 am service, children ages 4-11 are invited to attend Children’s Chapel.  This is an age appropriate version of the adult service which includes Gospel discussion, the Apostle’s Creed, and prayers of the people.  Children then return to the regular service for the Peace and Eucharist.

Children participate in worship by bearing the gifts for the Offertory and passing the second offering, donated to the Saint Louis Park Emergency Program (STEP).

Youth Group
The young people of St. George’s participate in the service as acolytes, banner bearers and readers.  We meet once a month on the second Sunday from 11:40-1:15 for fellowship and community outreach projects.  Youth grades 5-12 are welcome to attend.

Inter-generational Activities
Children and adults come together for several events during the year, including creating an All Saints Day prayer chain, making Advent wreaths, and presenting an Epiphany pageant.

Mission Trip
Youth (grades 7-12) are encouraged to attend our joint summer mission trip to the Rosebud Indian reservation in South Dakota.

For more information on Youth and Children activities please contact Heather Whitesell at heatherw@stgeorgesonline.org 

Sunday Forum

Between services every Sunday—from 9:15 am to 10 am—parishioners and clergy lead interactive Sunday Forum sessions on wide range of spiritual topics. These include study and reflections on our scriptures, prayer, the foundations of our faith, our traditions, and how we live out God’s mission in our parish community and in our communities outside the doors. All are welcome to attend and many do. This is a great way to learn about who we are and how we live out and into our faith.

Gospel-Based Discipleship (GBD) is founded on the ancient practice of Lectio Divina and is similar to African Bible Study. It offers a deeply engaging way for people to come together in community to discern personal meaning from holy scripture.

Typically taking 20-40 minutes, we read a scripture passage three times, from three different Bible translations. Each time we ask a question, getting deeper into the scripture and into our responses with each question:

• What words or phrases did you hear?
• What is Jesus (the Gospel) saying to you?
• What is Jesus (the Gospel) calling you to do?

This process and these questions are designed to elicit personal reflection, sharing, discussion, and revelation.

GBD is a recurring feature of our Sunday Forum and we facilitate a weekly GBD group every Wednesday from 10:30 am- 11:30 am. We also employ GBD as the opening activity of important meetings. Our vestry has found that 20 minutes of shared reflection on scripture at the beginning of every meeting helps facilitate open and respectful dialog. It also opens us up to listen for God’s voice in our deliberations. We find that this front-end investment of precious meeting time saves time in the end and adds value to our outcome and to our members.

Nothing stirs the human soul like music. In it we hear the heart of love, the winds of nature, the songs of angels and the voice of God. Music has been an integral part of worship since worship began. At St. George’s, we understand the importance of music in the lives of our parishioners and seek to let as many varied voices as possible be heard in our services. Some weeks we have music with a traditional choral approach. Other weeks our services have a more contemporary feel with music provided by our praise group (guitars, piano, flute, hammered dulcimer, bass, etc.). Often we create a “blended” service combining traditional with more contemporary music.

What this means for people attending our services is that they get to experience a range of music that keeps our services dynamic and involving. For people who hear the call to sing or perform, we have opportunities to sing with the choir or play with the Praise Group. If you would like to join the choir or praise group, we’d love to have you. For more information, please call the church office at 952-926-1646, or contact us via email at Info@StGeorgesOnline.org.

We invite you to sing to the Lord as a performer or as simply someone attending a service. Either way, a voice raised in praise is a joyful thing!