As the Vicar (local minister in charge) of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church here in San Saba, I have been asked many times over the years this question, “What is Episcopal?” What does it mean? What is it? The quick answer is the Episcopal Church is the Church of England in the United States ofAmerica. The word itself means “overseer.” Having been translated through Greek and Latin then German to English, the word “overseer” began to be called “Bishop.” After the Revolutionary War and having won our independence from England, our church needed a new name. Therefore, our church leaders in the new Republic decided that it would be called the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States of America (PECUSA). This means our church is a part of the Protestant Movement of the 15th century, and we are led by Bishops. There are three terms in the New Testament that define the leadership of the early church. They are Episcopal, meaning overseer; Presbyter, meaning elder; and Deacon, meaning server. Both the Church of England and the Episcopal Church in the United States continue to this day to use these three offices or positions as the leadership of the church. Many Protestant churches decided not to have bishops as their spiritual or administrative leader and address their leadership as elders and deacons. When we speak of the Presbyterian Church, for example, we are speaking of leadership led by elders or presbyters. Somehow in many places and in many ways, the term presbyter became priest.
But enough of history, let me explain how the Episcopal Church uses these three offices and other terms that guide our faith, worship service, and our prayers for God’s Kingdom to come and that Jesus gave his life on the cross to guarantee, the gift of Grace and life everlasting.
The other terms are Liturgy and Lectionary. The Liturgy within The Book of Common Prayer allows us to worship in a way that directs our prayer life. Since most of our prayers are self-centered, we need help and direction in praying for God’s Kingdom and the forgiveness of our own sins such as “…we have left undone those things which we ought to have done and we have done those things which we ought not to have done….” In addition, the Liturgy within the Book of Common Prayer provides services for life events such as baptism, marriage, burial, and prayers for other occasions in our lives.
The Lectionary leads us in the way of reading, digesting, and following God’s word through a three-year study or cycle by reading and preaching the New and Old Testament. As an example, we study and preach the Gospel of Matthew in Year A, the Gospel of Mark in Year B, and the Gospel of Luke in Year C. The Gospel of John is interspersed throughout all three Gospels during this three-year cycle. Therefore, it behooves us to hear and understand many things in Scripture that we might prefer to leave out. We believe that one must consider all the Scripture to enable us to comprehend and understand God’s word. We call this Systematic Theology.
Systematic Theology requires us to translate a word or a saying of Jesus or one of the prophets by understanding who wrote it, to whom they were writing to, and what the understanding of certain words or phrases were by the people at the time that might escape us today. If we cannot answer these questions, then we will miss the point being made. In other words, we must understand what the people understood about a word or saying at that particular time in history.
If you would like more information about the Episcopal Church, visit our website at stlukessansaba.com or call 325372-5821. If you would like to attend one of our services, we are St. Luke’s Episcopal Church located at 601 West Dry St. It is a little white church with the red door, historical marker, and bell tower in the front yard. Episcopal services were first held in San Saba in 1852 prior to the incorporation of the city. The Church was built in 1896 and the Parish Hall was added in 1980. Our services are each Sunday at 10:30 a.m. All are welcome.