"St George's Church and Community" - Present in the Community

Saint George's Parish and Worship

Photo courtesy Michael Creagen

Saint George's is a parish of the Classical Anglican tradition. That is to say, we not only 'use' the Book of Common Prayer (1962) at all services of public worship, but we understand the Prayer Book to encourage a way of Christian Living which seeks to offer ourselves, our souls and bodies as a reasonable, holy and living sacrifice. The life of the parish is formed by its endeavour to be shaped by Holy Scripture and true to the spiritual integrity of the Christian Tradition. The parish observes all the festivals and ember days of the liturgical calendar as found in the Prayer Book, including full choral worship on major Saints days. It maintains the traditional Eucharistic Lectionary which has guided the Church and has achieved its continual conversion to holiness for more than a millennium.

Our parish enjoys a glorious musical programme which honours the ancient choral music of the church. The congregation is encouraged to take part in the singing of the psalms and hymns. Elaborate Mass Settings are sung during festal seasons and plainsong during the penitential seasons of Advent and Lent. The Advent and Lent Prose and the Victimae Paschale are used during the appropriate seasons. Advent and Christmas/Epiphany Carol Services are important yearly events in the life of the parish.

We have been blessed with an extensive outreach effort in our neighbourhood (including a long standing Soup Kitchen and an active Community Youth Outreach) which reflects our understanding of how God's love must be shown to one another and in his world. Our parish is typical of many inner city ministries of the past two centuries, which have often been of Prayer Book Catholic theology and rich liturgy, believing in the real presence of Christ both on the altar and in the lives of the poor.

St. George's has tried to cast a wide net, so that we do not simply preach to the converted. Our parishioners are a diverse group. While some have grown up in the parish, many have chosen St. George's as their parish and drive significant distances in order to attend our services and participate in our parish life. Our hope is that within our parish, we may, however failingly, show God's love to one another and to the people of our neighbourhood through working together in his name.