419 Turnpike Road. Mills River, NC 28759
- 419 Turnpike Road. Mills River, NC 28759
Phone: (828) 891-9375
Sunday Morning Worship
Each Sunday at 10:45 am, members of our faith community gather at Holy Family to hear God’s word, to pray for each other and the world, to reaffirm our credal faith, and to receive the Body and Blood of Christ. Our worship service follows Holy Eucharist, Rite II, in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer. Our children and youth periodically take the lead for worship ministries under the guidance of clergy and youth leaders to offer Youth Sunday.
All are welcome and invited to join us for worship either in-person, or on-line. One-quarter of our weekly attendance comes from people joining us online, and we are grateful for their presence on the other side of the camera! Most of our new members have told us that they first checked us out online. You may find our live-streamed services and recordings of previous services on our YouTube channel. Download this Sunday’s bulletin by clicking here. An online version of the Holy Eucharist Rite II in Book of Common Prayer is available here. You can access the readings scheduled for any given Sunday here.
WOW! – Worship on Wednesdays
The weekly 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm event includes dinner, fun and activities for families throughout the Henderson County area. Held in the Fellowship Hall at Mills River Presbyterian Church (10 Presbyterian Church Road), the every-Wednesday evening event is free to the public. Following the meal, children in grades kindergarten to fifth grade separate into one group while youth in grades six to twelve participate in another group. Team leaders have discussions, crafts, music, and other Christian-based activities planned each week for the children.
Reservations are not needed. While dinners are free, a suggested donation of $5 per person, with a cap of $20 per family, is appreciated to offset program costs. WOW! is offered as a partnership between Mills River Presbyterian Church and Holy Family Episcopal Church in Mills River.
Worship in the Episcopal Church
Sunday is traditionally when Episcopalians gather for worship. The principal weekly worship service is the Holy Eucharist, also known as the Lord’s Supper, Holy Communion, or Mass. Our liturgy comes from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer and from our authorized hymnals. Visitors from a liturgical tradition such as Catholicism may find familiarity and comfort in our pattern of worship. For the first-time visitor from a non-liturgical tradition, our liturgy may be confusing. Services may involve standing, sitting, sung or spoken responses, and other participatory elements that may provide a challenge for the first-time visitor. But at Church of the Holy Family, you can expect to find fellow parishioners willing to help guide you through the movements as you learn the rhythm of our Sunday worship.
Despite of the diversity of worship styles in the Episcopal Church, Holy Eucharist always has the same components and the same shape. The first half of the service is known as the Liturgy of the Word. We begin by praising God through song and prayer and then listen to as many as four readings from the Bible. Usually one from the Old Testament, a Psalm, something from the Epistles, and (always) a reading from the Gospels. The psalm is usually sung or recited by the congregation. Next, a sermon interpreting the readings appointed for the day is preached. The congregation then recites the Nicene Creed, written in the Fourth Century and the Church’s statement of what we believe ever since. Next, the congregation prays together for the Church, the World, and those in need. We pray for the sick, thank God for all the good things in our lives, and finally, we pray for the dead. The presider (e.g. priest, bishop, lay minister) concludes with a prayer that gathers the petitions into a communal offering of intercession. In certain seasons of the Church year, we confess our sins before God and one another. This is a corporate statement of what we have done and what we have left undone, followed by a pronouncement of absolution. In pronouncing absolution, the presider assures the congregation that God is always ready to forgive our sins. The congregation then greets one another with a sign of peace.
The second half of the service is called the Liturgy of the Table. The priest stands behind the table, which has been set with a cup of wine and a plate of bread or wafers, raises his or her hands, and greets the congregation again, saying The Lord be With You. Now begins the Eucharistic Prayer, in which the presider tells the story of our faith, from the beginning of Creation, through the choosing of Israel to be God’s people, through our continual turning away from God, and God’s calling us to return. Finally, the presider tells the story of the coming of Jesus Christ, and about the night before his death, on which he instituted the Eucharistic meal (communion) as a continual remembrance of him. The presider blesses the bread and wine, and the congregation recites the Lord’s Prayer. Finally, the presider breaks the bread and offers it to the congregation, as the gifts of God for the People of God. The congregation then shares the consecrated bread and the wine. At the end of the Eucharist, the congregation prays once more in thanksgiving and then is dismissed to continue the life of service to God and to the World.
