Worship

St. Matthias’ Episcopal Church holds services twice each Sunday: 8:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. An active adult and youth Sunday school takes place between the two services, except in the summer months when there are no Sunday school classes.

The 8:00 a.m. service is regularly attended by a loyal corps of worshippers who prefer a quiet service with a lay reader and priest but with no music. The 10:30 a.m. service incorporates a more formal format utilizing a full choir, piano, organ, acolytes, lay readers and children’s chapel. On frequent occasions, the later service will use guitars or alternative brass and woodwind instruments. We are justifiably proud of our music.

We use both Rite I and Rite II services at appropriate times and seasons of the church year. Our average attendance at the later service is 75 to 100 with the traditional increases during holidays.

At times throughout the year, we branch out into the surrounding community to hold our 10:30 a.m. service in the parks and facilities available to us. We celebrate Pentecost in the Park, usually at Henderson Falls Park, here in Toccoa, where our day begins with worship and continues with a “pot-luck” lunch, games, fellowship and relax

ation.

We also have a tradition of moving our second service, once or twice a year, to Camp Mikell where we worship in the outdoor chapel. After the service, we have lunch in the Mikell Dining Hall and then spend the rest of the afternoon hiking, watching the children play games or just rocking on the porch.

We are proud of a large community of members who regularly participate in leading worship: our altar guild, our cadre of lay readers, our large group of acolytes of various ages, and ushers and greeters - all of whom serve on a rotating schedule. Each of our acolyte teams has an adult leader.

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