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A worship service has many components. Liturgy is one important component. Liturgy refers to the form or style of public worship in a church. In the Anglican Church, there is not a single form of worship even though Anglican worship services typically are selected from a prayer book that lays out the structure of the worship service as well as the content of many of the prayers said by the presiding priest and those said by the people. Currently at St. John's, the liturgy for most of our services comes from the Book of Alternative Services.
Historically, Anglican worship has sometimes been described as being either "high church" or "low church" in nature. Although these terms have been used to mean different things at different times in Anglican history, an overly simplistic distinction can be made. Churches that view themselves as being "high church" typically have a very formal service that includes a number of elements that are similar to those in a Roman Catholic mass. Consequently, this worship style has also been referred to as Anglo-Catholic by some. On the other hand, "low church" approaches have tended to be less formal, less traditional, and to have a greater emphasis on evangelism. At St. John's we have tended to lean more to the "low church" approach, but those from some protestant denominations may find a fair amount of tradition and ritual in our liturgy. In many ways, this distinction between high and low church is an out-dated distinction.
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