Worship with us:

Getting to the Glebe:

St. James On-the-Glebe is located on US- 17 South. Turn onto the road running between the Ken Houtz Chevrolet and Gloucester Self Storage. There is a white fence running along this road. Follow the road back until it turns into a pebble lane. Drive along the cedar-lined lane through the glebe’s 30 acres of working fields until you enter the glebeyard. Follow the lane around the glebehouse and outbuildings until you see the sign for the chapel. You can then park anywhere around the chapel across from the mule barn.

What an Anglican Service is like:

The central and most important form of our worship is the Holy Communion. Also known as: the Lord's Supper, the Eucharist, or the Mass. For Anglicans, everything else in the Christian's life draws from and returns back to the liturgy, or the corporate worship of the Church. Therefore our services are naturally very liturgical. We believe that we are both Body and Soul in the Image of God, so we use our bodies to stand, sit, kneel, sing, and pray. We use the traditional Book of Common Prayer and the hymnal, both available in the pews. The liturgy can feel confusing at first but eventually becomes a vehicle for very genuine and devout worship. As Anglican writer C. S. Lewis wrote, “As long as you notice and have to count the steps, you are not yet dancing but only learning to dance. A good shoe is a shoe you don’t notice.” Time and familiarity with the liturgy washes away all awkwardness and allows you just to focus on worshiping God.

Children in Church:

We believe that children are not “the future” of the church, but instead a part of its living present. Therefore, we welcome parents to bring their children into the service with them. Sitting through a full length service is no small feat for little ones! We rejoice and congratulate parents who do the hard work of wrangling their little Christians in the pews: no matter what loud sounds or movements that requires. We have a box of “prayer books” available underneath the holy water stoup for the children to read during church. They are all wonderful and beautiful books that teach about Christ, the Church, and the Christian Life. We also proudly have a hands-on Sunday School for children up to confirmation age at 9:30am where they talk about what is happening during the mass: complete with play vestments, a pretend chalice, and chanting practice. The life of a Christian begins at birth, not all of a sudden when you are “old enough to behave.” We fully support families in this effort to raise virtuous young men and women.

Receiving Holy Communion:

We believe that by the power of the Holy Ghost and the ministry of His priests, ordinary bread and wine becomes the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. All those who have been baptized in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, and who believe that the Lord Jesus is truly present in the Holy Sacrament are invited to commune. This Food is a gift not to be taken automatically or for granted. So, if you have not been to church in a while, take some time to pray, examine your heart, and speak with Fr. Fife if you have questions before approaching the Lord’s Supper.