Alt-Service Sunday: All Saints Parish, Brookline, MA

Today, in lieu of Stake Conference, I went to an Anglican service at the All Saints Parish in Brookline.  Here were my observations:

• Anglicans seem to be a lot more organized than Mormons.  The service just kind of started and everyone seemed to know what they were doing.  There was also this part when they interrupt the service so that all the members can go around saying "peace" to each other.  They could never stop a Mormon sacrament meeting for mingling.  It would be like setting loose a jar full of butterflies and expecting them to all come back again in a reasonable amount of time.
• The music was beautiful.  I think this particular church was famous for its choir, but still, gorgeous.  The congregational singing was great, too.  The hymnal had over 600 hymns (the LDS hymnal has just shy of 325, for reference).  There was also this Gloria Introit that the choir and congregation sang together, and it was one of the coolest musical experiences that I've had in a very long time.
• There was a lot of standing and sitting and audience participation (call-and-response-type things).  Thankfully it was all outlined in the program.
• Women were in charge!  I guess they're between rectors at the moment, but the Intercessor and Celebrant were both women, and a woman gave the sermon. 
• The sermon was about gratitude.  It was very nice.  The speaker made a very interesting point about the distinction between gratitude and indebtedness, in that indebtedness makes us feel that we should withdraw from the giver, while gratitude makes us want to become closer to the giver.  There was also an emphasis on giving offerings to the church, and how offerings are a symbol of commitment.  
• There was one part called the Confession and the Absolution, where the congregation recited a prayer asking forgiveness for sins.  I actually really liked that part, because a lot of times as Mormons, unless we commit some major sin, the repentance process is pretty private.  And while the Anglican recitation is fairly generic, it's kind of an opportunity to take stock of things and think, hmm...maybe I haven't shown as much love for God and my neighbors as I should have this week.  

All in all, I liked it.  It was very different from an LDS Sacrament meeting, so there were obviously things that seemed weird, but I definitely learned some good things.  Also, people seemed very friendly and the building was beautiful.