THE TABLE

by Chris Kelley

The late comedian Robin Williams was a proud Episcopalian. On one of his HBO Specials, he counted down his list of 10 top reasons to be an Episcopalian:

10. No snake handling.

9. You can believe in dinosaurs.

8. Male and female God created them; male and female we ordain them.

7. You don’t have to check your brains at the door.

6. Pew aerobics.

5. Church year is color-coded.

4. Free wine on Sunday.

3. All of the pageantry - none of the guilt.

2. You don’t have to know how to swim to get baptized.

And the number one reason to be an Episcopalian:

1. No matter what you believe, there’s bound to be at least one other Episcopalian who agrees with you.

The Table, Fig’s 5:30 p.m. service on Saturdays, is like Williams’ humor in that both can be summarized in one word: Approachable.

Simple and intimate, rich and practical, truthful and smile-producing, The Table is intentionally less formal than other Fig worship services on Sunday with fewer readings and a more relaxed atmosphere. The sermon is delivered from the floor – albeit behind a portable podium. (We are Episcopalians, after all).

The Table is especially welcoming to newcomers. The worship bulletin, for example, includes red-letter explanatory notes that briefly unpack the purpose and meaning of a worship service component.

The Nicene Creed is noted as “one of the most ancient statements of Christian belief about God. It is theologically dense, and includes several core doctrines shared by the great majority of Christians around the world. We profess this ancient formula to remember what we believe, which inspires how we live.”

And, depending on the Church season, the marginalia explain why some common worship aspects are missing as in: “The Confession of Sin and the Absolution are omitted during the Great Fifty Days of Easter.” Good to know!

The 5:30 p.m. service seems a particularly accessible time for newcomers, established parishioners, and those wholly new to the Episcopal faith tradition who are more comfortable in a casual setting.

Times of the Sermon, Birthday & Other Anniversaries Prayer, The Peace, and Communion of the People are deeply intimate aspects – during which, for many, eye contact is a heart-to-heart connection.

At The Table, the Presider & Preacher are often the same clergy member, which one can’t typically get on a Sunday.

If there is a No. 1 reason to attend The Table, it may well be the acoustic music—a weekly gift provided by some of North Texas’ most talented musicians—that weaves mind, heart and soul in just under an hour most weeks. “Transfiguration has such a rich history of liturgical worship and beautiful music,” said David Stanley, Music Director and Pianist for The Table. During the college year, Dr. David Stanley is an Instructor of Voice at Texas A&M University in Commerce.

“The goal for this service is to make it a little bit more approachable without losing the richness of the liturgy. So instead of having a beautiful pipe organ arrangement, we use piano and guitar most of the time and the flute and clarinet without a choir.”

A Cantor, most often a professional singer and musician by vocation, leads congregational Opening and Closing Hymns, Gospel Acclamation, Sanctus, and offers a deeply stirring Solo prior to Communion of the People.

Fueled by time at The Table, the Dismissal, preceded by a Blessing, is most often a joyous send-off:

Presider: Let us go forth into the world rejoicing in the power of spirit (!).

People: Thanks be to God. Alleluia, alleluia (!).

Amen.

Chris Kelley, a relative newcomer to Fig, attends The Table regularly