Incense in TEC

[RainsInApril]

Hi everyone,
I visited an Episcopal church this morning (my first to this particular parish, and my second to TEC in general) and was really surprised by their use of incense. I've never been to a church that used incense in worship before, and apparently I'm allergic to it. I really enjoyed my visit otherwise. I know that every parish is different, but is incense common in TEC? What's the theological basis for it?

 

[seeking.IAM]

Incense is used for worship in the three largest branches of Christianity: Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and the Anglican Communion (TEC). It is an offering to God, symbolic to me of our prayers being lifted up to Him.

"O Lord, I call to you; come quickly to me. Hear my voice when I call to you. May my prayer be set before you like incense." Psalm 141: 1-2

It was one of the first gifts to our Lord, "When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and myrrh." Matthew 2: 11-12

 

[All Souls]

Rev. 5:8 'And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.'

 

[seeking.IAM]

"Make an altar of acacia wood for burning of incense...Put the altar in front of the curtain that is before the ark of the Testimony--before the atonement cover that is over the Testimony--where I will meet with you. Aaron must burn fragrant incense on the altar every morning when he tends the lamps. He must burn incense again when he lights the lamps in twilight so incense will burn regularly before the Lord for generations to come..." Exodus 30 (various)

 

[All Souls]

Malachi 1:11 'My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to me, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord Almighty.'

 

[seeking.IAM]

In TEC, we say we worship with all of our senses. However, some of us sneeze and cough periodically.

 

[RainsInApril]

I see. Thank you both!

 

[seeking.IAM]

Welcome to The Episcopal Church. I hope you come back and visit us soon.


I was a life long UMC member until I visited TEC. Be careful, it grows on you. And, remember, John Wesley was an Anglican priest right up until the day he went to his reward.

 

[everbecoming2007]

It is more common in high church parishes (parishes that are highly liturgical) and Anglo-Catholic parishes (parishes that emphasize the catholicity of the church). Many parishes only use it at special services. In my parish we usually use it only during certain times in Lent, when the bishop comes, special events.

 

[RainsInApril]

Welcome to The Episcopal Church. I hope you come back and visit us soon.


I was a life long UMC member until I visited TEC. Be careful, it grows on you. And, remember, John Wesley was an Anglican priest right up until the day he went to his reward.

Thank you. I, too, was raised in the UMC, and my parents are still faithful members. The short version of my story is that while I don't necessarily disagree with the UMC on anything major, I feel drawn to a worship service with more depth than is common in the UMC congregations in my area.

On paper (and from my limited experience), TEC seems to be a good fit for me. There are two parishes local to me, but unfortunately I'm not sure that either is right for our family - the one I visited last week was warm and welcoming, but we would be one of the only families with young children in the congregation...and if incense is a "regular" thing in the parish I visited today, I'll have to cross it off my list. I have no doubt that it (incense) is a beautiful and meaningful tradition, but as someone who struggles with allergies and fragrance sensitivities...it just won't work for me.

 

[seeking.IAM]

You might ask the rector. My church uses incense only on special days and publishes it well it advance. We do not use it every Sunday (although I am one of the ones that prefer we did).

 

[RainsInApril]

You might ask the rector. My church uses incense only on special days and publishes it well it advance.

Yes, I'll send him an email tomorrow I think. Although, I'm not sure if it would really be better if it were only used occasionally - I'd hate to have to stay away from church on its most special days.

 

[mark46]

Our Anglican church only uses incense twice a year. We would used it more, but we have many elderly and others who cannot take incense on a regular basis.

 

[Doctor Strangelove]

Where I go to church they have one service that does not have incense (except on rare occasions) and another service where they use incense all the time. That of course might not be a practical solution for every church. Both services are pretty well filled with people. I kind of like incense as part of a service but sometimes it can be too strong.

 

[RainsInApril]

I left my coat at church yesterday, and the rector was the one who answered the phone when I called about picking it up this morning so I actually got to chat with him for a few minutes. They do use incense every week at the main service, but don't always process around the chapel with it (they did yesterday). He told me where the best place to sit to limit my exposure would be, and assured me that no one would find it offensive if I needed to duck outside. I plan to visit again soon, and hopefully I'll be able to take my husband along.

 

[MKJ]

Some types of incense can be worse than others as far as being irritating. The rose based ones seem to bother a lot of people.

Like the rector you spoke to mentioned, often it is possible to find a seat that is less affected. We used to have an Orthodox parish that used part of our hall for their services, so it was a relatively small and enclosed room, and they use a lot of incense. One of their parishioners used to actually stand outside the door of their area for part of the service when it was really thick - she would stand just and worship just as if she was still inside.

The small number of kids might not be a bad thing - a small Sunday School program can be very effective without a lot of snazzy gear. And young families are something that can build up quickly - once there are a few families and a teaching program, more are likely to find the parish attractive.

 

[graceandpeace]

I am inquiring into TEC, likely to join. With the church I've been visiting, they have yet to use incense in a service (though I wish they would). I visited a few other churches in the area before arriving at the one I am attending now & I did not experience incense in any of those either.

 

[RainsInApril]

I plan to visit again soon, and hopefully I'll be able to take my husband along.

Quoting myself here...I'm rethinking this. Maybe it's not the greatest idea to expose myself every week to something that makes me sick, even if I can minimize it.

The small number of kids might not be a bad thing - a small Sunday School program can be very effective without a lot of snazzy gear. And young families are something that can build up quickly - once there are a few families and a teaching program, more are likely to find the parish attractive.

You're right - it's not necessarily a bad thing, and in fact, churches with huge flashy children's programs are a bit of a turnoff to us. This church is on the opposite end of the spectrum, though - for example, when discussing where kids go during worship, they showed me the children's chapel then told me that there was normally one man who used it for his kids (in other words, not an official program). I was told that my kids would be welcome to stay with me during the service (and I have no doubt they would be) but for as much of the service as we'd be able to hear and participate in, I feel like we'd probably be better off just staying home. I don't know...maybe I'm not giving my kids (or my husband) enough credit...

 

[graceandpeace]

Quoting myself here...I'm rethinking this. Maybe it's not the greatest idea to expose myself every week to something that makes me sick

FWIW, the first time I visited an Orthodox Church (which to my knowledge uses incense every Sunday), I left with a headache. However, I attended again & I did just fine on all of my subsequent visits. In fact, now I feel like the incense is part of what's missing in the TEC I'm attending.

 

[LarryP2]

I just started the conversion process to Eastern Orthodoxy from TEC. I love the TEC church and have no beefs and no regrets with them, it just that EO is so much more.......visceral. I never went to a TEC church in 15 years of regular attendance that used incense! Maybe I would have stayed if they would have!

EO uses LOTS AND LOTS of incense, and particularly the stuff they use on the Sunday Morning Divine Liturgy ROCKS.