St. Mary's Episcopal Church

What are services like?
The format for our worship is from our Book of Common Prayer. It is our Holy Eucharist Service, the meal that Jesus shared with his disciples before he died, the meal that remembers his death and resurrection. Everyone is welcome to come to the Table to share in Communion as this gift is given to us by Jesus for the benefit of all of God's people. Our sanctuary provides a beautiful place to worship. The celebration of Holy Eucharist is the focal point of our service. We celebrate in two forms using the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church on Sundays: Rite I and Rite II. Each worship service has its own traditions. Sundays 8 AM Holy Eucharist, Rite I The quiet atmoshere of this early morning reverant service has its own devoted following. It uses the more traditional language of the Episcopal Church. 10 AM Holy Eucharist, Rite II This is a lively family-friendly service using the contemporary language of Rite II. We praise God through music and song with our organist and choir, and congregational singing thoughout the service. Children attend Church School with the youngest in Nursery, and enter the Service after the Gospel. They are encouraged to receive Communion with their parents. Wednesdays We celebrate a simple service of Holy Eucharist every Wednesday. Summer gives us the opportunity for worship on the beach, an informal relaxed Rite II worship service held at the 101st Street Beach Pavilion at 5 pm every Saturday. Bring a beach chair and "come as you are." Worship is an integral part of our journey with our God. We invite you to come with us!

What is the community like?
We are a mixture of young and old. We enjoy being together. Our Parish Life Committee organizes fun events throughout the year - Harbor Hoedown, holiday luncheon, Spring Fling, Family Game Night - to name a few. We love welcoming the community to our events. Our annual Seafood Festival and Thursdays on the Lawn summer free concerts in particular are looked forward to by residents and visitors. We enjoy working together on Outreach projects - Holiday Food Baskets, Backpack Drive, Giving Tree, We volunteer at The Branches, our outreach mission in Rio Grande, serving free lunches, offering computer access, prayer, legal aid, movie night, yoga, bringing the love of Our Lord to everyone in the community. Our Heavenly Scavengers rescue furniture and household items from houses about to be demolished for our neighbors in need. We work at This 'n That, our thrift shop which provides the funds for grants and gifts to help support local organizations under the umbrella of the Mustard Seed, whose mission is to help address the basic human needs of the poor and underserved of our communities in Cape May County by supporting, nuturing and incubating projects by individuals and organizations that seek to address these issues. We ARE the little church with the big heart.