Saint James Episcopal Church
203 E. Glendale St.
P.O. Box 1374
Dillon, MT 59725
406-683-2735
(Cell) 334-332-3222
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and Study Resources
St. James Mission Statement:
We at St. James Parish believe that we are Christ's own, and that our reason for existence is to follow his commandments to love
God and to love our neighbor as ourselves.
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"It's orthodox Christianity," said the Rev. Dr. John Wells Warren. "It's based on a 500 year tradition of liturgy... really that way of worship that's found in the Book of Common Prayer," Wells said about the Episcopal faith. "It's traditional Christianity set in a more formal framework," Wells said. "The focus of our worship is more on the sacraments of our church rather than on the sermons given by the preacher." The seven sacraments are: baptism; Eucharist, which is another name for Holy Communion; marriage; confirmation, the way an adult joins the church; ordination, the way a person is ordained a minister; reconciliation, or private confession; and unction, which are prayers for the sick. Unction can also be known as last rites, which are prayers for the dying.
Anglican priests view of the way that spiritual knowledge should be sought differs from some religions. "Scripture is the first source of knowledge and understanding and wisdom, but so is the tradition of the church," said Wells. "There is a third in our (Episcopalian) way, that we call reason. It's really your intellectual ability, the experiences of your life," said Wells. "So you make an important decision based on scripture, tradition and reason. People come to different conclusions; well-meaning sincere Christian people come to a different result, perhaps, about a social issue or a theological issue."
There really is something special about the Eucharist church. It seems to be more tolerant than others. According to Rev. Wells, there is a saying in the Eucharist church: "There is a wideness in God's mercy and a wideness in the episcopal church." It means there are a lot of ways at looking at important issues,' he said. "There's a willingness to withhold judgment on another person's opinion. In our baptismal covenant, we say, 'Will you respect the dignity of every human being? and I think that has to do with this idea of wideness and tolerance and withholding judgment."
