Each Thursday afternoon at 5 o'clock, I leave the frenetic workplace and navigate rush hour traffic to head up the hill to the 5:15 Eucharist. As I let myself into the chapel, I’m enveloped by the softly lit, intimate silence and peace of this place, cared for and cherished by generations of worshippers before me.

At this service there are anywhere from 5 to 15 people, with an ever-evolving core group at its center that is supportive, caring, and welcoming to any and all—a community characterized by one participant as “the few, the brave, and the needy!”

The service itself consists of the basics of Rite II Eucharist: prayer, scripture, homily (or silence), and communion. We have the good fortune to have all our clergy, paid and unpaid, as celebrants, each bringing to the service his or her unique style. Many priests have come and gone during the time I’ve been attending this service, and I feel privileged to have strengthened my bonds with each of them in this more personal setting.

We get to hear Steve Elkins-Williams speaking extemporaneously and Locke Bowman delivering finely polished theological/spiritual gems. Tammy Lee invites people to gather round the altar table to commune, and Stephen Stanley almost always finds a saint to celebrate—or All Hallows’ Eve from the Book of Occasional Services, as he did on October 31. One of the riches of the Thursday 5:15 service is the commemoration of many saints from the liturgical calendar; the collect, readings, and homily enlighten us as to the holy ones’ historical and spiritual significance for us as modern pilgrims.

The Laying on of Hands and Anointing began at this service fifteen years ago and has continued on the first Thursday of each month. Through the years parishioners sick in mind, body, or spirit have come to the altar rail to avail themselves of the benefits of this hands-on healing ministry.

Twenty-one years ago, in my first tentative explorations of worship at the Chapel of the Cross, I was looking for a peaceful, friendly, intimate, no-frills celebration of the eucharist, where I could come as I was and not feel obligated in any way. I found it at the Thursday 5:15 service, and you can too ... come and see.