Life Events

Sacraments
The term Sacrament is taken from the Latin sacramentum, meaning “oath of allegiance.” Thus, when one participates in the Sacraments at St. Paul’s, that person pledges to live a life in accordance with the life, teaching, death, resurrection, ascension, and eventual return of Jesus Christ.


Baptism at St. Paul’s
Holy Baptism is full initiation by water and the Holy Spirit into Christ's Body, the Church. The bond which God establishes in Baptism is indissoluble.

Each candidate for Holy Baptism is to be sponsored by one or more baptized persons. Sponsors of adults and older children present their candidates and thereby signify their endorsement of the candidates and their intention to support them by prayer and example in their Christian life. Sponsors of infants, commonly called godparents, present their candidates, make promises in their own names, and also take vows on behalf of their candidates.

It is fitting that parents be included among the godparents of their own children. Parents and godparents are to be instructed in the meaning of Baptism, in their duties to help the new Christians grow in the knowledge and love of God, and in their responsibilities as members of his Church.

Holy Baptism is to be administered during a Sunday celebration of the entire St. Paul's congregation, not privately, and is especially appropriate at the Easter Vigil, on the Day of Pentecost, on All Saints' Day, or the Sunday after All Saints' Day, and on the Feast of the Baptism of our Lord (the First Sunday after the Epiphany).


The Holy Eucharist at St. Paul’s
All persons baptized with water in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, regardless of Christian denomination, are welcome to receive Holy Communion at St. Paul’s. Like other Christian communities in the Anglican/Episcopal tradition, St. Paul’s believes in the Real Presence of Christ in the Sacrament. We encourage those who are to receive the Sacrament to prepare each week by using An Exhortation on page 316 of The Book of Common Prayer 1979. 
 

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Confirmation at St. Paul's

This is an opportunity for Christians to confirm before a bishop in succession to the eyewitnesses to Christ's Resurrection the promises made at Baptism. In this two-thousand-year-old sacramental rite, individuals aged 12 and up make a mature, public affirmation of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, and they receive strength from the Holy Spirit through prayer and the laying on of hands by a bishop.

Holy Matrimony at St. Paul’s
The Book of Common Prayer 1979 states: "Marriage is not to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly, but reverently, deliberately, and in accordance with the purposes for which it was instituted by God." 

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Requirements for the rite of Holy Matrimony to be celebrated at St. Paul's include: 

 

• The priest may solemnize the vows of marriage of any couple only when they have first obtained a license to be married provided by civil authority.

• The priest may solemnize the vows of marriage of any couple only when he/she has first counseled the couple on the nature, meaning, and purpose of Christian marriage.

• Priests of the Church should officiate at the rite of Holy Matrimony only when there is a significant pastoral relationship between the priest and at least one party to the Marriage.

• The prospective couple will sign a Declaration of Intention, as required by the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas, and adhere to the St. Paul's Wedding Customary. 

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Funerals at St. Paul's​​