Liturgy, mystery, and the natural world intersect at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Renton. They’re all important—liturgy, mystery, nature—and most of us involve all three in our lives, although rarely at the same time. Liturgy belongs to Sunday mornings. Mystery sticks close to music, art, and poetry. Nature emerges on weekend trips to the mountains or evening walks through the park. St. Luke noticed this separation, and it responded with one-of-a-kind evening liturgies. Or, more accurately, four-of-a-kind. Four times a year on the equinoxes and solstices, St. Luke, Renton, combines liturgy, mystery, and nature in an evening service open to everyone.
You won’t hear a sermon at these liturgies. There’s no Eucharist, either. Instead, you’ll hear poems by Gary Snyder and John O’Donohue, and readings from Marilynne Robinson and John Steinbeck. You’ll find visual art, chant, and meditation from all sorts of cultures and genres. These liturgies create space for a mystical experience of God—something more ethereal than the usual liturgy, more applied than the general artistic world, and more present than our typical relationship with nature.