The Scottish Episcopal Church
The Donside group of Churches are part of the Scottish Episcopal Church (SEC) which is a self-governing Province of the World-wide Anglican Communion. Consequently, the pattern of worship is similar to that found across the Anglican Communion, with a few differences which are a consequence of its history.
The Diocese of Aberdeen and Orkney:
We are part of the Diocese of Aberdeen and Orkney (which also includes Shetland), one of seven dioceses within the SEC. The mainland part of the Diocese stretches from the North Sea in the East along the line of the River Dee to Braemar in the West and from the River Dee in the South to the Buchan Coast in the North.
The current (acting) bishop of the diocese is Bishop Dorsey McConnell.
The SEC Liturgies (Services):
The SEC provide a number of liturgies, or types of services, for our churches to use – from the principal service of Holy Communion, to the daily prayer (Morning, Evening and Night Prayer) to “special” liturgies such as Baptisms, Marriages and Funerals.
Our churches mainly use the services of Holy Communion which follows either the 1970 (the “Grey Book”) or the 1982 (the “Blue Book”).. Many of our smaller services use liturgy and hymn books, but at Inverurie, the main services are run using slides shown on screens within the church.