visiting us
COME AND SEE
This was Jesus’ invitation to his first followers. This is our invitation to you today.
If you are curious or seeking…
If your heart is burdened with cares or simply longs to sing to God…
If you crave authenticity and community in a world short on both…
Come and see!
Essentials
-
Basics
Arrive 10-15 minutes early
This gives you time to find parking, find your way in, and get settled.Come as you are
Wear what's comfortable—jeans to suits, all are welcome.No RSVP needed
Just show up.Ushers will help
They'll hand you a bulletin and gladly answer any questions. -
When
Sunday at 8 AM
Spoken Mass (Rite I)
Sunday at 10:30 AM
Solemn Mass
(Coffee hour follows)
-
Where
Worship Location:
1018 E. Grayson Street,
San Antonio, TX 78208Free Parking:
Next to the church off E. Grayson Street. Additional street parking available.Entrance:
The red door facing the parking lot, or the glass doors at the corner of Grayson and Willow.
BEAUTY & BELONGING
Find answers to common questions and discover what a Sunday at St. Paul’s feels like.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Step by step, what will happen when you visit:
When you Arrive
Park beside the church in the parking lot off Grayson, or find street parking nearby. Enter the red doors off the parking lot (accessible entrance) and follow the hallway to the church, or the doors at the corner of Grayson and Willow. Ushers will welcome you and hand you a bulletin. Sit anywhere you'd like—there are no assigned seats, but if it’s crowded the usher will help you find a seat. Arrive 10–15 minutes early to get settled and look around.
During the Service
Stand, sit, or kneel as feels comfortable—follow what others do or just do what feels right. The bulletin guides you through everything. All baptized Christians are welcome to receive communion. If you haven't been baptized, come forward with arms crossed over your chest for a blessing, or simply remain seated—both are completely fine. And please don’t feel self-conscious because our service is unfamiliar to you. We are very glad you’re with us!
After the Service
At the 10:30 AM service, coffee hour follows in the Parish Hall—stay, eat homemade treats (we’re good cooks here at St. Paul’s), and meet people. Clergy and members will be around to answer questions. No one will pressure you to sign anything or make any commitments.
And know that you are welcome to come back whenever you like!
WOnder & Welcome
Here you will find an embodied, authentic & deeply rooted way of worship.
OUR WORSHIP SERVICES
Click here for a description of the general shape of the Mass and the other worship services as we celebrate them at St. Paul’s.
At the 8 AM Mass:
This service has a relatively small attendance, so the attendees will be seated in the choir pews to the left and the right of the altar. This mass is simple and meditative, and does not include singing or much music. It generally finishes in under an hour. It is conducted according to Rite I in our prayer book, which means that it uses language and prayers that come down to us from the time of the English Reformation and the first Book of Common Prayer.
It is a quiet and reverent worship experience that draws on the historical sources of Anglicanism, our branch of the Christian “family tree”. This is also a great service if you’re introverted, shy, or otherwise would like to avoid a big crowd — it’s a small group that worships in quiet reverence.
At the 10:30 AM Mass:
This is the service most people attend at St. Paul’s. It is a joyful service, engaging all the senses with music, incense, bells, chant, and ceremony.
People will begin to gather in the church about 15 minutes before the service.
An usher will greet you as you enter, and give you a service booklet. This booklet contains every part of the service — the words, the music, the directions. You won’t need to fumble with a hymnal or prayer book. Just follow along in the booklet.
Some people engage in silent prayer or contemplation before we begin our worship service. The choir will likely be practicing, and ushers will be preparing, but we do try to maintain an atmosphere of quiet reverence. A few minutes before the service begins, there will usually be a musical prelude.
This service is conducted according to Rite II in our prayer book, meaning that the prayers will be in modern English. At St. Paul’s we love music as a form of worship, and we will sing hymns and chant Psalms at this service. The choir will sing, and many of the prayers will be sung by the priest and/or the people.
Children are always welcome, squirms, squeaks and all! There’s a staffed nursery available, and there is a “prayground” play area at the back of the sanctuary so that restless little ones (and their parents) can still see and hear the service without being stuck in a pew. When we say that all are welcome, that definitely includes crying babies, energetic toddlers, and their parents.
Sacred Beauty. Authentic Welcome.
Our sanctuary has been a place of worship and belonging for over 140 years. Light streams through colorful stained glass, ancient prayers are sung anew, and all are truly welcome at Christ's table.
Practical Details, Common Questions
-
The Mass, or Holy Eucharist, is the main worship celebration of Christian people since ancient times. The term “Mass” comes from the middle ages, but it describes a service that is much older, and has many other names as well, such as the Holy Eucharist or the Divine Liturgy.
This service consists of two main parts.
For the first part, the people gather to sing, hear readings from the Bible, listen to a sermon about those readings, and pray for the needs of the world.
The second half is Holy Communion, in which we share a ritual meal of bread and wine in remembrance of Jesus and obedience to his teaching.
At St. Paul’s, we follow a tradition of Christianity that regards this meal as a great and sacred mystery - a sacrament of God's grace - in which we encounter the risen Christ. We celebrate it with great reverence as well as joy.
We celebrate the Mass every Sunday and on many other feast days.
You can find more information about worship at St. Paul’s here.
-
St. Paul’s is located in the Government Hill neighborhood, at 1018 East Grayson St., six blocks east of Broadway. We are across the street from the historic quadrangle of Fort Sam Houston. See above for maps and information about parking.
-
Our church doesn’t have a dress code. Really. Come as you are and you will be welcome. On most Sundays, you’ll find people wearing everything from “Sunday best” coats and ties or dresses, to jeans and t-shirts, and everything in between.
-
We welcome kids (and the sounds of kids!) in our worship. This is a wiggle-friendly, child-cherishing church. We’re serious about this — we welcome all people in the beauty of holiness, crying babies included!
We have a ‘prayground’ for kids under 5 to play during worship; it is separated from the sanctuary space only by a pew, so kids can still see and hear what is going on (and caregivers are welcome to stay with them or sit in the sanctuary). We also have coloring books and small toys on hand to keep little ones occupied wherever they spend the service.
We also provide a staffed nursery during the 10:30 AM service.
-
We believe that being Christian is not something for Sundays alone. The point is to live our whole lives in the beauty of holiness.
Jesus taught that whenever you feed the hungry, tend the sick, visit the lonely, “whatever you do to the least of these”, you do it to Jesus himself. We seek to encounter him in service to our neighbors by feeding the hungry through our food ministry, advocating for migrants and refugees, and serving the unique needs of military families (due to our location adjacent to Ft. Sam Houston). Click here for more information about the various ministries of St. Paul’s.
We also seek to deepen our own faith through various classes, groups, and activities for different ages, usually grouped under the term “Christian formation” (because we seek to form ourselves in the image of Christ). You can find information about our regular Christian formation programs on the home page, and we announce various programs and activities through our weekly newsletter.
Finally, we enjoy getting together! We share food, drink, and fellowship every Sunday after the 10:30 AM Mass — please join us in the Parish Hall. All are welcome.
Worship the lord in the beauty of holiness; let the whole earth tremble before him.
Psalm 96:9
Where We Are
St. Paul’s is located in the Government Hill neighborhood at 1018 East Grayson St., six blocks east of Broadway. We are across the street from the historic quadrangle of Fort Sam Houston.
Parking & Entering
Our parking lot (shown in blue below) is located in the center of our property, and may be accessed from Grayson St., or from Quitman St. at the back of the campus. Entrance doors are shown in red; the red door nearest the parking lot opens onto a long hallway that leads directly to the sanctuary at the other end of the building.
Transit Information
There is a bus stop at the corner of Carson & Muncey (1 block behind the church, about 4 minutes away), and stops at Broadway at Josephine and Broadway just south of Grayson (both about 15 minutes away). More information on bus routes can be found on Google Maps or the VIA Metro Transit site.
