The cardinal who heads the Office of Worship at the Vatican recently suggested that, when possible, priests should say Mass facing east with their back to the people. The Vatican then clarified that this directive was the cardinal's personal preference and not a change in liturgical practice. For the parishioners at St. Uriel the Archangel Church in Sea Girt, however, the priest is simply continuing what had been done for centuries before the Second Vatican Council -- except now in English.

This church belongs to the Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey, which is Episcopalian, though St. Uriel's considers itself Anglo-Catholic. In an information pamphlet placed in the pew racks, they claim "to be a member of Christ's One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church which lives out this Faith within the Anglican tradition."

For me, it was like being back in Holy Rosary in Jersey City when I was in my early grades.

Before Mass, Rev. John-Michael Crothers, S.S.C., dressed in fiddle back green vestments and wearing a biretta trimmed with red, was surrounded by a deacon, two adult male acolytes dressed in cassock and surplice, and two girl altar servers with red cassocks. They walked up the main aisle and, for most of the Mass, had their backs to the some 60 people gathered for the 9:30 a.m. High Mass. The Mass lasted a little over one hour and the Rector explained that in September it is longer.

"We have incense and a full choir and we sing most of the Mass," said Rev. Russell A. Griffin, S.S.C., who grew up in Sea Girt. We spoke by telephone from Avalon, a southern N.J. shore community, where he is covering a summer chapel for the diocese.

This style of worship is one of the reasons Marjory Hopper continues a family tradition started by her grandparents in the early 1920's. "I would not want to go anywhere else," said Hopper, a member of the vestry, the church's governing board, the choir and the altar guild. She commutes from Brielle, two towns over, and is joined by people who come from as far as East Brunswick, Manalapan and Marlboro.

Helen, who did not give her last name, drives from Brick and said, "It's a high church and I like high liturgy." She was leaving the 8 a.m. service. Sister Joan Knipple, an Anglican nun, was driven from Whiting to attend. Sister Knipple, an 86-year-old Newark native who has been a nun for 65 years, belongs to a community called Solitary of the Sacred Cross and lives alone, as she said is the custom of this order of nuns. She spent most of religious life as a nurse.

"I feel closer to the Lord (at church) and have great peace of mind," she said.

And that seemed to speak for the mostly senior citizens at Mass. There was one teenage girl and one little girl with her mother. People were friendly to each other and welcoming to me, there for the first time. As the Mass moved from the Liturgy of the Word to the Eucharist, they exchange the Sign of Peace at that break, with the familiarity of people who obviously knew each other.

What I did not find was the acrimony that is causing splits in the Episcopal Church in the U.S., which is more progressive that many of the national churches in their federation under the Archbishop of Canterbury. Many traditional congregations left their U.S. diocese over issues of women's ordination, same-sex blessings and liturgical innovations. St. Uriel's seems comfortable in their own skin, though their numbers are far below what they had in the 1950's and 60's, said Griffin. Their buildings and grounds are impeccable, like all of Sea Girt. The parishioners are very generous and sustain the church financially, and the church is also helped by a trust fund of sorts that will last a few more years.

They run a licensed, preschool program that can accommodate up to 27 children. They also have an outdoor columbarium next to the church's entrance where they can entomb ashes or cremains of former parishioners and people affiliated with the church.

But, even with all these features, it's their style of worship that brings people back week after week.

"They come and pray and it's just wonderful that they are the Lord's family," said Glenn Miller, the senior warden. Sister Knipple, who's had some health issues and uses a walker, said, "My days can be difficult, but when I come to church, they (the difficulties) are left at the door."

urielsg@optonline.net; Church of St. Uriel the Archangel, 219 Philadelphia Blvd., Sea Girt, NJ 08750, (732) 449-6173,Sunday Mass Schedule: Low Mass 8:00 a.m., Sunday School [September - June], High Mass 9:30 a.m., 11a.m. adult forum

Santora is the pastor of The Church of Our Lady of Grace & St. Joseph, 400 Willow Ave., Hoboken, 07030, fax (201)659-5833, email padrealex@yahoo.com; twitter @padrehoboken