Tag Archive for 'anglican church'

Special Sundays

Published on August 30, 2010 in liturgy. 8 Comments Tags: , , , .

Someone told me that General Synod of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia has authorised 38 “special Sundays”. IMO, the General Synod is irresponsible in its liturgical governance and leadership.

I strongly support the three year lectionary in its RCL and RC forms. And I notice that this doesn’t work as well when people are constantly looking for themes. Or abandoning the Sunday readings for a “special Sunday”.

It is difficult for me to understand, for example, why, in New Zealand, National Bible Sunday gets its own readings which, rather than encouraging systematic reading of the scriptures actually models the opposite by departing from the RCL’s systematic reading of the scriptures!!!

By all means, add a special intention into the prayers, or pick up a focus in a hymn, or make a connection between the set readings and such a focus, or have a visiting preacher from a particular organisation, or add something to the pew sheet, or alter the worship environment, … but don’t force the service into a constraining theme; and don’t depart from the three year lectionary, in a community that meets weekly, without good cause.

Here are some of the “special Sundays” that spring to mind:

AAW SUNDAY (1st Sunday in February)
ASIA SUNDAY (nearest Sunday to 20 May)
Te Pouhere Sunday – Second Sunday after Pentecost
DISABILITY AWARENESS SUNDAY (3rd Sunday in June)
REFUGEE SUNDAY (1st Sunday in July)
Sea Sunday (2nd Sunday in July
NATIONAL BIBLE SUNDAY (3rd Sunday in July)
Social Services Sunday (4th Sunday in July)
RELIGIOUS VOCATION SUNDAY (3RD Sunday in August)
ANGLICAN COMMUNION SUNDAY (last Sunday in August)
BATTLE OF BRITAIN SUNDAY (Sunday nearest 15 September)
Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation
if date unknownFeast of Dedication or Consecration
TIKANGA YOUTH SUNDAY
REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY (2nd Sunday in November)
Feast of Christ in All Creation
Aotearoa Sunday

General Synod Canada

Published on June 7, 2010 in liturgy. 3 Comments Tags: , , , , .

General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada is being held at St. Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, from June 3 to 11, 2010. The Vision 2019 presentation on June 4, 2010 opened with the above evocative video.

  • Watch the live webstream on anglican.ca
  • Get real-time updates via anglican.ca or by following on Twitter at @GS2010live
  • Watch Synod on Demand daily video coverage
  • Sign up for daily email updates
  • Read updates via Facebook page
  • View photo galleries of people and events at General Synod on Flickr
  • Read stories and analysis at anglicanjournal.com

    • For a full schedule of General Synod events, consult the Agenda and the Orders of the Day.

    Source

    It is good to see a church in mission and ministry in the 21st century, taking for granted the opportunities offered in contemporary communication technology.

    Resources Corpus Christi; etc

    Published on June 1, 2010 in liturgy. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , .

    fOn Thursday June 3 is the feast of Corpus Christi. Many transfer this feast to Sunday June 6.

    Here is a reflection on the collect/opening prayer for Corpus Christi

    Corpus Christi is, of course, a feast day – a single day, hence it is not appropriate to use its collect for the days following, just as you would not use the collect of the Day of Pentecost for the days following, nor the collect for Trinity Sunday for the days following.

    Common Worship (CofE) has this collect/opening prayer for the First Sunday after Trinity, and hence the week following.

    NZPB has this collect for the week following Sunday June 6.

    BCP (TEC) has the following collect for the week following Sunday June 6:

    O God,
    from whom all good proceeds:
    Grant that by your inspiration we may think those things that are right,
    and by your merciful guiding may do them;
    through Jesus Christ our Lord,
    who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
    one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

    The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia (ACANZP) has the second Sunday after Pentecost as Te Pouhere Sunday, “Designated by General Synod to celebrate our life as a three Tikanga Church”. This has its own readings etc. The lectionary states “Resources are available on the General Synod website” and how to find them. That may have been true at the printing of this lectionary, but the resources are no longer there. The Dunedin diocesan site has possibly the best of NZ’s liturgical resources available, but even there the links appear broken. I think it possible that this is the document that used to be on the General Synod site, that the lectionary is referring to. Someone has told me that ACANZP has 38 special Sundays during the 52 week year – I can almost believe it. This is one of these 38.

    Please in the comments feel free to add hymns, prayers, resources, etc. for Corpus Christi etc.

    New Dean of Auckland

    Published on May 30, 2010 in liturgy. 0 Comments Tags: , .

    Jo & Paul

    Jo & Paul

    The Reverend Jo Kelly-Moore has been appointed as the new Dean of Auckland’s Holy Trinity Cathedral. She is currently Vicar of St Aidan’s Anglican Church in Remuera.

    The new Dean-elect intends to engage with Auckland City and the wider Diocese in what she describes as a critical time for the region, “As the super city is created and the Auckland Council becomes a reality in November there will be an impact on the city, a place we call home.” The Rev’d Jo Kelly-Moore says, “I am grateful for the years of Christian leadership from previous Deans that have engaged with the city and that continued presence of the Cathedral as a voice in the city will be important at a time of such change.”

    The Rev’d Kelly-Moore, age 42, was born in Wellington and began her working life in the legal profession as a solicitor. She moved from the corporate world to study theology and attended Bible College, now Laidlaw College, and gained a Bachelor of Divinity. After study at St John’s College she was ordained priest in 2000 and was appointed Assistant Priest at St Aidan’s Anglican Church in Remuera. She was appointed Vicar in 2004. In church governance she has been on Diocesan Council for the past four years. In 2007 she was elected as an Auckland Diocese Representative to General Synod/Te Hīnota Whānui and is the Auckland representative on the Standing Committee. She also took part in the Leadership New Zealand course. With other alumni she now encourages and works alongside other leaders in the programme.

    The Anglican Bishop of Auckland, The Rt Rev’d Ross Bay, announced the appointment today. “The Rev’d Kelly-Moore brings a wide range of experiences as a lawyer and a committed priest. She has growing responsibilities within the wider church and I am very pleased that she has accepted this new challenge. I look forward to working with her,” says Bishop Ross.

    The Rev’d Kelly-Moore will be the 9th Dean of Auckland and the first woman to hold the position. “New Zealand led the way in the ordination of women in the Anglican Church and so there are a number of firsts and there are probably more to come across the wider church as a younger generation of leaders emerges,” says the Rev’d Kelly-Moore. “As a priest I bring ministry skills and leadership capabilities and will minister because of my role and beliefs,” she says.

    The Rev’d Kelly-Moore knows there will be change as she leaves the leadership of a local parish to become Dean of the Cathedral, which is the mother Church for the Diocese of Auckland. The Diocese stretches from Cape Reinga in the north, to Coromandel in the east and also includes members of Tikanga Maori and Tikanga Pasefika, cultural streams in the Anglican Church.

    “It will be an honour to be able to offer the hospitality of the Cathedral to the diocesan family and our Tikanga partners to enable the wider church to come together as it is important we physically express such unity, says the Rev’d Kelly-Moore. Her role is also as Vicar of Parnell. “That involves a number of ministries of being with the people and for the people and that is what I have done as a priest for 10 years. While some things will change, the heart of my ministry will stay the same,” says the Rev’d Kelly-Moore.

    The Rev’d-Kelly Moore is married to Paul, who has had a career in social services and most recently he has also been on the staff at St Aidan’s Remuera. They have two sons, Adam (9) and Nathan (6).

    A Service of Installation for the new Dean will be held at the end of August.

    Media release by Rev. Jayson Rhodes

    Proper Ordinary Time

    Published on May 28, 2010 in liturgy. 6 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

    I am receiving a lot of questions: why is this the 8th week in Ordinary Time? Why is my church using Proper 3 for the office? (from someone in TEC USA). The answer is not simple.

    There are 52 or 53 Sundays in a year, depending on the year. 4 are for Advent, 1 or 2 for Christmas (depending on the year), 6 for Lent, 8 for Easter = a total of at least 19 Sundays. In a year of 53 Sundays we would need another 34 Sundays – that’s the maximum number we need. Sometimes we won’t need 34 – where do we drop a Sunday not needed? The contemporary lectionary system has decided to drop such a Sunday in the moving Lent-Easter period, so that the Church Year always ends on the 34th Sunday. Do the maths and you’ll find the Sunday before Advent, the Last Sunday of the Church Year (#34), is always between November 20 and 26. It is also the Sunday closest to November 23. Counting backwards #33 is always between November 13 and 19. It is also the Sunday closest to November 16. And so on backwards.

    Ordinary Time numbering:

    (used, for example by the Roman Catholic Church. The Canadian BAS calls them “propers” ie. the 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time BAS calls “Proper 7”)

    There is nothing “ordinary” about “Ordinary Time”. Ordinary Time is not about common, regular, mundane, or run of the mill. Ordinary Time comes from the word “ordinal” as in “ordinal numbers”. Remember your Maths: Cardinal numbers answer “how many?” “Ordinal Numbers” tell the rank, they answer “what position?” Ordinal Numbers are first, second, third, fourth, etc.

    Ordinary weeks count forward from The Baptism of the Lord. After the Day of Pentecost, however, they are checked backwards from the last week of the Church’s Year which is always the 34th week of Ordinary Time. So sometimes a week is dropped out – as in 2010. In 2010 the week prior to Lent was the 6th week in Ordinary Time. The week following the Day of Pentecost is the 8th week in Ordinary Time. Next week (following Trinity Sunday) is the 9th week in Ordinary Time. Hence, one can see why Sunday 13 June is the 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time (actually technically the Sunday in the 11th week of Ordinary Time).

    The Episcopal Church:

    has decided not to title the earlier Sundays in Ordinary Time like that. They are numbering the earlier ones Sundays after Epiphany. They realize that the earliest the Day of Pentecost can be is May 10. So they number “Propers” from the Sunday “closest to May 11”. But the readings are actually the same as above. ie. you either use the readings before Lent, or after Pentecost. Hence for TEC the readings for Proper 1 are just the same as the readings set for the 6th Sunday after Epiphany; Proper 2 is identical with the seventh Sunday after Epiphany. This continues to the ninth Sunday after Epiphany, the greatest number of Sundays possible after Epiphany. (TEC has a “Last Sunday after Epiphany). [TEC's proper number plus 5 = the Ordinary Sunday number which is the same as BAS proper number].

    Common Worship CofE:

    essentially follows the same lectionary system as the above two. But whereas the above two systems link a collect/opening prayer to the readings, Common Worship acknowledges that there is no theme to the readings and so the collect is independent of the readings. The collect for Common Worship is found by counting Sundays after Trinity Sunday.

    The New Zealand Lectionary (of the Anglican Church of Or)

    won’t make its mind up. Sunday 6 June is given as “Te Pouhere Sunday” (“Designated by General Synod to celebrate our life as a three Tikanga Church.” complete with its own set of readings including four options for a gospel reading, and two options each for other readings. It calls the Acts of the Apostles an “epistle”). The lectionary also calls this the Second Sunday after Pentecost, the 10th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Te Ratapu Tekau ma tahi o He wa ano, and Proper 5 with its own RCL readings. No one will be told off if they call it the First Sunday after Trinity. And there will be a number of communities that will celebrate Corpus Christi on this Sunday with its own readings and collect. Of course if you have a particular thing about St Boniface and want to celebrate him this day, or this year you have a family service on the first Sunday of the month focusing on each of the twelve apostles in turn – no one will be at all surprised…

    Further to our current week, the suggestion in the New Zealand Lectionary that the collect for the Day of Pentecost be used during the week following is confused and confusing. I cannot locate the formulary that would have this as advised by the lectionary. Nor can I see any logic in this. Nor can I understand the liturgical purpose of following its suggestion to have two collects.

    The Day of Pentecost ends the fifty day season of Easter (that’s what the Greek word “Pentecost” means!) It does not begin a “Pentecost Season”. In the Nicene canons we are forbidden to kneel on Sundays and the Bishops at the Council of Nicaea were horrified to hear of people kneeling during Pentecost – by which they meant the fifty days of what we now call the Easter Season (Council of Nicaea, Canon 20).

    During the week following the Day of Pentecost, the collect is that of the eigth week in Ordinary Time. During the week following Trinity Sunday the collect is that of the ninth week in Ordinary Time. Trinity Sunday also is a feast, not the start of a season (except possibly in the Church of England).

    Have an extraordinary Ordinary Time.

    is priesthood a career?

    Published on May 15, 2010 in liturgy. 16 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

    On Monday I will talk to over 650 young people about priesthood and how I got to be a priest.

    Last Monday about 130 of these young men aged about 16 years old went to a careers expo. In the past the Anglican Diocese has had a stall there with an attractive brochure about priesthood and other full-time leadership in the church as a careers option. Not this year. Should it? Is priesthood, is full-time work in the church a career?

    Where was the presence of the Anglican Church, the Roman Catholic Church, etc. at the careers expo? Yes about 17% of those running the booths at the expo will identify themselves as Anglican, about 14% will identify themselves as Roman Catholic – and I am a very strong advocate for seeing all careers as being expressions of baptismal ministry and mission, and vocations – so any way that can be reinforced is great. But Vision College was the only explicitly Christian organisation represented at the careers expo, with excellent-quality hand-outs. IMO: well done Vision College (attractive website, by the way).

    “Young leaders” is one of the 3 priorities of our diocesan Strategic Plan 2009-12 (the other two being Christ-centred mission and faithful stewardship). How do young people explore vocations to priesthood, religious life, other leadership within the church? Should there be a section on the diocesan website where priesthood as a career is outlined, and the process involved? There is not. We have three different Religious Orders in our province, I can only find one with a website – it has a section on how to join. I happen to think that is appropriate and useful – but others may think differently?

    Only yesterday was I reading, in a book by Thomas Merton, a commentary on a religious order’s constitution by Dom Lemasson against any human attempt to attract vocations – “God alone can make monks and [nuns], and that human expedients to increase the number of … vocations would only end in the ruin of the Order.” Some may argue the same for priesthood?

    Older readers here in our province will remember there was a province-wide standard for ordination including examinations – akin to other careers. I do not know when the province formally abandoned both – anyone? But I know this is still the case in other provinces. There was a swing against clericalism, and an increasing of opportunities for lay study, training, and formation. Standards for priesthood were lost in the process, but the pendulum is swinging again. 25 years ago if one wanted to follow priesthood as a career there was an intense process and then three years at the national seminary, St John’s College. Basically everyone training at St John’s College was preparing for priesthood. Our province keeps no provincial statistics – so I have no idea of the study and training of ordinands currently. The best guess I have heard is that only 7-10% of current ordinands spend any time at all at St John’s. ie about 93% are trained and formed elsewhere. St John’s can take 60 students, currently, I understand 15 are there training for the priesthood – living there anywhere from a short period up to 3 years. Only one of those there is from the South Island.

    Very many current excellent priests I know became priests after an earlier career in something else. The province has no idea statistically what proportion. Nor what the qualification spread is of currently clergy. Nor their age distribution. Nor the demographics of our worshipping communities and projected future needs for leadership. Is the approach to attracting people to priesthood after a first career to be different to attracting people directly from school? This may also be behind not having a presence at a careers expo targeting school students. Do we leave it all up to God? Or does God work through our careful planning?

    The “world” still thinks of priesthood as a career. Interestingly it came up in the ordination of the new bishop of Auckland:

    “It’s amazing to think that just over two years ago Ross was effectively a village vicar, albeit an outstanding one. Now he’s one of the most senior clergymen in New Zealand. Who ever said going into the Church was not a career path?”

    [Using "going into the church" to mean "ordination" is, of course, part of the very clericalism that the church has moved on from. We enter the church through baptism, not ordination. Similarly I hope we see "vocation" as including being a good shopkeeper, mother, lawyer, barista...]

    So my primary question is: is priesthood a career?     Is it helpful to promote priesthood in similar ways to other careers, including information on the web, at careers expos, etc.? Or is priesthood something quite distinct from other careers and the process towards ordination becomes understood by individuals as they individually explore their inner sense of call?

    Archbishop announced

    Published on May 12, 2010 in liturgy. 8 Comments Tags: .

    Winston-Halapua-the-newly-elected-Bishop-of-Polynesia-and-Archbishop-of-this-church_articleimage

    The newly-elected Bishop of Polynesia, the Rt Rev Dr Winston Halapua, has been announced at the meeting of General Synod in Gisborne.

    Bishop Winston was nominated recently by the electoral college of the Diocese of Polynesia, and the confirmation process involves all the bishops of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia and then all other General Synod members.

    Bishop Winston becomes one of the three archbishops in this three-tikanga (cultural streams) church. Bishop Winston has been lecturing at the Auckland University School of Theology since 1996, and is Principal of the College of the Diocese of Polynesia at St John’s College. He will be based in Suva, Fiji, where he lived for many years.

    Please keep Bishop Winston, his diocese, and General Synod in your prayers.

    More information here and here.

    Photo from Taonga.

    General Synod Day 1

    Published on May 10, 2010 in liturgy. 4 Comments Tags: , .

    Regular readers of this site will be aware that General Synod of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia is meeting in Gisborne. On this site I have been calling for more information to be made available online. This site has a wide, international, ecumenical readership, and I’m always conscious to try and keep that focus in mind, but from time to time, this being the most-read Christian site based in New Zealand, I do have a particularly local and/or Anglican focus. Hence, I’m delighted that the General Synod media release was sent to this site, and know that many, internationally, are seeking to follow what we are doing here.

    Regular information directly from General Synod:
    Bishop Kelvin Wright, our only blogging bishop
    Anglican Taonga, the sermon
    Rev. Peter Carrell, observing General Synod
    General Synod blog, with photos

    For more particularly about liturgy discussion see here

    Here is the media release:

    Archbishop gives wake up call

    Anglicans meeting in Gisborne have been told to be ambassadors of hope on issues including proposed mining and to help bring solutions to concerns including alcohol abuse.

    Archbishop David Moxon told delegates to the Anglican General Synod that there is a need for the Church to take a stand on issues and act on beliefs. To be people with a mission, which is a mission of hope.

    “There is a need to look in our country for that which is the common good, said Archbishop David Moxon. “Otherwise there is the chance that hope can be lost, and this can result in a kind of coma where huge opportunities and challenges in our society and environment go either unnoticed, or ignored,” said Archbishop Moxon.

    The Anglican Church is to make a submission to the Government opposing the proposed mining in the Coromandel and other areas including National Parks.

    Archbishop Moxon told delegates the Government’s recent support of the United Nations Charter of Indigenous Rights is a sign of hope. “The integrity and rights of tangata whenua are crucial to our way of life as Anglicans; they are enshrined in our own Constitution – and we have benefited so much from this affirmation.”

    Tomorrow morning, delegates at the General Synod will discuss the proposed Anglican Covenant. This addresses the debate in the Anglican Communion about the ordination of bishops in same sex relationships. Later in the week the Synod will receive a report by Sir Paul Reeves on the governance of St John’s College in Auckland, where most Anglican clergy are trained.

    Archbishop David Moxon asked delegates to bring the same hope to church issues as to those of wider society.

    A new Bishop of Polynesia, who will automatically become one of the three archbishops of the Anglican Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia will be announced at the General Synod. The Diocese of Polynesia has already met to nominate a bishop and the final confirmation by the wider church will take place at the Gisborne gathering.

    The Synod is meeting at the Emerald Hotel in Gisborne until Thursday evening and media are welcome to attend.

    For any inquiries please contact the Rev’d Jayson Rhodes at the Synod, 021 661319.

    liturgy at General Synod

    Published on May 8, 2010 in liturgy. 6 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

    I have been able to find out a bit more about debates relating to liturgy at the meeting of General Synod of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia meeting in Gisborne from today. Motion 5 (below) is the one that confuses and concerns me most, followed by the bill on Ashes to Fire.

    There is a bill to confirm the removal in the Prayer Book of
    for all who through their own or others’ actions are deprived of fullness of life
    for prisoners, refugees, the handicapped, and all who are sick.
    and replacing it with
    for all who are deprived of fullness of life,
    for prisoners, refugees, and those who are sick.

    There is a bill to confirm the addition of certain people to the formulary of our calendar:
    Mary MacKillop, Brother Roger, Mother Teresa, CS Lewis, Thomas Merton (I set this process in motion, though my hope had been that, as well as these, a much larger revision of our calendar was undertaken)

    There is a bill to confirm that the New Living Translation may be read in church.

    There is a bill confirming authorisation of eight new Eucharistic Prayers (Alternative Great Thanksgiving A-F, and for use with Children A & B)

    There is a bill proposing that a resource Ashes to Fire: Liturgy for the Seasons of Lent and Easter become Alternative Services. I’m not sure what it is “alternative to” as we’ve previously never authorised anything like this. Also I’m not sure of the intended status? Is this the start of the “twice round process” (passed by GS, by majority of pakeha dioceses, hui amorangi, and diocese of Polynesia, & back to GS, and then a year’s wait) through which this will be come a formulary? And if so, does that mean we must use this and nothing else during Lent and Easter? Or will this be a recommended resource, but we can continue to source excellent other material? I have not spent sufficient time with this material to give an opinion if the intention is that we will use this and nothing else from Lent through Easter. Also, even if that is the intention of General Synod, the reality will be that the church here would continue to use and create other material. You can download a PDF of Ashes to Fire here.

    Motion 5 I think needs even more clarification. It is unclear to me whether it is intended to replace everything in our Prayer Book from pages 549 to 723 as it appears to be suggesting. Certainly it cannot do that as those pages are formularies of our church. If the intention is that this is yet another resource for liturgy in this province, I can live with that, even though I do not agree with the way that many prayers are associated with the lectionary as if they are collects.

    The central prayer of the Liturgy of the Eucharist is the Eucharistic Prayer, in which we clearly, in Christ, are in relationship with God (the First Person of the Trinity, the Father/Matua), in the power of the Spirit. The central prayer of the Liturgy of the Word, the collect, normatively has this same dynamic. In the collect the tradition has us clearly, in Christ, in relationship with God (the First Person of the Trinity, the Father/Matua), in the power of the Spirit. The collect is not another nice little prayer addressed to whatever person of the Trinity your liturgical bottle has stopped spinning at. Many “collects” in our Prayer Book have neither this dynamic (they are, rather, addressed to Jesus or the Holy Spirit), nor (of lesser significance) the structure of a collect, however we have always been free to choose a collect which does have this dynamic. This resource in motion 5 spreads the three collects provided for each Sunday in the Prayer Book across the three years of the lectionary. I hope that our province will work towards a better way to associate collects with the lectionary. And that such collects associated follow the structure and dynamics of the inherited tradition. This motion is clearly not a formulary, and I would strongly oppose any development that would make it compulsory to use the suggestions, not leaving open the option of following the structure and dynamics of our inherited tradition.

    I would speak against motion 5     because it is confused and merely increases liturgical confusion in our province. It also encourages the use of nice little prayers to Jesus and the Holy Spirit which may be wonderful in other contexts but inappropriate as the core prayer for the Liturgy of the Word.

    Here is an earlier article I wrote on collect vandalism. This includes PDFs of what motion 5 is proposing be “authorised” as “replacing” our formulary pages (something, of course, that cannot be done in this manner).
    Here is an explanation of the collect in my book Celebrating Eucharist.
    Further reading on the collect.

    Here is my call for General Synod information to be available online.
    Here is my General Synod wish-list.

    A participant’s blog

    And don’t forget to pray for the meeting of General Synod.

    church stops promoting marriage

    Published on March 22, 2010 in liturgy. 16 Comments Tags: , , , .

    Every March and September our local newspaper, the Press, publishes a liftout Wedding Directory (called “I do“) along with the daily newspaper. Twenty A3 pages very attractively present hints, lists, articles, venues, jewellery, dresses, cakes, flowers, etc. In every previous liftout there has been a church presence, an article, and/or parish or diocesan advertisements. As these have become fewer and fewer, I have always taken the effort to contact those who put them in, and commend them. This March edition … absolutely no church presence. No clerical collar, no alb or stole, not even a reference in the articles on “Keeping costs down” or “Beat the wedding stress”. 20 pages, 19 articles, 67 advertisements, not one – count them… – not one by any church. From any denomination.

    The word “church” is not mentioned once in the 20 pages. There isn’t even an allusion to church in the article on “customs and traditions”.

    With the Roman Catholic Church increasingly embroiled in the greatest scandal since the Middle Ages and it getting step by step closer to the pope himself, with the Anglican Church tearing itself apart with the question – are we going to let gay people be committed to each other in a way that heterosexuals regularly have difficulty maintaining? one might have thought that the opportunity to proclaim a positive message about sex and marriage would be grasped by the church with both hands… but NO we appear to be caught like a rabbit in the headlights impotent (oops!) to present ourselves to the secular public with anything positive to say.

    Tell me the last time that you walked into a randomly selected parish church building and found an attractively presented brochure invitingly explaining how you can get married there.

    And if you think that the church has abandoned promoting marriage via print and has moved into the 21st century and is doing this on the web, join me in searching google.co.nz using the words “marriage”, or “wedding”, or even “church wedding” and count the number of answers you get before you get to a church wedding page. [Oh yes the "church wedding" search looked hopeful, with the top hit being "Church of the Good Shepherd New Zealand wedding venue" - it's actually for something called "the wedding company" (& check the price-tag)]

    Further reflection: inexpensive wedding

    NZ Lectionary online

    Published on March 12, 2010 in lectionary and liturgy. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , .

    I have not previously put a link from this site to this year’s online lectionary from the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia.

    Click here to download a PDF of this year’s lectionary (4 MB)

    Mary MacKillop’s canonisation

    Published on February 22, 2010 in lectionary and liturgy. 4 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .
    Mary MacKillop

    Mary MacKillop

    Pope Benedict XVI announced on Friday that Mother Mary MacKillop would be one of six canonised at a Vatican ceremony on October 17.

    Together with Father Julian Tenison Woods, Mary MacKillop founded the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart. She was for a while excommunicated, but now there are more than a thousand Sisters in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and Peru.

    This Australian has strong associations with New Zealand. She visited here on several occasions. The first school run by her sisters in New Zealand was opened in Temuka in 1883. Other schools and institutions followed and the work continues into the present. While in Rotorua on a visit to New Zealand in 1901 Mother Mary was partially paralysed by a stroke.

    In 2006 I put a motion to our diocesan synod which led to Mary MacKillop being voted to be added to the NZ Anglican calendar for August 8. This has passed a majority of diocesan synods and will this year be presented to a second meeting of General Synod. After this there is a year “lying on the table” for anyone to object. The church is so confident of her inclusion that she has already been included in the 2009 and 2010 lectionaries. It does mean, however, that her official inclusion in our NZ Anglican calendar will now be after that of the Roman Catholic Church. I would be interested if there is any movement to add her to the calendar by the Australian Anglican church.

    Gracious God,
    you gave to your servant Mary MacKillop
    a heart to teach and care for children.
    We thank you for the good she and her order have done.
    By your grace give us a like compassion for the poor
    and a concern for the education of the young
    that we all may learn to praise you with joyful hearts;
    through Jesus Christ our Lord
    who is alive with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit
    one God, now and for ever.
    Amen.

    September 11 Cyprian

    Published on September 11, 2009 in liturgy. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .
    St Cyprian

    St Cyprian

    Cyprian was martyred on 14 September 258. (September 14 is Holy Cross Day, so he is usually commemorated on a nearby open day – in USA RC that is today.)

    Cyprian was born around 200 AD in North Africa. He was a prominent trial lawyer and teacher of rhetoric. Around 246 he became a Christian, and in 248 was chosen Bishop of Carthage. Early in the year 250 the Emperor Decius began strong measures against Christians. The first demand was that the bishops and officers of the church sacrifice to the emperor. The proconsul traveled to check the order was being carried out. Five commissioners for each town administered the edict.  When the proconsul reached Carthage he discovered that Bishop Cyprian had fled and gone into hiding.

    The church was very divided about how to react to the persecution. Some Christians stood firm in civil disobedience – refusing to sacrifice. Others gave in, submitting in word or in deed to the order of sacrifice and receiving a certificate called a “libellus”. We still have some of these certificates.

    Those who did not like or approve of Cyprian said that his secret fleeing from Carthage showed he was a coward and unfaithful. Cyprian replied that he thought fleeing in this case was God’s will for him and that he could lead the church from his hiding place.

    Persecution was extremely severe in Carthage, and many Christians gave in and sacrificed to the emperor. These were called lapsi. When the persecution died down the church now had a new problem: how to deal with the lapsi – those who had given in and sacrificed – when these lapsi now wanted to come and be members of the church again.

    One Christian leader, called Novatus, allowed these  lapsi who had sacrificed back into the church without any disciplining whatsoever. Another Christian leader called Novatian did the opposite. He would not allow them back into the church community at all.

    A libellus

    A libellus

    Cyprian held to a middle way – but you can see the Christian community was deeply divided again. Cyprian allowed the lapsi back into the Christian community, the church, after a suitable period of probation and penance, depending on the gravity of the denial. The story of the divisions gets even more complicated – but you get the basic idea.

    Later there were other Christian divisions. Jesus didn’t leave behind a rule book and each time that new issues arose Christians weren’t really sure – they disagreed about what the appropriate response should be. The next big issue for Cyprian was whether the baptism in heretical groups was valid or not. Should people from those heretical groups be rebaptised or not.

    During the reign of the Emperor Valerian, Carthage suffered a severe plague epidemic. Cyprian organized a program of medical relief and nursing of the sick, available to all residents. But the majority of Carthage’s citizens were convinced that the epidemic was the result of the wrath of the gods at the spread of Christianity. So another persecution against Christians arose. This time Cyprian did not flee. He was arrested, tried, and finally beheaded on 14 September 258.

    Cyprian was an extensive writer. We still have many of his writings. In his book called On the Unity of the Catholic Church Cyprian stresses the importance of visible, concrete unity among Christians. He argued for a position that the fullness of the church – what he and others called the catholic church, the universal church – is present in the people gathered around their local bishop. That position has stayed the approach to church of the Eastern Orthodox church and of the Anglican Church. The fullness of the church, the church catholic, is present in the people led by the bishop.

    twin-towersWe live in divided times. Churches are divided one from another – within denominations there is division. There is disagreement between Christians. Some would have us attempt to agree on every last detail before we can see ourselves as a community – a common unity. Listing off a catalogue of agreed beliefs rather than unity in God. The opposite is those who say that none of our beliefs matter at all. Can we find a middle way? Can we learn to respect difference, learn from difference AND at the same time hold to our primary convictions. Being too rigid we will snap under pressure, being too loose and supple we will be no support.

    This is not only true within Christianity – but also beyond it. We live in a multi-faith, multi-cultural community and world. The date, September 11, is itself a reminder that the need to respectfully listen to each other is one of the world’s greatest needs – as is the need to be sure of our own convictions. Reflecting on the times of Cyprian still, IMO, has much to teach us.

    Almighty God, who gave to your servant Cyprian boldness to confess the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ before the rulers of this world, and courage to die for this faith: Grant that we may always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in us, and to suffer gladly for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

    Year for Priests – St John Vianney

    Published on August 3, 2009 in liturgy. 4 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

    st-jean-vianneyAs well as the Roman Catholic Church, many Anglican churches celebrate St John Vianney on August 4. This year it is 150 years since the death of the priest who is known more commonly by his title “Curé d’Ars” (the parish priest of the village of Ars-sur-Formans). He is the patron saint of parish priests, and the Pope has announced this year as a Year for Priests in honour of “the 150th anniversary of the death of the Holy Curé d’Ars, Jean-Marie Vianney, a true example of a pastor at the service of Christ’s flock”.

    Some points worth reflecting on:

    • the concept of vocation – so quickly (too quickly in my opinion) the word vocation is applied to priesthood and “religious life”. Should not vocation be primarily applied to our baptismal calling to holiness and after that to discernment of our particular way of living out our baptismal vocation to love?
    • the understanding of God’s will – the impression is too quickly given in my opinion that God has a particular pathway planned out for us and should we deviate from this in any way our present happiness, let alone our eternal salvation, is in jeopardy unless and until we return to where we branched off God’s determined pathway and get back onto the correct path. This would have God intending you to marry Sarah and should you marry Martha instead, then you will be unhappy in this life not to mention the next… God intended you to be a Franciscan, but you misheard the call and became a Dominican – not until you leave the Dominicans and join the Franciscans will you be following God’s will for this life (and the next)… Possibly God’s will is more general than that – possibly it is more about searching out the deepest God-given yearnings of our God-given heart?
    • Priesthood as primarily a call to enable the baptismal life of the Christian community. The NZ Prayer Book ordinal says it well, in my opinion,

    By the Holy Spirit all who believe and are baptised
    receive a ministry to proclaim Jesus as Saviour and Lord,
    and to love and serve the people with whom they live and work.
    In Christ they are to bring redemption,
    to reconcile and to make whole
    They are to be salt for the earth; they are to be light to the world.

    After his resurrection and ascension
    Christ gave gifts abundantly to the Church
    Some he made apostles, some prophets. some evangelists.
    some pastors and teachers; to equip God’s people
    for their work of ministry and to build up the body of Christ.

    We stand within a tradition
    in which there are deacons priests and bishops
    They are called and empowered to fulfil an ordained ministry
    and to     enable the whole mission of the Church.

    • This might also be a year in which we can discuss more deeply what priesthood means, what diaconate, and laity, and episcopate means, and whether people should be ordained directly to the order to which God calls them (per saltum)?

    John Vianney lived and ministered in the aftermath of the French Revolution. He struggled with the academic formation required for priesthood. He greatly stressed the love and mercy of God and also the value of personal discipline. His popularity grew so that Lyons railway station had a separate booking office for trains to Ars. Close to 100,000 individuals came to hear him preach in the last year of his life.

    Once, when he was arguing with a Protestant peasant woman in his village, he asked her, “Where was your Church before the Reformation?” She promptly replied, “In the hearts of people like you.”

    Heavenly Father,
    Shepherd of your people,
    we thank you for your Servant John,
    who was faithful in the care and nurture of your flock;
    and we pray that,
    following his example and the teaching of his holy life,
    we may by your grace grow into the stature of the fullness of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ;
    who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

    Everliving God,
    you gave to your servant John Vianney
 gifts of discernment and wise counsel;
    grant to all pastors 
a full measure of your wisdom and your love,
    that through their ministry 
your truth may be revealed;
    through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
    who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

    Good shepherd,
    yours was the strength which kept Jean, Curé d’Ars,
    praying and reconciling year after year;
    protect us too, we pray,
from fatigue which shrivels up compassion;
    through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
    who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

    The Lectionary (part 2)

    Published on July 31, 2009 in liturgy. 15 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

    In the last post on the lectionary I gave background to the RCL (Revised Common Lectionary) and highlighted that a community discipline of following the lectionary frees us from the vagaries and some of the eccentricities of allowing pastors total discretion to pick their own favourite Bible passages.

    I think there is always a danger from some to turn liturgy into rubrical fundamentalism – always following the instructions of our liturgies to the letter solely because these instructions are there. I am far more interested in understanding the reasoning and principles underneath our rubrics (liturgical instructions). This post, hence, will look at some of the advantages of following the lectionary as well as examining some alternatives.

    The Lectionary is part of Common Prayer

    • The lectionary is a whole church or denomination sharing a unified, common pattern of biblical proclamation. For example: the gospel book we are all focusing on together this year is Mark. This is the experience of over half the world’s Christians – a remarkable movement of the Holy Spirit in our own time.
    • The lectionary means that all in a community can prepare ahead: clergy, preachers, those worshipping in the congregation, musicians, Sunday School teachers, and so on.
    • Clergy, worship leaders, and preachers meet, discuss, and pray together, share resources and ideas around the lectionary. Because the lectionary is shared ecumenically, such meetings can happen locally between many churches and denominations, and even virtually online.
    • There are wonderful shared resources around the lectionary, ecumenically, internationally, and including online. These include preaching resources, commentaries, Sunday School material, and devotional resources.
    • Individuals and groups reflect prayerfully on the following Sunday readings in the style of Lectio Divina or systematic Bible study or other methods.
    • The lectionary provides a dynamic direction with a carefully thought out pathway and flow in the church’s seasons as well as in Ordinary Time.

    The alternative

    In my experience, the strongest criticism of RCL comes from those who claim they want to “preach through the whole Bible systematically.” For some time I have been involved with online and offline discussion and critique of RCL. One ordained minister criticised RCL for skipping gospel passages from one week to the next. I am sympathetic to this critique. But what interests me is that when I check that ordained minister’s community website it is noticeable that when the lectionary is abandoned 2 Peter 1:20-21 is followed the next week by John 14:1-6 then Luke 10:25-28 then Isaiah 53:5 then Matthew 23:1-37 then Hebrews 10:24-25! My point is that those who abandon the lectionary appear to have scripture-reading systems that are inestimably impoverished in comparison to the RCL which they criticise.

    Another supposedly “systematic-Bible-preaching” site I examined, in a year apparently dedicated to preaching systematically through the book of Jeremiah, there were actually only 14 sermons and Sundays devoted to the Book of Jeremiah. That is, in fact, about the same number of Sundays that RCL devotes to Jeremiah. With a bit of planning, that community could have used the RCL AND had as good a preaching series on Jeremiah! Another similar style of site I visited had five Sundays devoted to Romans 1, another to Romans 2:1-16, nothing for Romans 2:17-3:8, a Sunday for Romans 3:9-31, and then… no more on Romans!

    My challenge to those who abandon the lectionary is: show us how your community is doing something so stunning that the negatives of abandoning common prayer are outweighed by your own system.

    The Protestant Bible has 1189 chapters. Read and preached on a chapter a week (the systematic manner that many RCL-criticisers mostly suggest) – this results in…. 23 years of preaching to get through the Bible! I can just visualise the Christian formation being provided to the University student attending your church for the three years of her degree when those years just happen to coincide with the systematic preaching through Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy!

    The RCL as a preaching tool

    Each Sunday the RCL provides a Gospel reading, another New Testament reading, a psalm, and normally two tracks for the Old Testament. One track of the Old Testament links it with the Gospel reading, the other follows the Old Testament semi-continuously in the same manner that the Gospels and the rest of the New Testament are read. [Consistency demands that once a community starts following one track, that is what is used at least for that liturgical year]. Those so inclined can see that these five biblical readings for three years provide fifteen years of exposition before one even needs to return to examine a text for a second time!

    It may very well have been possible to have produced something better than this three year cycle we share with more than half the world’s Christians, but that opportunity has now passed. Whatever we alter in this treasure will lead to greater losses than gains in my opinion.

    Whilst I rejoice at the liturgical renewal that has put the Eucharist back at the heart of the Christian community, this has not happened without some loss. The Eucharist is the jewel in the crown of Christian worship. For some (many?) that is all they experience – the jewel, no crown. The Eucharist, hence, becomes the sole place for worship, prayer, contemplation, education, fellowship, and so forth. This is a weight too much for the Eucharist to bear.

    The Sunday Eucharist ought not to be the only encounter that Christians have with the scriptures. Christians ought regularly to be encouraged to read a book as a whole, for example. Mark’s gospel, our focus this year for example, takes only little more than an hour to read. A Christian community can provide other opportunities for encountering the scriptures in a deeper way – not just individually or in small groups, but online. I am amazed when communities are not providing online resources and discussions to facilitate the deeper, ongoing, systematic, continual working through the scriptures to complement what is provided Sunday by Sunday in their common worship.

    RCL, then, is not merely one cool resource alongside others that people might choose from or create their own. Just to take the example of the NZ Anglican Church: the RCL was brought to General Synod where it was passed without amendment, then all the diocesan synods and Hui Amorangi unanimously passed it, then General Synod passed it for a second time, and then a year had to go by allowing for anyone to appeal this new formulary – plenty of opportunities for the sort of discussion and amending by the sort of people who now do not use it. Everything passed unanimously. Clergy promise and sign at their ordination that they will use only authorised material in leading services, and sign again each time they get a new position and licence. Our church’s pledging not to depart from formularies like this is even binding on us as a church by Act of Parliament.

    The next post on the lectionary will provide links to some of the best online resources connected to the RCL.