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CHAPTER 1
Liturgy
"Do
this to remember me"
Liturgy is action. Jesus said "Do this to remember me," not
"read pages 456 to 473 to remember me"! The word "liturgy"
means "work," "work of the people." And it is work
of
the people, not
for
the people (which is
the distinction between liturgy and magic). Liturgy is
something we do together
(the Greek "Do" in "Do
this to remember me," is plural).
We have inherited a tendency to think of worship as
primarily the words, and much of our energy in liturgical
revision has focused on getting the words right. Words are
powerful, and using them carefully is important, but the
Anglican tradition has always seen there is more to worship
than words. Processions, vesture, banners, music and
singing, bread and wine, architecture, colour, flowers,
incense, candles, and gestures, are but some of the
elements of Anglican worship.
The nonverbal has, in the past, usually been thought of as
enhancing and interpreting the words. This approach is
being turned upside down. Actions and symbols are returning
to their central position in worship. Actions, gestures,
signs, and symbols, do not interpret the words. It is the
words which interpret the actions. Liturgy is action.
Furthermore, ornaments and gestures, which were once
appropriate when the priest had his back to the
congregation or which were required by The Book of Common
Prayer often need to be reexamined. The
bread, for example, is not broken during the account of the
last supper. (Cranmer had the breaking of the bread, where
all Christian history had had it, after the prayer of
consecration. It was moved in 1662 after the discontinuity
of the Commonwealth).
Services in The Book of Common
Prayer have often been likened to "meals
on wheels." They were centrally prepared, and then warmed
and dished up locally. One began at the beginning of the
service, reading most of it until one reached the end of
it. Services in A New Zealand Prayer
Book are
more like "frozen peas," or maybe a basket of groceries and
a recipe book. A core of essential material is provided
with some further resources, other content is added
locally. Many will be surprised that the obligatory
material from any of the eucharistic liturgies (pages
404510) takes only about six minutes to recite. Most of the
rest of the service is locally chosen. The quality of the
meal is now much more dependent on the local "cook"!
An example at this point illustrates what happens when the
old approach is used in leading a service from
A New Zealand
Prayer Book.
The priest comes in at the back of the church (call it St.
Agatha). He welcomes the congregation, states that it is
the Third Sunday in Advent, and gives the theme, he then
announces the hymn and processes to the front. After the
hymn he says "Our service today begins on page 404. I greet
you formally in the words of the liturgy, Grace and peace
to you from God ..." He uses all three greetings on page
404 (looking at the book rather than the congregation, and
the people also respond looking at the book, rather than at
him). He reads the Sentence of the Day. "The Collect for
Purity," he announces, and all say it together, followed by
"Glory to God in the highest" which is said. "Please kneel"
is followed by the Summary of the Law, the Kyries (again
said), all the material on pages 407 and 408, the Sentence
is repeated. Then "The Collects for the Third Sunday in
Advent," is announced, followed by the three collects from
pages 552553. They are read as given on those pages
(without the endings provided on page 549) and after each
collect, the priest says "Amen" after which some of the
congregation say "Amen." "Please be seated" concludes the
Gathering of the Community.
Contrast this with the same Sunday in St. Bruno. Since the
beginning of Advent, parishioners have been encouraged to
have simple household devotions around an Advent wreath.
These devotions begin with one person saying "Grace and
peace to you from God" to which the rest present respond,
"God fill you with truth and joy." This response is now
well known.
The Eucharist at St. Bruno's begins when the presiding
priest stands, faces the congregation and opens wide her
arms and says, "In the name of Christ, we welcome you this
Sunday in Advent. Grace and peace to you from God." After
the people respond, three children come up from the
congregation and each lights a candle on the large Advent
wreath while all sing "O come, O come, Emmanuel" which has
been chosen as the theme song for this Advent.
The congregation kneels and the priest says "God has
promised forgiveness ..." (page 407). There is a
significant silence. Many know the confession by heart.
Some glance at the page number on the hymnboard or on the
pew sheet. A visitor is helped by his neighbour to find the
place in the Prayer Book. After the Absolution the priest
says, "Let us pray in silence that we may be ready to
witness to justice as John the Baptist was." After the
silence, the priest prays the Collect, "God for whom we
wait ..." (page 552). Week by week, she ends the Collect
with words which conclude "... now and for ever" and the
people join together with the "Amen." There is only ever
one collect, so they know to sit for the readings after
this.
There are several things that can be learnt by comparing
these two imaginary situations. Worship leaders need to
understand the structure of the service. The Eucharist is
not a collection of unrelated verbal components. The parts
of the liturgy are all interconnected and the presider
needs to convey this flow to the assembly. Familiarity with
the liturgical structure helps prevent presiders from
creating dams which stop the flow of the service.
When a community is comfortable with the structure, and
sees the "slots" into which an assortment of elements can
be inserted, they will worship with confidence even when
the elements are varied. Familiarity with the services
in A New
Zealand Prayer Book involves worship leaders noting
where the word "may" occurs. In our examples, page 405 to
half way down page 407 is a collection of optional
resources. It can all be omitted, or a choice can be made
appropriate for the occasion, liturgical season, musical
resources, and so on. Initial fears by many that optional
material would seldom be omitted have, unfortunately, often
proved correct.
As well as noting where the word "may" appears, there are
also the instructions to say "the following or other
appropriate words" or "these or similar words." In
comparison to services from The Book of Common
Prayer, it
will take more time to prepare for services using
A New Zealand
Prayer Book. With the latter one needs to
begin from the structure and the actions. This skeleton
structure is then "clothed" with suitable material
from A New
Zealand Prayer Book, and with hymns, prayers,
readings, introductions, and so on.
Every
day a feast is no feast
At St. Bruno they decided when they use "Glory to God in
the highest" (being a hymn) they would always sing it.
Following tradition, they never use it in Advent or Lent.
They sing it at Christmas time, during the Easter season,
and on some festivals. During Lent the Kyries are sung. At
other times a hymn or Song of Praise (pages 35103) is sung.
Different services, in this way, have different
atmospheres. Lent feels different to Easter and so on. "If
every day is celebrated the same, how will a day feel
special?" asks the vicar. "At home we have wine with our
meal on special days, and bring out the best china. On some
other days we just eat around the kitchen table. Here we
have processions for the great feasts, with banners and
dance. At other times we keep the service austere, and this
gives a good contrast."
At St. Bruno, for Eucharists without singing, one of the
Additional Songs of Praise (pages 96103), or Great and
Wonderful (page 35), or You are Worthy (page 46), or one of
the other Songs of Praise (pages 3595) is often prayed
together in the "slot" after the greeting. All remain
standing for this.
Hiding
behind liturgy
More can be learnt from the two services described above.
Worship leaders may rightly fear merely "putting on a
show." The priest at St. Agatha may feel liturgy is keeping
the rules and reading the recipe. But liturgy is action. As
with good drama there is "choreography" and a "script."
Care needs to be taken not to make a sharp division between
"formal" and "informal" as if the material in
A New Zealand
Prayer Book is less "real" than words which
are impromptu or written oneself. The impression can be
given that the Prayer Book words are a barrier to
communication. It can feel as if the presider peeps over or
around a wall of these words and gestures at the
congregation. Hence, whenever they are speaking to the
congregation, ministers need to keep eye contact with the
people. It is very countersymbolic if the presider is
looking at the book while saying, "The Lord be with you"!
At St. Bruno the greetings are real greetings, the prayers
real prayers.
Visitors
There are tensions in every worship service between a
celebration which reflects the "otherness" of the faith and
one which highlights an "incarnational" approach. The
former will use gestures, responses, and signs familiar to
and understood by the regular worshipper but often lost on
a visitor. The latter will minimise any differences to
secular society and provide constant guidance by page
numbers and running commentary in the hope of making
visitors feel welcome.
A clutter of esoteric signs, symbols, and distracting,
idiosyncratic gestures will generally discourage rather
than enhance good worship. The Christian community,
however, is like a family. Like every family we have
customs and traditions. A guest who eats at a family meal
will feel welcomed and yet also be aware that this family
has often met before, and enjoys meeting and eating
together. Some things the family does will take time to
understand. Some of the customs will take time to learn.
Similarly, members of the Christian community make visitors
feel welcome, and can assist them finding their place in
the Prayer Book. Page numbers, like hymn numbers, may need
to be announced (though both can be put up on boards, and
on pew sheets). A feeling of belonging is unlikely to
develop if each week announcements are made as if this is
the first time we have met together. We should welcome
visitors; but it is a sad community in which we are all
constantly made to feel like visitors!
Liturgy
as play
As a community risks putting the books down and responding
from memory, there will be mistakes. People will respond at
the "wrong" time, and with the "wrong" response. Here the
drama metaphor has to stop. We are not putting on a perfect
production. We are gathering to meet with one another and
with God. Liturgy is also the children of God "playing."
There will rightly be laughter and humour (my favourite
response to "The Lord be with you" has been "What page are
we on?") And there will be "mistakes." Liturgy ought to
mirror life. No, even more strongly, liturgy ought to mould
life. As children we play at what may one day become a
reality.
Silence
Worship is not just words and actions and symbols, it is
also silence. In silence we call to mind our sins. Silence
may precede the Collect and follow each reading. A time of
silent reflection appropriately follows the Sermon. Periods
of silence may be kept in the Prayers of the People. The
holy table may be prepared in silence, or silence may
precede or follow the Great Thanksgiving. The bread is
broken in silence. After communion there may be silence.
Communities may need to be taught to use silence, and
silences may have to be introduced gradually, and
lengthened week by week. A worship leader unaccustomed to
silence may need to time the silences as at first they will
appear much longer than they actually are.
Themes
The Eucharist is a thanksgiving for creation and
redemption. That is the primary theme and anything "more"
is icing on the cake. Human celebrations are normally of
events rather than abstract concepts. Similarly, the
scriptures tell the story of a God who acts (action again)
and through our remembering and thanksgiving we are renewed
to act in response. A theme may be one attempt to summarise
briefly a message in the readings within the context of
this present gathering. Preoccupation with finding a theme
for each service, however, may limit the impact of a
service. Community worship is like a lake upon which
liturgy can cast a number of stones, each sending out its
pattern of ripples. One person (a new Christian) may
connect with the opening hymn, another (a person who has
worshipped since her youth) with the Collect, another (just
unemployed) with the first reading, another (coming to
church for the first time since her husband died) with the
Psalm, and so on.
Often the feast or liturgical season provides "theme"
enough. Advent prepares for Christ's coming. Christmas
celebrates Christ's birth. Like a particular type of
restaurant (Mexican, Chinese, Indian,...), such a "theme"
provides the mood in which the meal is enjoyed rather than
a straightjacket for the service.
Some
Questions
In this chapter the author lays down some key points of
view that will shape the rest of the book. As you identify
these it would be helpful to clarify your own position in
relation to each and your reason for that point of view. As
you proceed through the book it will be helpful to notice
where you find these fundamental points of view underlying
the materal.
The metaphors of "meals on wheels" and "a basket of
groceries and a recipe book" are used by the author to
illustrate change in the approach of A New Zealand Prayer
Book, do these metaphors describe your experience and are
there others that occur to you?
What are you responses to reading the description of St
Bruno and St Agatha? Are there alternative pictures that
you can imagine as helpful in comparing different styles of
worship? Are there insights that come from the comparisons?
In the section
Visitors the author presents a clear
point of view about announcing of page numbers and attitude
to visitors. What is your response to these views? Do your
views differ, if so, why?
