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CHAPTER 3
Ceremonial
Action
Posture
Humans are not pure spirits. Nor are we disembodied minds.
Our worship of God involves our whole selves including our
bodies. Many Anglicans clap during certain songs, and at
other times raise their hands in the biblical posture of
prayer. Liturgical dance is becoming more common. There is
a growing insight into the interrelationship between body,
mind, and spirit. Standing embodies the risen life that we,
the baptised, share with Christ. At the council of Nicaea
(325 AD) astonishment was expressed that some were kneeling
on Sundays, and during the fifty days of the Easter season.
It was then ruled that prayers be made to God standing.
This practice continued until the middle ages.
Kneeling on Sundays became common only when priests were
seen to be doing something for the passive congregation. With the
renewed insight that all, clergy and lay, celebrate the
Eucharist together, it seems more appropriate if all have
the same posture as the presider. As a community discusses
such changes there needs to be an acceptance of diversity
as some, for example, may find long periods of standing
difficult.
Although A
New Zealand Prayer Book occasionally provides suggestions
for appropriate posture (page 517) "it is left open to each
congregation to decide whether to sit, stand or kneel at
the various parts of the service" (page xv). Kneeling
stresses the individual and penitential. A community may
decide to kneel for the confession only in the season of
Lent. If a confession is used during the fifty days of
Easter, standing may be more appropriate. At other times,
standing together stresses the communal
"we
have sinned" (page
407), "we have failed to support one another and to be what
we claim to be" (page 479).
In a simple celebration of the Eucharist which moves
directly from the greeting to the confession, it may also
flow better for all to remain standing throughout greeting,
confession, and collect.
"Let us pray" is not an invitation to kneel. To change
posture for the Collect of the Day seems unnecessary.
No posture is suggested for the Prayers of the People.
Anglicans have usually knelt, but standing is an
alternative practice which may again highlight that we
intercede together as the baptised, exercising a priestly
role with and through the risen Christ's perpetual
intercession. When the presider stands to break the silence
after the Sermon this can be a natural signal for the
leader of the Prayers to move to the designated place for
leading them, and for the community to stand to pray.
Anglicans, used to standing to sing, may wish to experiment
with being seated during the Preparation of the Gifts. A
hymn or anthem may be sung while seated. The presider is
also seated while the deacon or (in the absence of a
deacon) others can prepare the holy table. When the table
has been prepared all stand.
"The Great Thanksgiving is a unity" (page 517). Changing
posture within it destroys this unity. Announcements within
the prayer to effect a change of posture such as "please
kneel" or worse "let us pray" (as if we have not been
praying) conflict with the prayer's unity. After the
Invitation to communion, people can wait to join the
communion procession by being seated.
The silence after communion may be broken by the presider
standing to say "Let us (stand to) pray." All may then
stand for the Prayer After Communion (e.g. pages 525545, or
pages 428429, 472473, 490), a hymn, and the Dismissal of
the Community.
Gesture
If someone describes a certain baptism as "water torture,"
it is not difficult to imagine the ritual: "I baptise you
in the name of the Father (drip), and of the Son (drip),
and of the Holy Spirit (drip)." Such a ceremonial hardly
conjures up images of washing, drowning, or waters of
rebirth, just as many fonts cannot bear the weight of
imaging a bath, tomb, and womb.
Gesture, like posture, recognises that we have bodies. We
are not disembodied spirits who communicate by telepathy,
we use our bodies to communicate. Signs, symbols, and
gestures are as essential to communication as words. In the
past passive congregations, heads buried in hands or books,
may not have noticed if a priest, standing with his back to
the congregation, held his hands behind his back during the
Lord's Prayer. However personally devout a presider may be,
such a gesture in today's liturgy will reduce the
worshipful atmosphere for many.
Whatever our practice, it is not possible to "do nothing"
in terms of actions. Holding a book, holding hands
together, or by one's side, are actions. Just as studies of
early Christian prayer texts have lain at the heart of
modern textual revision, so the scholarly study of early
ceremonial has rediscovered ritual of noble simplicity
which is both functional and expressive. This is not an
argument for a new viamedia
between those who "do
nothing" and those who follow a ritual of great complexity.
This is an invitation to think again about the visual
component of worship. In this the KISS principle
(Keep It Simple Serviceleader) is helpful.
Gestures can be confusing. Dom Gregory Dix's grandmother
attended the Tridentine mass once and was convinced the
priest released a crab onto the altar. His gestures, she
thought, were to prevent the crab from crawling into view!
If actions are not selfexplanatory, it is worth reflecting
on their value. Do they need to be abandoned or does their
rationale need to be included in education programmes?
Getting the words right is only a part of the renewal of
worship. Having a new Prayer Book does not excuse us from
paying attention to actions. In fact a new Prayer Book may
damage good liturgy if, through unfamiliarity, people are
glued to the book. "Grace and peace to you from God" is a
strange statement to address to a book! Liturgy flows best
when presider and people learn by heart greetings they
address to one another. Hence, it is the leader's
responsibility to use ones that have simple and consistent
responses.
In A New
Zealand Prayer Book, gestures are usually not
indicated and there is freedom to choose gestures
appropriate to the community, architecture and size of the
building, size of the congregation, and relative importance
of the celebration (whether, for example, it is a festival
or weekday, Lent or Easter). Care needs to be taken that
ceremony does not highlight the secondary at the expense of
the basic structure of the Eucharist (e.g. does the
ceremonious putting out of the candles give the impression
that it is more important than the Dismissal of the
Community?) Ceremony ought to help to make the text
intelligible rather than being imposed upon it from a way
of celebrating, say, the Roman rite or The Book of Common
Prayer.
Ceremonial gestures, like all ceremony, can be divided into
four categories: practical, interpretive, significatory,
and allegorical.
Practical actions are functional. They are required for the
smooth running of the service. We stand, for example, for
the Peace. Interpretive actions are those which bring out
the meaning of the text. For example, the presider may
raise the hands at "Lift up your hearts." The presider's
hands are open wide in welcome at the greeting which
establishes a relationship between presider and community.
The presider can appropriately trace a sign of the cross
over the people in the Absolution at the word "cross" on
page 408. Many in the community will cross themselves at
this point as well. Presiders need to take time to decide
whether using a sign of the cross at this point in the
other Eucharistic Liturgies (when the cross is not
mentioned) would be suitable or not.
Significatory actions relate directly to the service. Like
signs generally, however, (and road signs make a good
example) they may require some explanation. They may have a
teaching element, such as wearing red for a martyr's feast.
Or they may express an attitude. Some bow in prayer before
the holy table before proclaiming the Gospel (if there is a
deacon reading, this may be replaced by the presider
blessing the deacon.) At the announcement of the Gospel
some in the community make the sign of the cross on
forehead, lips, and breast in openness to the Gospel in
mind, heart and voice. In some communities the reader
kisses the Gospel book after concluding "This is the Gospel
of Christ." The presider may kiss the holy table at first
arriving there and on finally leaving it. This expresses
that Gospel book and holy table are signs of Christ's
presence in the community.
Allegorical actions are those which have no relationship to
the text or service, but are imposed upon it (e.g.
thirtythree signs of the cross over the eucharistic
elements). Practical, interpretive, and significatory
actions, suitably explained in a community's education, can
be meaningful. Allegorical actions are highly questionable
and are being removed from liturgy in most denominations
even where they were previously prescribed.
Some gestures may not be appropriate with
A New Zealand
Prayer Book. Likewise, some actions which may
have been suitable in the past may no longer have a
rationale within our revised liturgies. This is an
invitation to give some thought to whether to continue
them. Such actions may include signing oneself with the
cross at points that do not relate to the text or rite
(e.g. in the "Glory to God in the highest," the Creed, and
"Blessed is he ..."), breaking the bread during the
account of the last supper, elevating the bread and cup
after the "words of institution," using multiple signs of
the cross during the Great Thanksgiving, making the sign of
the cross with the bread before placing it in the
communicant's hands, and breaking the bread in the
communicant's hands.
Some Questions
Which of the suggestions in this chapter do you consider
would enhance the worship in your community?
Which do you find less helpful and why?
Can you think of other suggestions appropriate for your
context?
Can you design a process for your community for
implementing change?
