Site RSS Feed
A book such as this draws a
wide range of responses from those who lead and shape
liturgy. Leading liturgy can be a very personal activity in
which a lot of personal belief and effort is invested. This
means the material contained in this book works within a
tension. The tension is to clearly present points of view
with the risk of challenging deeply held belief and
practices on the one hand, and on the other hand to try and
encompass a wide range of view points with the risk that
the book becomes bland. It was decided to encourage the
author to take the former position. The hope is that as
readers relate to the understandings presented here,
participate in liturgy and reflect on it, the practice of
liturgical leadership will be enhanced for all. The
questions at the end of each chapter are offered as one way
into this dialogue.
Paul Dyer Director of
DEFT
1
Introduction
We are in a period of reformation, a reformation which is
touching all areas of our church life and not least our
worship. There have been several movements of renewal which
have affected worship: renewal in our understanding of the
various gifts that all of us have been given by the Spirit
through our baptism; renewal in the place of children
within worship; a deepening understanding of language, of
culture, of gender; a renewal in the use of scripture; and
a renewal of the centrality of the Eucharist.
Many Anglicans remember a church where the Eucharist was
not at the hub of its worship life. The highlighting and
binding of the eucharistic rites at the centre of
A New Zealand
Prayer Book He Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa
well expresses the
revolution which has placed the Eucharist at the heart of
Anglican worship today.
Many Anglicans remember a church where the vicar was
the
minister. It was as if
the laity helped the priest only because the priest did not
have time to do everything. In services, the priest was the
soloist, the congregation was the audience. Now, returning
to the insight of the early church, all the baptised are
seen to have a ministry. Clergy are called "to equip God's
people for their work of ministry," they are empowered "to
enable the whole mission of the Church" (A New Zealand Prayer Book He
Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa, page 890). The metaphor is
turning around. The laity are not there to help the priest.
The priest is there to help the laity. The faith community
is seen to be an orchestra, with each playing a particular
instrument. The priest functions as the conductor. The
"playercoach" is how some now express priesthood.
This guide is written in the hope that it will nurture the
renewal of our worship, particularly our eucharistic
worship. Where page references are given, unless otherwise
indicated, they are from A New Zealand Prayer Book He
Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa.
This book is written out of a western, pakeha perspective.
It is for tikanga pakeha. If Maori is little used here,
that is not to suggest that Maori and other languages need
not be used, nor that cultural practices from other tikanga
should not be incorporated. Quite the opposite! Each
community, each service, is a challenge to be inclusive,
and to acknowledge that we live in Aotearoa New Zealand
today rather than, say, England last century. It does not
seem appropriate, however, for a pakeha to provide
suggestions how tikanga Maori might worship.
A New Zealand Prayer
Book has
several forms of the Eucharist. Each, however, follows an
identical structure. Where suggestions are given here for
one Eucharistic Liturgy, they can usually be adapted to
another. It is worth being familiar with
A Form for
Ordering the Eucharist (pages 511514). This clearly lays
out the structure which the other forms also follow, and
authorises some of the suggestions in this book which are
alternative to resources already provided in the Prayer
Book.
Uniformity in eucharistic practice has long been absent
from New Zealand. The days of legalistic, prayerbook
fundamentalism have gone. The spirit underlying
A New Zealand
Prayer Book is quite different in the ways it
acknowledges local resourcefulness. In this
A Form for
Ordering the Eucharist provides a window into the future.
"Worship is a skill to be learned and a creative art to
practise" (page xv). Unfortunately, one does not have to
look far to find examples of worship leaders creating or
adapting services in ways which are unhelpful for good
worship. Protesting that a service is "illegal" may not
promote improvement. Services carefully following the pages
of A New
Zealand Prayer Book can also be dull and uninspiring.
Hence, this book will try not to follow a legalistic
approach. It is no longer enough to argue for a good idea
by saying, "this is what the Prayer Book sets down." What
is important is understanding the rationale behind the
revisions. This approach will not only help people to use
given services more successfully, but will encourage more
appropriate creativity and adaptation.
