An Introduction to Anglican Worship

Transcription

1 EXPLORING FAITH Theology for Life An Introduction to Anglican Worship Level 4 Year A Term 1 Module Code: REL424

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3 INTRODUCTION Aims and Content of the Module Module Aims: To enable students to investigate the biblical foundations of Christian worship To enable students to examine ways in which the worship developed within Anglicanism To enable students to examine the liturgies available within the Church in Wales and to explore ways in which they can be used creatively within a range of liturgical and pastoral contexts.. To enable students to reflect critically on their own experience of worship and the ways in which it supports their Christian discipleship and ministry The Seminar Day is designed to set the scene, to explore the nature of Christian worship and to identify ways in which worship can be examined and explored. Session 1 explores the ways in which the Church s worship is rooted in the experience of the New Testament. Session 2 examines the Eucharist in the Book of Common Prayer 1662, investigates the contexts from which it emerged. Session 3 examines the Eucharist in The Book of Common Prayer 1984 and An Order for the Holy Eucharist 2004, investigates the context from which they have emerged, compares them with the BCP and explores how they can be effectively used today. Session 4 investigates the development of Morning and Evening Prayer and explores how this can be used to support the common prayer of the Church and the spiritual formation of ministers and people. Session 5 examines the development of A Service of the Word and explores ways in which worship can be constructed from resources that are available. Session 6 investigates the Church as a pilgrim people and examines ways in which the concept of journey has shaped the structure and provision of liturgy in the Church in Wales. It further explores ways in which the Church s Year can help the church to witness to the story of salvation and the ways in which Church in Wales liturgy can articulate the transitions between different stages of human life. Session 7 examines ways in which liturgy can express and enable the pastoral practice of the Church and explores ways in which services of wholeness and healing can be used to support the Church s pastoral ministry. Session 8 explores how the Gospel can be proclaimed through the structure of Sunday worship, through special occasions in the Church s Year and through the construction of special services that support the Church s outreach. Learning Outcomes On successful completion of the unit, students will be able to: demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the biblical and theological foundations of church worship demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the development of worship within Anglicanism demonstrate knowledge of the authorised liturgies of the Church in Wales. demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the principles that inform the structures of worship evaluate ways in which worship works best in different physical, social and spiritual contexts 1

4 The Sessions Please study the Introduction to each session carefully and undertake the recommended reading. In addition to the Textbook - Liturgy (SCM Study Guide) by Stephen Burns - a Reading Block is provided giving an additional piece of reading for each session to support assignment work. Candidates are provided with a Work Sheet that they should use to write answers to the questions that are set in preparation for each session. Where appropriate sessions are supported with material in the Resource Section. Assignment questions are provided at the back of this handbook. Worship and Prayer Please surround each session with worship and prayer. Provision is made for worship at the beginning of each session and for prayer at the end. Please be imaginative and creative. 2

5 Booklist. Please note that the materials in the Reading Block are drawn from the following list (marked *), but you may still wish to consult other chapters from these sources to broaden your knowledge. * Avis D - Church Drawing Near * Cocksworth C - Holy Holy Holy: Worshipping the Trinitarian God Dawn Marva J - Reaching Out without Dumbing Down * Drane J - The Macdonaldisation of the Church Duffy E - The Stripping of the Altars * Earey M (ed) - Common Worship Today Giles R - Repitching the Tent * Giles R - Creating Uncommon Worship * Helfing and Shattuck (eds) - The Oxford Guide to the Book of Common Prayer Hurtardo L - At the Origins of Christian Worship * Jones C et al (eds) - The Study of Liturgy (Revised Edition) * Perham M - New Handbook of Pastoral Liturgy Ward H and Wild J - Human Rites: Worship Resources for an Age of Change Online Resources Almost all of the liturgical resources mentioned in this handbook are available for free on the Internet. For the Book of Common Prayer 1662 and other historical texts, please see: For all Church in Wales liturgies, please see For Church of England resources please see: For Common Worship: For Times and Seasons: For Pastoral Services: For New Patterns for Worship: Supplementary Material Grove Booklets series - Ministry and Worship, The Worship Series, Liturgical Studies, Leaves on the Tree, All-Age Learning and Worship. Produced by the National Society/CHP Bradshaw P (ed) - The New SCM Dictionary of Liturgy and Worship

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7 SEMINAR DAY AN INTRODUCTION TO ANGLICAN LITURGY The Seminar Day is designed to enable candidates to i) examine the origins and development of Christian worship ii) explore the experience, nature and purposes of worship iii) develop methods of enquiry into Christian worship. For the Seminar Day i) Study the Introduction to the Seminar Day ii) In 500 words Describe an act of worship that has had a significant impact on you and say why it was significant. 5

8 SEMINAR DAY Introduction to Anglican Liturgy INTRODUCTION Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea; and all that is in them singing, To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honour and glory and might for ever and ever! And the four living creatures said Amen! And the elders fell down and worshipped. Revelation 5:13-14 In these words the writer of the Apocalypse tells his story of the future, and his hope in the present. How different from this vision of heaven seems the experience when it is two or three who are gathered together in a remote medieval country church or a great Victorian barn in town but is it? Huddled together or scattered to the four corners, what is going on? Or when thronged together at a multi-media prayer and praise event is it then any nearer the apocalyptist s vision? The answers we may give to these questions will depend on our understanding of what worship is. They will be shaped by our experiences, by what we have been taught, by our expectations. The word Worship comes to us out of the Saxon language where it describes the grant of worth. Because the actions of God are behind all Christian being and behaving, worship has often been described as response, our recognition of the worth of God as we offer our bounden duty and service. This has led to a tradition in the west that considers worship to be something that we do. In some places this has become even more inward looking, being practiced as if it was simply a congregational activity. The Revelation of John challenges us to look at worship from a different direction. So it is that Christians have become aware that while worship is the means of our honouring God, it is also the way in which God gives to us a new dignity which is enacted and affirmed in our worship. At the conclusion of our Eucharistic Prayers we often find a phrase that has resonated through the centuries, through him, with him, in him. So we find our offering of praise and thanksgiving is made through Christ to his Father, yet it is also made with him and in him. So it is that we find ourselves not on the outside but on the inside of the prayer of God. This challenges us to look at our worship from the perspective of God, as well as from that of the sanctuary or the pew. This understanding of the Christian on the inside of the divine presence and activity is found in the Revelation of John and has led the eastern churches to talk of the mystical theology of worship, the understanding and expression of the mystery whereby in Christ heaven and earth are made one and our worship itself becomes a sacrament of heaven. Our experience of worship will have dimensions that are spiritual and physical, individual and corporate, personal and social, local and global, of the moment and eternal. This experience, and what we have been taught, will influence our expectations so that we may be looking for the personal rather than the communal. That what is done, and desired, in worship is not inconsistent with our daily life has been born out by liturgical studies, over the last half-century, which have sought to understand worship in terms of human behaviour. In this they have drawn on understandings from the disciplines of sociology and psychology. 6

9 From this study has come the recognition that worship incorporates within it dimensions and capabilities that challenge the normal boundaries of understanding. As we search for understanding, the answers we produce will also reveal their roots. They will be seen to be reaching into differing times and contexts, some shallow and many very, very deep. Sometimes they will be obvious and open to easy scrutiny, but often they will be deeply embedded in the culture of both church and society, and hard to discern. These answers will challenge us to search out the heart of man and of God. And, in turn, they will ask further questions about understandings and expectations: of our worship, theology, ecclesiology, and missiology. These questions will be asked of others and of ourselves. The questions need to be asked, and answers sought, for while it is recognised that there are many honest and authentic answers within the Christian tradition they all have one thing in common while we may make worship, worship also makes us and forms us as individuals and as Church. A Liturgical Church Churches have differing ways of defining themselves: it may be through doctrinal edicts, traditions, constitutions, policy statements. For Anglicans it is through their Prayer Books. These have been both the depository of doctrine and the formulary for life. You could say it was the text, the whole text, and nothing but the text. However the practice has never been perfect, and in recent years the recognition of the multiplicity of contexts in which individuals and faith communities worship in the Church in Wales has led to a new approach. So it is that the revised liturgies of the Welsh Church (and other Provinces also) produced in the last decade or so form a directory, a collection of worked out examples, templates, rather than a Prayer Book in the traditional manner. These aim to legitimise the practices of the churches and to resource them, at all times strengthening the unity through the use of common liturgical forms. This unity is for the Church as a whole; it is also for the congregations, and while the liturgies will provide order, they can also set free. We can be part of the worship of our Church, engaging with the particular act of worship in that place, and making our own personal spiritual journey in parallel, and at the same time. And now we can also hold together the rich heritage of the past and immediate response to the present. Tradition, order, and liberty together. Interpreting Text, Form and Practice If we are to understand our experience of worship and to develop our ability to lead and participate in worship we need to learn how to interpret liturgical texts, forms and practices. We will be required to do this in respect of worship as a whole, as well as of the particular parts and dimensions, and we will need to do it for ourselves as well as with and for others. For when worship is understood, as well as taken part in, then it will be at its best. As with any historic texts hermeneutical skills are used. Indeed, it is the development of such skills and their application to historic liturgical texts that have helped set aside the simplistic assumptions that coloured much writing in the past, particularly with regard to New Testament and Early Church practice and so-called authentic worship. However liturgy is not just text. It is also practice. This requires us to learn to ask questions about the physical setting and how we arrange both people and furniture, about movement on the local and the large scale, and about both what we see and what we hear. In order to make sense of the richness of description that arises from such an analysis of liturgy we have found three avenues of enquiry to be of use. They are Intention, Encounter and Story. Intention As we explore worship we come to differentiate between worship as a general activity or instinct and an act of worship as a particular event in a particular context. Historical study draws attention to different concerns and approaches that have influenced the Church. 7

10 The Prayer Book of 1662 assumes a context in which the whole nation is both Christian and Anglican under the authority of the King and Bishops. Its intention is unity of church and nation. Meanwhile the prayer books of the mid 20 th Century such as the Church in Wales Holy Eucharist 1966 and the Church of England s ASB of 1980 again stress the Unity of the Church but in a very different social context. They show an understanding of a gathered church in a society that is no longer Christian. These services may be seen to assume the image of the church as a family gathered together from the world. Subsequent liturgical revisions in the Church in Wales have focused on issues of language and unity within diverse contexts and significantly began with the Eucharist as the Church s quintessential, self defining action (2004). We can see the same process in the Church of England where Common Worship has the image of pilgrim people at its heart. Both movements have not sought to provide a single order of service in a traditional Prayer Book. sense. Rather they equip the church with a range of resources and patterns of worship within an Anglican framework. These enable worship to be developed locally and flexibly in response to local conditions and opportunities while maintaining a common approach and ethos. Encounter In worship we have experience of encounters of many types. They are not just inter-personal, or spiritual. There is interplay and overlap as meeting is made with mind, heart and soul, through the effect of words and actions, setting and contacts. There will be meetings with the present, past and future as we consider scripture, tradition, and the current concerns of world and Church. Liturgical worship is not a solitary activity; our experiences are shaped by others as well as by ourselves. Through these encounters our understanding of worship will be informed and our experience will be determined. Together they will define the moment. Story All liturgy reflects a number of stories. The story of the mission of God is told, the story of creation and redemption. It reflects the story of the human condition through coming through confession to praise and reception of the grace of God. It tells the story of the Christian tradition through creed and common prayer and the story of the local and individual persons and communities through intercessory prayer and particular acts and rites such as baptism and marriage. My story, your story, their story are made one as the liturgical Story finds its place within the larger stories of creation, salvation and of God. Conclusion We all come to this present moment of preparation for ministry and discipleship with our experience of worship formed by particular liturgical roots. These will be in part personal, in part drawn from the local communities of which we have been members. They will be formed by the Church in Wales, which is itself part of the wider church, both Anglican and catholic. In none of these are the roots singular or simple, but rather they are complex. They will have come out of the diverse explorations of scripture, history, theology, spirituality, and human behaviour that have led to the many liturgical insights, experiments, trends and texts that we see in today s Church. 8

11 SESSION 1 THE ROOTS OF CHRISTIAN WORSHIP For this session 1. Study the Introduction and undertake supporting reading including Burns Chapter 1 and the extract from Cocksworth Holy, Holy, Holy provided in the Reading Block. 2. In 250 words address the question: In what ways did the early Church express its worship? 9

12 SESSION 1 The Roots of Christian Worship INTRODUCTION In the beginning was..... was what? In the Royal Injunction of Edward VI, that formally began liturgical revision in England and Wales at the Reformation, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer was asked to consider a Godly order and have an eye and respect to scripture and the usages of the primitive church. The desire to be biblically authentic and consistent with the early church has repeatedly informed liturgical enquiry for members of the church as well as for scholars. We see this in the work of Pope Gregory in the sixth century, of the Benedictine Order in the eleventh century, in all traditions at the time of the Reformation. When we take this biblical approach as Cranmer was instructed to do what do we find? The early studies in historical criticism in the nineteenth century followed in the footsteps of the Reformation and expected, and found, certainties in both biblical and liturgical scholarship. This was particularly so with regard to understanding the world into which Jesus came. However in the twentieth century, further investigation (often in the world of secular scholarship) has reduced this confidence. Many of the texts upon which our assumptions about the time of Jesus had been based are now recognised to be much later in date, and to record later practices. For example, Jewish scholarship recognises that accounts of Temple worship and sacrifice are usually from well after 70CE, and from outside the Jerusalem environment. They may come from those who still mourned its destruction, or from those who were proponents of the new ways of worship. Similarly the accounts we have of synagogue practice date from the second century. There are marked similarities between what is happening in synagogue and in church at this time. Originally it was thought that the synagogue was reflecting early practice and that this had influenced what happened in church. However many scholars would now argue that the direction of influence was the reverse of this. Again much of our knowledge of pagan cultic behaviour comes through the concerns and debates of the Church Fathers, and we have to recognise the bias in their writing. Biblical studies have also recognised the passage of time between the event and the record, and the significant effect upon the final text of the situation and concerns of their writers. Together this has led to the point where in his work, The Search for the Origins of Christian Worship, Bradshaw can state,... the New Testament generally cannot provide the firm foundation from which to project later liturgical developments that it has frequently been thought to give. We must therefore remain agnostic about many of the roots of Christian worship practices which we observe clearly for the first time in the following centuries. (Bradshaw 1992, p 55). Nevertheless the need to find continuity in liturgical thought and practice is still there, not least in the work of the Liturgical Commissions of the various Churches of the Anglican Communion, who have sought to inform, correct and enrich their worship through the study of scripture and particularly study of the earliest records of the church. 10

13 Looking at the New Testament The recognition that we are unlikely to find the sought after liturgical firm foundation in the New Testament has led to the discovery of other insights. Rather than liturgical detail we can explore categories of religious behaviour and the arenas in which they take place. These categories can be described as the personal, local and official. They are to be found in each of the principle roots of worship that we observe in the New Testament; namely the Jewish, the Gentile, and the Christian. And in the Christian root we will recognise the influence of the Jewish and the Gentile roots in both their adoption and in their rejection. We will also see those moments of being immersed in the current context and culture, and those times when Christian faith requires them to be counter-cultural. Throughout it all we will see Christians trying to be gospel authentic in their life and worship, and to discover order in a time of change. Jewish There is record of religious behaviour in three arenas: the private, the synagogue and the temple. Jesus is described as going away to be alone to pray with his Father (Lk 6.12). He also instructs his disciples about their prayer, in the quiet of their room (Mt 6.6). These references, together with the comments he makes about those who prayed aloud on the street corners, make it clear that there was a tradition of personal prayer. But whether this was more than the recital of the Shema we cannot say. The Shema is the Jewish confession of faith consisting of Deut 6.4-9, , Num and surrounding benedictions. This was to be recited morning and evening. The synagogue, for both Jesus and Paul, is the place for doing theology and for teaching (Mt 4.23, Acts 17.1ff). This is the place for religious behaviour that is communal and local, but not necessarily for worship as we may think of it. It is however where the understandings of God that will inspire worship are put in place. It will not become the place of worship for the Jew for at least another century. Then there is the Temple, the place of official religion. Here is the worship around the altar of incense, and the acts of reconciliation and thanksgiving at the altar of sacrifice. As well as the personal offerings (Lk 2.22) it is the setting for the events that mark the national, as well as the religious year eg. the feast of Atonement and Passover. This last brings together the official with the communal and personal categories, with the ritual slaughter of the lambs and the Passover meal, and the recital of the story of national and personal salvation. Gentile In every community of any size there would have been a temple, probably dedicated to a local deity. Here sacrifices were offered by individuals in their own name. These could be out of devotion or with intercessory or placatory aim. But sacrifices were also offered here by people on behalf of the community at large. Indeed it is from this practice that the word liturgy originates; it being the public work in the Gentile world. In Paul s first letter to the Corinthians (8.1ff, 10.14ff) we have his comments around the issue of eating meat that has come from the temple meat market. This was the meat left over after the ritual offerings had been made. From other sources we know that there was a practice of extending the religious significance of the temple sacrifice into both the communal and the private arena through the eating of such meat. While it was not the sacrifice itself it continued to have importance as bearing an indelible mark of that event. These quasi-religious meals took place in the temple precincts and in private homes. The principal activities of personal religion centred around the domestic shrine where offerings would be made, particularly of incense. Christian In the New Testament we have fleeting glimpses into the worship of the first Christians, and in these differing understandings and practices are now recognised. We read of the singing of psalms and spiritual songs (Col 3.16), of teaching (1 Cor 15.1ff), of prayer (Phil 4.6), and of the breaking of bread (Acts 11

14 ). We note the meeting of private experience and expression with the communal, this is particularly evident in the central chapters of Paul s first letter to the Corinthians. We see a church, moved by the Spirit, exploring new ways, and committed to worshipping God. In the beginning this was in the familiar settings of Jewish worship: the Temple and the Synagogue. But this was to cease. The Temple was destroyed in 70CE, and the acceptance of the Christians in the synagogues was not to last, for in 85CE they were formally expelled. We read of Paul attending the synagogue in Antioch (Acts 13.14) and speaking there but following the reaction of the Jews the later meeting of the church (Acts 14.27) must have been in a different setting and this was almost certainly in a private house. By the time of writing of 1 Corinthians this is taken for granted as the setting for worship, and we must imagine people in the rooms surrounding a central courtyard, maybe as many as sixty or seventy. To these assemblies would have been brought the experience and understandings of Jewish worship, and of Gentile worship. This would have included practices that reflected the official in the private. For the Gentile the cultic sacrifice was mirrored by the domestic offerings of incense. For the Jew the Temple worship was paralleled by the recitation of the Shema. There was also the experience of the official and the communal coming together. In the Gentile world this took the form of the temple feasts. For the Jew this was particularly evident in the keeping of Passover, where Temple sacrifice and domestic meal are inseparable. The social and the religious could also be part of the same event, as in Gentile semireligious feasts drawing on the long tradition of the symposium, and the Jewish practices that, in time, would become the family rituals of the Sabbath and the service of light. What emerges from this diversity is a rich expression of worship that, while it contains much that is held in common, also incorporates a number of inner tensions. One such tension is to be seen in the diverging interpretations of breaking bread. The tradition that is observed in Acts 2.42 and is probably of a meal that enables the preaching of the resurrection. By contrast there is the tradition of a sacrificial interpretation as recorded by Paul in 1 Corinthians 11.23ff. These theological differences will echo long into the future. Again in Paul (1 Cor 11.17ff) we find the beginning of the divide between the community meal and the sacrament, between the Agape (love-feast) and the Eucharist. While this diversity may leave us with uncertainty, we have, in Paul, someone seeking to bring order into the life of the church so that the worship of the one may contribute to the building up of the whole into the body of Christ. For his congregations his word becomes the nearest there is to official liturgy. Yet what he describes is not liturgy as we may think of it, it is certainly not worship centring around the use of a set prayer book. Instead in his writing we see descriptions of those events that are part of worship, and of their significance. We also see definitions of order and of the practices that will enable this (1 Cor 14) and while these include directions to the congregation as a whole they are largely concerned with the behaviour of the individual within it. The following centuries Early studies placed considerable confidence in the writings of Justin Martyr (c 150CE) and of Hippolytus (early third century), searching in them for an archetypal apostolic liturgy. More recent study has pointed to the rich diversity of practice that continued in the early church, with its regional variations of liturgical shapes and texts. Indeed the Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus is considered by many scholars to be a conflation of text and practice from very different places, traditions, and times. It is also understood to reflect differing theologies and spiritualities. If the Pauline tradition of the theology of sacrifice is followed then, clearly, bread and wine are the elements for communion. But if the Agape root was dominant in your church practice you could well have found the Christian communal meal would consist of fish and of milk and honey. In the face of such diversity of practice, understanding, and expectations how can the Johannine Prayer for unity, or the gospel imperative of salvation be brought into being? As we have seen, for Paul the answer is to be found in correct individual behaviour in public as much as in correct communal behaviour. For Justin Martyr, as we see in his Apologies, the answer seems to lie in defining the shape and sequence of liturgical practice and ideas, so bringing order to a communal activity. 12

15 This continued to leave freedom regarding the final text with the minister. While this gave the opportunity for that text to be appropriate to the moment and the congregation, it was always open to the danger of becoming purely personal. In the Apostolic Tradition, as it comes down to us, there is concern over verbal content. That unity can only be achieved through uniformity is the interpretation that is often given to this. Others have seen here the possible foundations of later arguments over textual niceties that were to dominate the Councils of the Church, and to divide it. But it could simply be a desire to share words, words that have come to be words of power and life. Conclusion As in the past ministers find themselves responsible for holding together in worship the experience of the individual, the local expression, and the mind of the Church. And they do this for themselves as much as for others. In the process they find themselves using the different approaches of Paul, Justin Martyr and Hippolytus. That of bringing order into worship through the ordering of individual behaviour is evidenced time and again through the centuries, and in most congregations today. To bring order through uniformity of text and practice is the tradition of the Prayer Book, though it has to be said that this has been observed more thoroughly in the breach than in the keeping of the same. And now, in contemporary liturgical developments, we find the Church exploring the approach of Justin Martyr. In acknowledging our roots, and in finding solutions for the twenty-first century we could do no better than return to scripture, to the Lord s Prayer. There we find two versions (Matt 6.9ff, Lk 11.2ff), suggesting that official text may not be everything yet in the text providing all the essential keys to prayer. These keys are sufficient in themselves but they can also become an agenda for prayer that is fuller and deeper. Whichever, it draws us, as it drew the early Christian of every heritage, into more than we could have imagined our own roots to bring into being. There we find liturgy that is official ordering but not confining, communal uniting and setting free, personal individual and of the body ; of the Church and for the world. 13

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18 ARRIVE AND WORSHIP In pairs Share what you have noted from the Seminar Day. As a group Worship together. PROJECT 1 As a group Drawing on the Introduction and your reading i) List the settings in which a) Jews b) Gentiles c) the New Testament Church d) The Church of the 2nd and 3rd centuries expressed their worship. ii) Explore the nature of this worship in each case. Address the question What features were unique to early Christian worship? PROJECT 2 Examine the following texts: Luke 4: Matthew 6: 5-15 Acts 2: Ephesians 5: Corinthians 11: For each text, address the questions 1. How does this text help us to understand the nature and context of early Christian worship? 2. What issues does this text raise for our understanding of Christian worship today? 16

19 PROJECT 3 Discuss the view that: Worship should not be written down, it should come from the heart. REFLECTION Reflect together on the question: What in this session may help me to better understand and express my faith? PRAYER and PREPARATION Offer the session's work to God in prayer. Plan your preparation for session 2. 17

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21 SESSION 2 AN ORDER FOR HOLY COMMUNION (1) The Book of Common Prayer For this session 1. Study the Introduction and Resource Sections 1 and 2 from this handbook and undertake supporting reading including Burns Chapter 2 and the extract from Earey, Common Worship Today provided in the Reading Block. 2. Familiarise yourself with the BCP 1662 Order for Communion available for download at 3. In 250 words address the question: What changes in the way that the Eucharist was understood took place a) in the period leading up to the Reformation? b) at the Reformation itself in England and Wales? 19

22 SESSION 2 An Order for Holy Communion (1) The Book of Common Prayer INTRODUCTION From the earliest days breaking bread has been important in the life of the Church as one of the two Dominical Sacraments, the other being baptism. We have already seen that this action can be used in differing ways, given different interpretations and different purposes. It can be the setting for preaching the resurrection, or the remembrance of the Last Supper, it can be the means of building the body and of transforming the individual, and it can both look to the past and anticipate the future. Such differences have led to great diversity in the liturgies of the Church so that there are different texts, different actions, different buildings, different emphases, different intentions. Diversity can also come about as the result of changes in society and the political sphere as much as anything religious. Particularly significant was the conversion of the Emperor Constantine in 313CE. This led to the transformation of Christianity into the public religion of the State. Now the Church found itself worshipping in the civic buildings that it had adopted, rather than in houses. This new and larger setting for worship demanded changes in the liturgy, in its presentation and style, and in the thinking about worship. In the following centuries there are further changes which are in part reactions to the past, the roots, and in part a response to the present. These are often best considered as changes in theology, for they reflect shifts in understanding: about God, the meaning of salvation and the ways in which the divine work may be effected. They also follow and create differing expectations of the liturgy, on the part of both the clergy and the people. At the Reformation Changes in the theology of the Eucharist, together with changed understanding of how salvation worked, meant that by the end of the Middle Ages the priest could say mass alone as part of his priestly obligation. Now what mattered was the dutiful offering of the sacrifice, by one who was worthy; communion was almost an afterthought. The communal activity of Eucharist had been replaced by the individual celebration of Mass. This characteristic of individuality is also evident in the practice of people acquiring merit for their soul by having a mass said for them. If they could not afford to purchase a mass they could at least add some merit by being present at the moment of consecration, particularly at the elevation of the host - and they could be seen going from church to church to be present at this saving moment. Even death did not bring this to an end - it could be continued by others saying mass for them, and it was common for people to leave money in their will to pay for the services of a priest. So we find the intention brought to a narrow limit. The offering of the great thanksgiving in the company of the faithful is replaced by the singular offering of sacrifice. A prayer for the soul of one departed at this time replaced the long lists of intercessions, that had followed the eucharistic prayer in many earlier rites and which led into the corporate recital of the Lord s Prayer. But alongside this focus on the individual there continued the communal practice of guild and charity masses and processions, and the churches being be full of light from the great tapers paid for by these institutions. The changed and the traditional existed side by side. In the early 1500s another change was taking place, for the Church no longer stood alone in the matter of scholarship. There was a new group of secular scholars, with new areas of interest and investigation. Active in the Low Countries, and in the ancient universities of Oxford and Cambridge, they were examining the newly discovered texts of ancient Greek philosophers and of the Church Fathers. They even dared to question the scriptures. 20

23 This encouraged others to take things into their own hands and we see a growing practice of individual and family prayer and spirituality. This is evident in the publication of Primers ; books of prayers and devotions to be said during Mass and on other occasions. They included texts in Latin, and frequently in the local language. In the face of this diversity there was strong pressure from Rome for uniformity in liturgical texts and practices, as a matter of papal authority and power as much as for any other reason. The almost universal presence of the Franciscan Order had been used as a way of trying to achieve this. But the other monastic Orders had continued with their own usages, as did most of the local and national churches. So that, in Italy alone, we find three liturgical traditions. At St Peter s the old order for mass tended towards the spare: simple in structure, short on words and actions, capable of giving space to the spiritually skilled who were able to pray for themselves and handle silence. A service that could be a spiritual antidote to the richness of life at the Vatican, or simply fitted into a very small allocation of time. Meanwhile out in the city the liturgy followed the Neapolitan tradition and was rich: in its shape, text, actions, and use of space. In the north the even richer Milanese rite was in use. In part this was a matter of history, of tradition, but it was also a matter of liturgy appropriate to local culture, taste, and need. Often it was practiced unquestioningly but it was facing a new challenge from within. Reform was the word on everyone s lips. Reformation in England By the sixteenth century mass was according to the Order from Salisbury (Sarum) through most of the Province of Canterbury. Yet there were still pockets using other traditions, and in other areas local usage was very much in force. Some of this contained echoes of the earlier Celtic understandings of church and spirituality that had given way to those of Rome. The new scholarship, with its encouragement of individual intellectual responsibility, and with its search for biblical authenticity, had considerable influence on what was to happen. The pattern for reform was to be gradual movement, by testing and searching, though there were those whose preferred way would have been more like revolution, in both theology and church practice. Under Henry VIII the Bible, in English, was to be placed in every church for public reading. Then the Creeds, Lord s Prayer and Ten Commandments were ordered to be said in English (Royal Injunctions of 1538). They had already been printed in English in many Primers, but now their use was to be for everyone. Following Henry s break with Rome it continued to be a matter of the old and the new side by side, though Cranmer had begun making private plans for an English Service Book about It was to be another ten years - when Edward VI had come to the throne - before Cranmer was charged to consider and ponder the premise of a uniform, quiet and Godly order... having as well eye and respect to the most sincere and pure Christian religion taught by scripture, as to the usages in the primitive church. He, and his committee, produced a Prayer Book in 1549 in which much of the familiar liturgical shape is retained. There are significant changes to theology, words and practice, such that it can be claimed to be truly reformed. Yet others see in it continuation of what was. This may have contributed to what happens next, for in 1552 a revised book is published, and this is more thoroughly reformed: in its theology, its words, and its liturgical shapes. We know it as the Book of Common Prayer (BCP 1662), for, with minor revisions, it was to be the book attached to the Royal Injunctions of Charles II at his restoration after the Commonwealth. Tools of enquiry When a Liturgy is enacted its meaning is conveyed in a variety of ways. These include: i) the way that the building is used and the place where different activities occur (sacred place) ii) the significance put upon the whole or special moments in the worship (sacred time) iii) the role of leaders and people and the way that they inter-relate (sacred people) iv) the action undertaken by the different participants (sacred action). 21

24 These tools of enquiry assist us in asking questions that enable us to understand what is happening in worship. The answers to the questions we may ask can be found in the text of the liturgy, but we also need to look at the stage directions. In the Middle Ages these directions for ceremonial were to be found in a separate book, the Ordo. Later they were inserted into the main text of the liturgy, as rubrics. Originally printed in red, hence the name, they are found in most modern copies in italics. Other sources of information include the art of the period, particularly the engravings of the sixteenth century. By tracing the changes in the use of sacred place, the significance of sacred time, the notion of sacred people and the use of sacred action it is possible to identify the different ways in which acts of worship are conceived and understood. This may be illustrated by changes in the mass by the late medieval period. i) It had become less a community event and more priest centred (a change in the notion of sacred people). ii) The focus of the liturgy had moved to the altar and away from the body of the Church (a change in the use of sacred place). iii) There was less emphasis on the importance of the whole liturgy and more concentration on particular moments: the words of institution, the offering of the sacrifice, the elevation of the host (a change in the notion of sacred time). iv) The mystery of the Eucharist was expressed through more and more complex ritual (a change in sacred action). These tools enable us to understand our particular liturgical heritage and to examine our own personal and church practice. (See Chart below). In turn they will equip us when responsible for ordering, creating, and delivering liturgy. Being aware of ourselves and others, of the past and the present, we can then worship. Rite Sacred people Sacred place Sacred time Sacred action Sarum Priest with deacon sub-deacon and candle bearers offer Mass for the Church The middle of the altar in the Holy Room (the chancel) is the place of sacrifice The Words of Institution is the significant moment in the service A divine drama in which the priest consecrates with elaborate manual acts 1549 PB Priest and people gather together around the altar. Priest says prayers The people go into the chancel to gather around the altar Whole service is significant, preaching encouraged Interplay of priest and people - Manual Acts and consecration 1552 PB People and minister share service in chancel The table is brought down into the church or chancel & the priest stands at the north side Liturgy of the Word is said even if there are no communicants Whole event is stressed - static - no manual acts or consecration 1662 PB Priest says prayers on behalf of the individuals present Laud had the altars put back to the East end of the church but the priest still stands at the North side The word and sacrament of equal weight People and priest are separated by chancel - manual acts and consecration Restored 22

25 GROUP SESSION 2 23

26 ARRIVE AND WORSHIP In pairs Share any reflections you have had on last week's session. As a group Worship together. PROJECT 1 As a group Refer to the two charts on the following pages (reproduced from the Introduction and Resource Section 1) Identify the ways in which each of the four rites understood: i) the role of the priest ii) the role of the people iii) the nature of the Church iv) the Eucharist PROJECT 2 Using Cranmer s Preface to the Prayer Book of 1549 (Text R2 in the Resource Section) and the Introduction to this session. Address the questions i) Why did Cranmer believe that a new Prayer Book was needed? ii) What did he hope it would achieve? iii) In what ways do you think the issues that prompted Cranmer to create a Prayer Book are still relevant for the Church today? 24

27 PROJECT 3 Discuss the view that: Priests should celebrate communion in Jeans and a T-Shirt to show that they are one with the people. REFLECTION Reflect together on the question: What in this session may help me to better understand and express my faith? PRAYER and PREPARATION Offer the session's work to God in prayer. Plan your preparation for session 3. 25

28 Rite Sacred people Sacred place Sacred time Sacred action Sarum Priest with deacon sub-deacon and candle bearers offer Mass for the Church The middle of the altar in the Holy Room (the chancel) is the place of sacrifice The Words of Institution is the significant moment in the service A divine drama in which the priest consecrates with elaborate manual acts 1549 PB Priest and people gather together around the altar. Priest says prayers The people go into the chancel to gather around the altar Whole service is significant, preaching encouraged Interplay of priest and people - Manual Acts and consecration 1552 PB People and minister share service in chancel The table is brought down into the church or chancel & the priest stands at the north side Liturgy of the Word is said even if there are no communicants Whole event is stressed - static - no manual acts or consecration 1662 PB Priest says prayers on behalf of the individuals present Laud had the altars put back to the East end of the church but the priest still stands at the North side The word and sacrament of equal weight People and priest are separated by chancel - manual acts and consecration Restored IN THE SARUM RITE SACRED PLACE C P Sd Clerks People throughout the Service C D 26

29 IN THE 1549 PRAYER BOOK C P C Sd D Women from Offertory Men from Offertory People during the Service and non-communicants from the Offertory IN THE 1552 PRAYER BOOK Women and children P Men IN THE 1662 PRAYER BOOK (The 1662 and 1552 rubrics are the same. Shown here is the pattern frequently found in the 18th Century) Pulpit and Stall Box Pews Free Benches P Squire s Box Pew Box Pews Free Benches 27

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31 SESSION 3 AN ORDER FOR HOLY COMMUNION (2) For this session 1. Study the Introduction and undertake supporting reading including the extract from Hefling, Oxford Guide to the Book of Common Prayer provided in the Reading Block. 2. Read the Introduction to the Eucharist 2004 available to download at and familiarise yourself with the Order for the Holy Eucharist 2004 available for download at the same address. 3. In 250 words address the question: Why has the Church in Wales revised its liturgy over the past 50 years? Include theological, ecclesiological, and social factors. 29

32 SESSION 3 An Order for Holy Communion (2) INTRODUCTION With the Book of Common Prayer we have the foundation document of the liturgy and doctrine of the Church of England. However, its use has been challenged from the beginning, for there have always been those who wished for a more catholic liturgy in the tradition of 1549, and those for whom the memorial meal approach of the reformed churches was attractive. In this they continued positions held by Laudians and protestants in the early seventeenth century. This division would surface again in the nineteenth century when two major movements in the English Church: the Oxford Movement (Anglo Catholic) and the Evangelical Revival, challenged the sufficiency of the Book of Common Prayer to meet all liturgical and spiritual needs. Then, in 1914, the church found itself at war, and the chaplains were reporting that what was in their hand was of little use in the face of such suffering, nor in the constraints of time and place that were the trenches. If you were part of the Anglo Catholic wing how were you to create a vision of heaven when bent low for safety and covered in mud, and the candles kept blowing out. Or if from the Evangelical wing how were you to preach when every other word was lost under the scream of a shell. Inadequate and inappropriate were the words being used to describe the BCP. Following the war the concerns of the Church had changed. The large number of widows and orphans, and then the experience of the Depression, led to a renewed exploration of the social context of theology, of pastoral care and of worship: as we see in the writings of Archbishop William Temple. In 1920 the Church in Wales was disestablished and therefore gained control of its own liturgical destiny for itself (although Welsh language translations of the 1662 BCP were in common usage, the Church in Wales, as simply separate Diocese of the Church of England, had no independent existence and hence no independent liturgy before this time. Robert Paterson, in The Oxford Guide to the Book of Common Prayer says Until its disestablishment the Welsh church was part of the Church of England, but even after the creation of a new separate ecclesiastical province in 1920 the 1662 Prayer Book continued to be used with minor variations, such as no longer referring to the monarch as a 'governor. Although the Church in Wales was free to order its own liturgical life, it chose for the first generation simply to use what it had inherited, deciding in 1922, for example, to adopt the Church of England s new lectionary in order to save the inconvenience of having to publish its own. The later consequences for liturgy of constitutional independence were both positive and negative. Negatively it prevented Church of England liturgical materials from being used in Wales unless specifically authorized by the Governing Body the province s legislative synod. Positively however, it led over the course of time to the development of an unique Welsh style of Anglican public worship, generally more formal and less diverse than in many other parts of the Anglican Communion. At the beginning of the twentieth century leading figures in the Welsh church felt they had been abandoned, under pressure from Nonconformists and political Liberals in favour of disestablishment and disendowment, and many stressed the catholic heritage of the church, at the expense of its Reformed character, over against what was at the time a considerable Nonconformist majority in Wales. Thus, following disestablishment, the Church in Wales developed a distinctive style of churchmanship conservative and moderately catholic in style and an ethos distinct from that of the Church of England. (Patterson in Hefling and Shattuck (eds) 2006) Between the wars, while the 1662 BCP formed the basis of the worship of the CiW, many variations in local practice and liturgy were commonplace in the parishes, many based upon the proposed 1928 revision of the 30