Fresh Summer Worship

Liturgical Tidbits

Our summer service is a way for all the people of St. Paul's, regardless of when you worship during the year, to come together in worship and be drawn yet closer to God and one another. As we move forward, you will see articles about the summer service in our newsletter and "Liturgical Tidbits" in the Sunday Grace Notes bulletin inserts. These "tidbits" will explain the thinking behind different aspects of the liturgy. We will compile and post these notes to this page (with the most recent note always posted to the top). 

Epiphany

The name “Epiphany” comes from a Greek word meaning "reveal." January 6, 12 days after Christmas, celebrates the coming of the Magi/Wise Men/Kings to find Jesus. It celebrates the "revealing" of the son of God to the Gentiles, represented by the strangers from the East. On the first Sunday after Epiphany, we celebrate the baptism of Jesus by John. We hear in the gospel reading that the spirit descended, God revealed to those present, and to us, that Jesus is God's beloved Son and God is well pleased. An epiphany for those who heard it and perhaps for Jesus, too, the event marked the beginning of Jesus's journey and ministry of healing, teaching and revealing.

This is our first “Liturgical Tidbit” of 2011, courtesy of Adrian Luxmoore, Worship Committee Chair. This special series, intended to illuminate different aspects of our worship together, was started last summer as part of Elevation 1.0, implementing our parish vision from Such Great Heights. Look for occasional updates in this space.

The Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost, September 5

The Gifts of God A poem by Adrian Luxmoore, author of the Liturgical Tidbits published each Sunday this summer in the Grace Notes bulletin insert.

With open hands
Ready to receive
We wait expectantly.

The bread is broken
The body of Christ
A taste of heaven
Offered to us

Consecrated wine
The blood of Christ
Salvation promised
Offered to us

God’s spirit
Poured out
The gift of new life
Offered to us

Taken by us
Into the world
Doing the work
God has given us to do.

Listening to the Spirit
Using our gifts
Proclaiming Christ

Thanks be to God

The Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, August 29

Leavened Bread for Eucharist This summer during the 10 a.m. service, and at the 9 a.m. service throughout the year, we use home baked, leavened bread for communion. We do this for several reasons:

It is baked by a parishioner and so the bread is a gift from a member of the congregation who used his or her talents to create it.

As we consume the piece that has been broken from the loaf for us we can feel its reality just as we hope to feel the reality of Christ in us.

Jesus likens the Kingdom of Heaven to yeast in flour during a parable in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Our bread recalls this image.

Finally, when yeast is kneaded into dough and left in a warm place, the yeast acts as an unseen agent, rising and transforming the dough in an almost magical way. The grape juice is transformed into wine by a similar process, though the yeast is naturally present. The yeast in the dough and the juice are like God working in us. We can be transformed by the Spirit into someone different just as the dough and the grape juice are transformed into bread and wine; just as the bread and the wine are transformed into the body and blood of Christ, the bread of heaven, the cup of salvation.

The risen bread is transformed in the Eucharistic prayer into the risen Christ.

The Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost, August 22

Language in Liturgy Since the first American prayer book was adopted in 1789 the church has sought language that reflects our beliefs and expresses our relationship to God. The creation and adoption of “Enriching Our Worship,” the supplement to the Book of Common Prayer, continues that tradition. This summer, we began using the supplement during the 10 a.m. service. The language tries to avoid limiting imagery (such as identifying God with a gender) by expanding the language and metaphors used to speak to and about God. The language is actually a return to the imagery used in the Early Church and by the Medieval mystics, which had been neglected by liturgies published in recent centuries.

Experience shows that many of us are wary of language that seems abstract or depersonalizing. Images and language that illuminate seem to be preferred over minor alterations. Worshipers also need to be able to relate unfamiliar words and metaphors to some context, e.g. life experiences or continuity with biblical or ecclesiastical tradition.

Thus, the goal of the supplement was to find “language and imagery which would speak to the diversity of people who worship in the Episcopal Church today, both those who are well steeped in the tradition and those whose knowledge of scripture and the Christian tradition is fragmentary and to whom much traditional liturgical language is puzzling. The goal was to employ evocative language which would lead worshipers deeper into the mystery of God.” (Excerpted from the introduction to Enriching Our Worship) 

The Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost, August 15

Confession and the Peace Most Anglican Eucharist liturgies include a "Confession of Sin." In all of the liturgies for Eucharist in the Episcopal Church, past and present, the confession takes place at the end of the Liturgy of the Word. We have heard instruction about the Christian life and prayed for those in need so that we know something about how we fall short. Before we approach the altar and participate in the communion, it is right and proper for us to "acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness," as the first English Prayer book describes it. It can be a moment of denial - have we really been "evil" as today's confession has us say? Nevertheless, we can certainly admit to "denying your good." And now is the time to recall and acknowledge that shortcoming as we seek a restored, renewed unity with our neighbor and with God.

The 1979 Book of Common Prayer follows the confession and absolution with the exchange of the peace, a ritual recovered from the early Church and reintroduced in this book. The Peace is the time when, newly absolved from sin, we are greeted by the priest and when we greet our fellow worshippers - "The peace of Christ." It is a highly symbolic moment as we prepare to approach the altar to receive the gift of bread and wine, the gift of new life. Refraining from being part of further conversation can heighten the meaning of the moment, as a time of prayerful preparation.

The Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost, August 8

From Many to One to Many Prior to the 16th Century and the Reformation, there were innumerable ways that the Western (European) Church celebrated Eucharist. Then, during the Reformation, each new denomination that formed would establish its own unique way to worship. Anglican worship took a distinctive form when Thomas Cranmer wrote the first English Prayer Book. Soon after that publication, the Roman Catholic Church wrote their own Latin Missal at the Council of Trent, resulting in a single Mass that was used world wide for about 400 years, until 1965.

The first Anglicans to break away from the Church of England and create their own liturgy were those in the United States, who did so soon after Independence. That is the way it stayed until the last half of the 20th Century when still other new liturgies began to appear. The Roman Catholic and the Anglican churches developed liturgies in the various languages and branches of the church. Many Anglican Provinces developed multiple versions. The 1979 American Episcopal Book of Common Prayer (BCP) has six forms for the Great Thanksgiving compared to one form in the 1928 BCP. The BCP supplement, Enriching our Worship, which we use at the 10 a.m. service, has three more forms.

Though there are many forms of The Great Thanksgiving, Eucharist everywhere, and throughout history includes these four actions: (1) taking, (2) blessing, (3) breaking or pouring and (4) distributing the bread and wine, the body and blood of Christ, echoing the action of Jesus at the Last Supper. 

The Ninth Sunday after Pentecost, July 25

Using the Service Bulletin In many Episcopal churches, the Order of Service bulletin has replaced the Book of Common Prayer as the primary reference for the liturgy. For many, especially those who grew up before the adoption of the 1979 prayer book, this change is a cultural shock. Why? What happened?

Prior to 1979 there was just one liturgy for the Holy Communion. The service started at the beginning and continued, page by page, to the end. The congregation had to turn to the hymnal for the music but that was the only interruption. But the 1979 Book of Common Prayer provided the flexibility for variations: two distinct liturgies for Eucharist; six different versions of the Eucharistic Prayer; six different versions of the Prayers of the People and the option to write our own; and we recite a psalm.

No longer can we start at the beginning of the liturgy and continue page by page to the end. Rather, we have to flip pages to find our way and we probably need directions. Putting everything except the music in a bulletin has proven to be a simpler and more welcoming solution. And it allows us additional flexibility - to write our own "Prayers of the People," to use music that is not in an available book; and to use the supplement "Enriching Our Worship." It is also hospitable to newcomers to our church.

The Eighth Sunday after Pentecost, July 18

Gifts From God Become Gifts to God Become Gifts From God During the Eucharist, bread and wine are brought to the table by representatives of the congregation. At the 10:00 service the bread is baked by a parishioner. Monetary gifts given by the members of the congregation are also placed on the table. These represent the fruits of our labors in the world, the uses we have made of the gifts of talents and abilities we have been given by God.

The priest, acting as God's representative at the table, takes them and blesses them. Then, at the end of the action, the priest lifts them and shows them to the congregation, saying "The gifts of God for the people of God," or similar words. The gifts we gave to God have been transformed into gifts that God gives us; into the body and blood of Christ; the bread of Heaven; the cup of Salvation.

We are then sent out into the world fed spiritually by those gifts "to do the work God has given us to do." In the world, we offer the gifts of talents and capabilities that we have been given and receive gifts from God in return.

And we live this transformation every time we are mindful of the presence of God in our lives (though we are not able to do that all the time however hard we try!). We live a life where we offer the gifts we have been given and receive gifts from God in return.

The Seventh Sunday after Pentecost, July 11

Why are we standing for the Prayer after Communion? In some Eucharist liturgies at St. Paul’s the members of the congregation kneel to recite the prayer after Communion. In others we stand. In some we are not sure we know what to do. This summer, at the 10:00 service, we are inviting the congregation to stand. The thrust of this prayer is for us to thank God for all that we have received and experienced during the liturgy and to ask God to “send us forth in the power of the Spirit.” In the words of the Book of Common Prayer “send us out to do the work you have given us to do.”
 
So we ask God to send us, to show that we are indeed ready to be sent out, to be sent forth into the world to do the work God has given us to do. To Israel and the West Bank, to Tanzania, to Church Hill, to St. Paul’s kitchen, to the Financial District, to the myriad of places where we live and work.

The Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, July 4

The First Day of the Week We come together to worship on Sundays, the Lord’s day. Sunday is not the seventh day of the week that the fourth commandment tells the Jews to keep holy, the day they call Sabbath; the day God rested in the first Genesis creation story. Sunday worship is a remembrance of the first day of the week, the first day of creation, the day the disciples first experienced the resurrection of Christ, the day Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and met the risen Christ in the garden.

Many of the resurrection appearances mentioned in the gospels are associated with meals – on a beach over a breakfast of fish; in a locked and shuttered room; after meeting Christ on the road to Emmaus. So we celebrate and remember Christ’s resurrection on the first day of the week with a ritual meal in Christ’s presence. We re-enact the last supper that Jesus had with his disciples. We remember the meals that the disciples shared with the risen Christ. We pray and yearn to meet the resurrected Christ in the liturgy, in “the body of Christ, the bread of heaven;” in “the blood of Christ, the cup of salvation.” We pray and yearn to receive and carry that Christ into the world, in our daily lives, doing the work God has given us to do.

The Fifth Sunday after Pentecost, June 27

The Word of the Lord The Episcopal Book of Common Prayer (BCP) says that the reader of the Old and New Testament Lessons may end with the words “The Word of the Lord,” to which the congregation responds “Thanks be to God.” We at St. Paul’s have become used to that closure. It was a new addition with our current BCP – prior to that the reader said: “Here endeth the lesson.” In one of his Lenten sermons, Bishop Jack Spong objected to the new phrase because it implies that what was read was literally what God said. While there are many who believe that the bible is literally “the Word of the Lord,” there are also many with a different understanding of how God speaks through scripture, that the message is not presented literally, word for word, but metaphorically or symbolically. The message may be more subtle and complex than the literal words imply.

This summer, at 10:00, we are hearing a different ending: “Hear what the Spirit is saying to God’s people.” This accommodates those who read the scripture as the literal words of God, as well as those who look for meaning behind and beneath the words. We are all urged to listen and pay attention to the intent of what the Scripture is saying, not just the words. And we give thanks to God for that message.

The Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, June 20

Eucharist Every Sunday For the first 1500 years after the birth of Christ, Christians celebrated Eucharist on Sundays. Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians continue the tradition to the present day. After The Reformation in the 16th Century, Protestants, including the Church of England, started offering alternatives. For the Church of England the alternatives were Morning and Evening prayer, which were derived from the weekday prayers. The change was part of the rebellion against the Pope and the symbolism prevalent in the Roman Catholic church, both of which had seemingly been misused. It was an appeal to the head and reason rather than to the heart and mystery. It was a way to diminish the role of the priest and give the people direct involvement. In some areas, it became a way to accommodate and adapt to a shortage of priests.

Liturgical renewal in the second half of the 20th Century led Anglicans back to following Jesus’ command to “Do this in remembrance of me,” to celebrate and remember the day of His resurrection with Eucharist. The 1979 Episcopal Book of Common Prayer defines Eucharist as “the principal act of Christian worship on the Lord’s Day.” We honor that belief, and Jesus’ command, by celebrating Eucharist every Sunday.

The Third Sunday after Pentecost, June 13

"And the Son" As we recite the creed, have you found yourself saying "and the son" when those around you have finished the sentence and moved on? The Nicene Creed we are using this summer has the words "We believe in the Holy Spirit who proceeds from the Father." We are used to adding "and the Son." When the creed was agreed to at the Council of Nicea in the year 325, the phrase "and the son" was not included. During the second half of the first millennium, some churches in the West started adding "and the Son" and gradually that became the accepted version. The Eastern Orthodox church never made the change and the difference is one of the bones of contention between Western and Eastern Orthodox churches.

Because the revised wording has never been approved by an ecumenical council, the Lambeth Conference and the General Convention of the Episcopal Church have agreed that any new Prayer Book will use a direct translation of the original and exclude the "and the son" wording. This summer we are using one of those new prayer books. The words we say this summer are a direct translation of the words written in 325. There have been long and complex theological discussions about this issue and the resolutions of the two bodies did not try to resolve those discussions.

The Second Sunday after Pentecost, June 6

The Collect for Purity This collect is the first prayer said in the service and in many ways sets the tone. It is ancient; dating from the 9th century or earlier. Prior to 1549 it was said by the priest in private during his preparation for worship. In 1549, in the first English prayer book, it was translated from Latin into English, virtually word for word, and brought into the public worship service. Since then the only change has been to replace “thee” with “you.” And it has become more public, in many churches (as we do now) the congregation recites it with the priest.

The words are a confession that God knows us better than we know ourselves, and that we are not whole. The Collect is followed by a prayer that we be transformed by God into the fullness that God intends for us, filled with the Holy Spirit, living a life of loving and praising God. And we have the courage to ask this through the incarnation and resurrection of Christ. It is the whole Christian message and hope in 50 words or less! A perfect opening to our service whose focus is to pray that God will come into the bread, the wine, and our lives.

Trinity Sunday, May 30

Summer Service Design Group The Greeters, Readers and Eucharistic Ministers at today's service are all members of the team that created the form of the liturgy we will use this summer at 10 a.m. We want your comments and opinions and invite you to talk with them after the service this morning. In particular, we invite you to reflect on the liturgy and respond to the question "What did you notice?" Please let us know using the tear off in this bulletin, talking to one of us or the clergy, or attending one of the discussion sessions planned for the fourth Sunday of each month. Next week, look for a liturgical tidbit about the history of The Collect for Purity.