Skip to main content

Which Liturgies to Use

I just spent a week at our Diocesan Shrinemont conference. I had a unique experience when the liturgy team asked me to celebrate the Eucharist that evening. Without a second thought I said, "Of course." A little later in the day, I was having some fun with them and asked, "This will be Rite 1 completely chanted correct?" Then I was told that we were actually using another Eucharistic Prayer, one that was composed by a female priest in South Africa.

As I looked over the prayer, I found several things I wasn't all that comfortable with. The proper preface had nothing to do with the person and work of Jesus Christ. Nowhere did the prayer ask for the Holy Spirit to come down and sanctify the gifts. It hit me at that moment that I really am becoming a stickler for the book.

As Anglicans, we have spent the last 500 years resisting a comprehensive confession of our beliefs. Instead we have operated under the premise that how we pray shapes how we believe. If that is the case, we really need to be careful about the prayers we use in public worship. With no established confession, the prayers will determine our theology at our deepest levels. A well-meaning, beautiful prayer seem like a good idea at the time, but without the scrutiny of General Convention, theologians, and liturgists of our Church, such a prayer may have unintended consequences.

That being said, I am not against introducing new prayers for our worship, I just feel that they need to be theologically sound, and we need to take our time evaluating them before they are used in a public setting. So in the interests of new prayers, as well as deepening our ecumenical relations, I would like to post the following prayer for consideration.

http://eleisonmusic.com/Eucharistic_Prayer-Divine_Liturgy_of_St._John_Chrysostom.htm

This prayer is one that I have compiled from the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, which is one of the two main liturgies for the Orthodox Church. I have shortened it in certain places, so it would fit into the rhythm of Episcopal worship. I post it here to begin a conversation. What do we think about this prayer? Does it have the necessary elements to fit into our theology. There's quite a bit here that we don't normally have - are they combersome, or will they help us deepen our faith?

Thanks for reading and I look forward to your comments.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Advent Challenge - Luke Chapters 8 and 9

Weekends can be a busy thing around the holidays.  Ironically Advent invites us to slow down while the world around us is speeding up with decorating, parties, shopping, etc.  That's why a challenge like reading a chapter of Luke every day is important - it refocusses you. Chapter 8 starts out with a parable about a farmer sowing seeds.  Most of the seed ends up useless, while the seed that fell on good soil yielded a massive harvest.  When the disciples asked what the parable is about, Jesus described it in terms of the Word of God, often falling on hearts that are either unwilling or unready, and it doesn't take hold.  But for some, it lands on a heart that's willing and ready, and bears much fruit. This sets the stage for two miracles that come next - the calming of the sea and the healing of a demoniac.  Jesus and the disciples went out on a boat, and a big storm came upon them.  While everyone else was panicking, Jesus was fast asleep in the stern...
Post a Comment
Read more

Setbacks, Disappointments, and New Opportunities

Yesterday I received a phone call I had been waiting anxiously for. It was about a job I had put in for - and I didn’t get it. The person delivering the news was kind, and even encouraged me to apply for another position that, in her opinion, was a better fit for me. It is a different kind of job, would require a decent commute, and I’m not sure I have it in me to enter another process right now.  This morning I got myself showered and dressed and put on my clericals. Even though I was home all day I wanted to shoot a video and hence the outfit. Somehow just dressing up had me feeling less dejected - like I still could do something I was proud of. I remember years ago when my dad was looking for work. Each day he put on a shirt and tie before filling out job applications.  After the video I scheduled some more content, opened up my notebook, and started working on my plan. The ideas began to flow, time seemed to flow by, and before I knew it I had a pretty great outline for a ...
1 comment
Read more

The Anti-Consumer

There has been quite a lot of talk about the economy lately. Perhaps its the upcoming election, perhaps the sub-prime mortgage bubble, or maybe it's because the FDIC has just stated that it may have to borrow money from the federal reserve in order to make good on it's promises. There's a lot of talk on the part of both Barack Obama and John McCain on the policies they would like to implement in order to improve our economy. The problem I see in all of this is that each candidate wants the government to fix things, so that life can go on as usual for the people in America. I think our economic problems go far beyond a deficit in the government. We are a society of excess and we're consuming all of our resources. Just look at the amount of credit card debt, mortgage debt, consumer debt, student loan debt that we amass as a society. All this in the name of 'getting ahead' and 'living the American dream.' Yes there are unscrupulous practices in the f...
1 comment
Read more