Common Worship Research Articles

Den queer Pontoppidan

AbstractIn this article, we pursue the idea that Pontoppidan’s writing lends itself well to being read with a queer theoretical approach. We focus on Jakobe in Lykke-Per/A Fortunate Man and show how, by virtue of her morbidity, her Jewish otherness, her intelligence, her entrepreneurial initiative and her care for the children of the proletariat, she is an excellent example of Jack Halberstam’s “female masculinity”. In De Dødes Rige/ Realm of the Dead, the author has taken his two main characters out of bourgeois society’s worship of the future in the form of the young child – what Lee Edelman calls “reproductive futurism”. Therein also lies an acceptance of death and the end that departs much from the common worship of progress and future, what Sarah Ensor calls “terminal temporality”. Finally, we point out that there are probably limitations to how queer the author was able to be, a child of his time like anyone else.

The Orthodox Brotherhood of Bishop Makarii (Opotskii) in the Context of Persecution in the Twentieth Century

The religious life of Orthodox believers under the conditions of persecution in the 20th century, especially from the mid-20s to the first half of the 40s, has not been sufficiently studied. Many communities, including brotherhoods, were forced to go underground due to the repressive policies of civil authorities. This is associated with a number of problems in providing this topic with archival sources. The article examines the life of the Orthodox brotherhood founded in 1924 by Bishop Makarii (Opotskii), which existed in several cities in northwestern Russia until 1942. The source base was not only materials from state and departmental but also private archives, as well as the results of field research. The article is based on the principles of historicism, comprehensiveness and scientific objectivity; methods of the micro-historical direction are used: historical-genetic, comparative; oral history method – interviews. The study showed that the brotherhood was able to survive all the waves of persecution of the 1920s and 1930s. In the 1920s, it showed noticeable resistance to Cherepovets renovationism and carried out legal activities within the framework of what was permitted by the civil authorities. The main activity was education. In 1937 it became illegal. The principles thanks to which the brotherhood managed to maintain its functionality were identified: concern for the presence of leaders, maximum maintenance of communication regardless of location, mutual trust between members of the community. Thanks to this, the brotherhood was able to practice such forms of religious life as common worship, regular participation in the sacraments, reading of the Holy Scriptures, sermons and spiritual conversations. It seems promising to compare the brotherhood of Bishop Makarii (Opotskii) with one or more similar communities operating in the same period or on the same territory

Worship as Ascetic Experience and Facilitator of Unity in Maximus's Mystagogy

precis: In his Mystagogy , Maximus the Confessor explored the ritual space and action of the church, especially how liturgical progression through them both reflects and realizes spiritual progress. In this framework, Maximus presented a picture of the church's shared prayer as an ascetic experience that both spiritually transforms the individual and creates unity among its participants. Such unity is not merely formal or performative but, rather, is actualized though a self-forgetting that occurs when participants willingly attune to a common worship and, in love, make the church's prayer their own. Thus, the Mystagogy presents shared prayer as a type and even a prolepsis of the willing and loving surrender of the self in the eschaton.

Analiza Modlitwy Eucharystycznej G Kościoła Anglii

The article is dedicated to the analysis of one of the contemporary eucharistic prayers of the Church of England. The author analyzes Eucharistic Prayer G, which is one of the main eucharistic prayers in the Church of England. Prayer G is included in the main volume of the liturgical series of Common Worship in Order One, which means that the Prayer is intended for widespread use in the liturgy of the Church of England. Prayer G apart from standard parts of every anaphora, such as the introductory dialogue or the institution narrative, contains also its own characteristics in its content. In the course of the analysis, the author points out specific features of the Prayer, which indicate uniqueness of Prayer G among other eucharistic prayers of the Church of England.

Difficult texts in Common Worship

Two examples from Common Worship that make no sense: one a prescribed reading and the other a post-Communion prayer.

Fiat Lux! Anchored in Glory—No Scandals to Dread

Fiat Lux! Anchored in Glory—No Scandals to Dread Sister Maria of the Angels O.P. “Something strange is happening—there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep.” Thus begins an ancient homily used all over the world in the liturgy for Holy Saturday. This year these words have a particular poignancy. Something strange is happening. Churches all over the world are sunk in the unprecedented silence of suspended public worship. Here in this monastery, although the usual silence continues to be punctuated by common worship, there is still a greater silence. The computer that was left on in order to receive updates on a relative afflicted with Covid-19 has been turned off. The message had arrived early on Good Friday—“the tubes on the ventilator became clogged and his wonderful heart stopped.” Other names of victims of “the virus” appear one by one on the board outside the chapel. The nuns’ choir and the public chapel are almost completely dark. Together we sit in the shadow of death, the death of the Lord and so many others all over the world. The altar is stripped, the tabernacle empty, no sanctuary lamp, no exposition candles burning. We sit in a dark silence before Matins begins. The first streaks of dawn gradually appear and slowly light fills the air. One is reminded of the original Fiat Lux! and made bold to question the darkness. Why? How? How long? Pope Francis, in his March 27 Urbi et Orbi message,1 stated that the current crisis has exposed the illusion that “we would stay healthy in a world that was sick” and that the present moment “is a time to get our lives back on [End Page 1237] track.” Often the best way to get “back on track” is to retrace one’s steps and return to the beginning. This year, in a unique way, we are invited to return to the very beginning when “God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness,”2 brought into being all that exists. This was an act of profound generosity and, at the same time, baffling simplicity. God had no need to create and was in no way changed by his creation of all things out of nothing.3 Why then did God create? Simply for the manifestation of his own goodness and the sharing of his own inner life of uncreated happiness with created persons. The one God, who is three divine persons, is the causa et ratio of the coming forth from and return of all creation to God.4 The goodness that is manifested by the created world and into which it is drawn is the goodness of the divine Trinitarian life. Put differently, God created, out of nothing, everything that is and with himself, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, as the exemplar or model as well as the final goal.5 The existence of every created reality, with the Creator himself as the pattern [End Page 1238] and end of all things, is a relational existence. Everything that exists is the recipient of a particular form and dynamism to its proper end. When it exists according to this form and dynamism, it flourishes and gives glory to its Maker. Reflecting upon these origins offers us the surest way of resetting our lives in a conversion that goes all the way down. Everything that exists has come forth from the mind of God. Only a return to the truth of real things and gaining a renewed perception of the way things are intended to correspond to the wise design of God can make possible a true reorientation of our lives. Variety, Hierarchy, Mediation Although God is one, simple, and immutable,6 the world he created is, by design, varied, hierarchically ordered, and possessed of an inbuilt tendency of movement toward completion. As Saint Thomas says: The distinction and multitude of things comes from the intention of the first agent, who is God. For He brought things into being in order that His goodness might be communicated to creatures, and be represented...

The Offertory as Anamnesis toward Ethical Action: Common Worship as a Case Study

Liturgical scholarship identifies the memorial section of the Eucharistic Prayer as the anamnesis. However, Eucharistic liturgies can contain multiple anamneses. For example, Alexander Schmemann speaks of the anamnetic quality of the Great Entrance in the Byzantine Rite in his book The Eucharist. In Anglican worship, the offertory rite is juxtaposed (à la Gordon Lathrop) with the prayers of penitence, prayers of intercession, and the peace. These juxtapositions produce the type of transformative opportunities Bruce Morrill discusses in his book Anamnesis as Dangerous Memory. In this paper, I examine the offertory rite as found in the Church of England’s Common Worship as an example of this juxtaposition. Using Schmemann, Lathrop and Morrill’s liturgical theology as foundational, I argue that the offertory rite in Anglican worship is anamnetic and can lead to a transformative encounter with Christ, leading to ethical action.

The Revised Marriage Rite in the 2018 Book of Common Worship

Forasmuch as Marriage is a sacred relation, the ground of human fellowship and society, and most precious to mankind; although it be not a Sacrament nor peculiar to the Church of Christ, it is prop...

Children and Liturgy: Considering the Place Children Have in Liturgical Worship

The Book of Common Worship of the Church of South India (CSI, a church developed from various Protestant denominations coming together) is said to be one of the greatest Christian expressions of unity in diversity. In this article I discuss the notion of the citizenship of children in church, specifically looking at the liturgical practices in the CSI. I first give a brief historical setting of the CSI and its liturgy and then investigate the status, identity, and rights of children within the context of worship in CSI churches.

A History of Anglican Exorcism: Deliverance and Demonology in Church Ritual

A History of Anglican Exorcism: Deliverance and Demonology in Church Ritual

Anderson's "Common worship: Tradition, formation, mission" (book review)

Anderson's "Common worship: Tradition, formation, mission" (book review)

A Timely Contribution of the English Reformation to an Evangelical Public Theology of Law and Freedom

ABSTRACT The public theology of the English Reformation provides evangelical resources for critically and constructively overcoming the legalistic and juridical ethos/ethic of contemporary society informed by the liberal tradition of natural rights. It focuses created human freedom through the lens of its renewal by God’s saving judgment given in Jesus Christ, communicated through the church’s faithful practices of proclamation, centered in common worship. Co-ordinately, it locates within the sinful human condition the practices of human law (political judgment) in their dependence on God’s law, presenting them as afflicted by moral distortions and ambiguities but ultimately ordered to God’s saving judgment. Thus, it dialectically overcomes the two tendencies of liberal natural rights: to assimilate created human freedom and order to the juridical forms of sinful human community, and to suppress the ordering of the practices of political judgment to those of communicating God’s renewal of human freedom in Jesus Christ.

Common Worship

People of faith, particularly in the Judeo-Christian tradition, worship corporately at least as often, if not more so, than they do individually. Why do they do this? There are, of course, many reasons, some having to do with personal preference and others having to do with the theology of worship. But, in this paper, we explore one reason, a philosophical reason, which, despite recent work on the philosophy of liturgy, has gone underappreciated. In particular, we argue that corporate worship enables a person to come to know God better than they would otherwise know him in individual worship.

Book Review: The Authority of the Gospel: Explorations in Moral and Political Theology in Honor of Oliver O'Donovan

The Authority of the Gospel: Explorations in Moral and Political Theology in Honor of Oliver O'Donovan. Edited by Robert Song and Brent Waters. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans Publishing, 2015. xxi + 294 pp. $45.00 (cloth).In his foreword to this festschrift Rowan Williams describes Oliver O'Donovan as of the most serious thinkers the Anglican family has nurtured in the last century or so (p. viii). Although Reinhold Niebuhr and Stanley Hauerwas may have had wider general influence, if one considers the field of Christian ethics, then in terms of erudition in scholarly languages, theological insight, historical engagement, and the sheer range of issues of concern to which O'Donovan brings his illuminating analysis, he is without peer.This festschrift is reflective of the broad range of O'Donovan s interests: political theology, of course (historical and contemporary), ethical theory (practical reason, natural law, virtues), detailed engagement with the application of moral principles in complex situations (for example, just war), and the life of the Christian in the world and in the church (preaching and liturgy).There are several essays on the intersection of church and world, of public and private morality, an area where the insights of Augustine are still bearing fruit. Eric Gregory has a fine essay on the civic virtues. Brian Brock has a helpful essay on What Is ?the Public'?, interacting with Augustine, O'Donovan, and Bonhoeffer and reflecting, for example, on the misguided French authorities banning forms of Muslim dress in public on the basis of false universals. Jonathan Chaplin also deals with the challenge of pluralism in modern society, and how governments can make judgments about controversial issues in the context of a variety of fundamental moral and religious convictions. The complexity and diversity of the world itself should be reflected in the complexity of such judgments.Christian character and moral virtue, supported by sound theology, is foundational to the effective witness of the church in the world. In fact, the festschrift underscores this point by bracketing the entire collection with treatments of Christian love: in the first essay Bernd Wannenwetsch explores the dialectic of faith and love in Augustine and Luther. And in the final essay we have O'Donovan himself returning to the theme of self-love, its degeneration to material self-interest, and the problems with modern notions of equality.The virtue of prudence is in large part a form of seeing things correctly (as well as making good judgments), and Hans Ulrich brings Old and New Testament material to bear on the importance of discernment. The late John Webster has a very helpful analysis of the role of sorrow in the Christian life, largely based on interaction with Thomas Aquinas.Moving from the Christian individual to corporate life in the church, we have Shinji Kayama and Joan O'Donovan. Kayama, a pastor in Yokohama, Japan, writes on preaching as moral pedagogy, drawing lessons from the different (and sometimes questionable) ways in which Augustine dealt with the challenge of re-incorporating the Donatists in the Catholic Church, and how he developed the central concept of pax ordinata. There are many valuable insights in Joan O'Donovan's reminder of the Tudor reformers' theological intentions in framing the Anglican liturgies, such as this part of her conclusion: Only the eschatological renewal of human moral agency and action through the church's practice of proclamation, centred in her common worship, can overcome the tyranny of the law . …

Remembering Our Divided Past: Looking to Our Ecumenical Future

Remembering Our Divided Past:Looking to Our Ecumenical Future Thomas F. Best (bio) The North American Academy of Ecumenists observed the decisive ecumenical event of 2016 and 2017—the 500th Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation—at its meeting September 23–25, 2016, at Emory University's Candler School of Theology (Rev. Dr. Jan Love, Dean) in Atlanta, Georgia. We are proud to present the presentations from this meeting, held under the theme "'Commemorating' the Reformation: Churches Looking Together toward 2017—and Beyond." Through presentations and conversations, the Academy—perhaps the leading professional association of teachers and practitioners of ecumenism in North America—probed the ecumenical significance of the 500th anniversary of the European reformations. Together we asked: What have Christians learned from our long history of division and newfound ecumenical commitment? How can the churches use this anniversary to recommit themselves to the quest for a form of Christian unity that is viable, visible, and effective in witness and service to the world? In short, how can our divided past inspire us to move into a more united future? These presentations, all from leaders in their respective fields and reflecting a wide range of confessional and theological perspectives, focus on the complex ecumenical task of both remembering and moving forward. The Rev. Dr. William Rusch reminded us that the work of "commemorating" is a work in progress. Msgr. John Radano spoke about the lessons learned from 1517 as tools for shaping the future. Dr. Catherine Clifford challenged us to claim our inheritance, whether Catholic or Protestant, as a resource for moving forward together. The Rev. Dr. Robert Welsh, surveying responses to the "commemoration" of the Reformation from many [End Page 215] Christian World Communions, reminded us of the significance of the Protestant Reformation for all Christians. Finally, Dr. Patrick Henry suggested that, in order to move into our ecumenical future, Christians must practice "creative remembering"—but also "prudent forgetting." A panel of prominent Atlanta-area church leaders and ecumenical practitioners, gathered by Candler Professor Emeritus Dr. Don Saliers, spoke of the passion, promises, and challenges of their work in liturgy, musicianship, outreach, oversight, and ecumenical engagement. The meeting was undergirded by four prayer services under the theme "Re-Catholicizing, Re-Evangelizing, Re-Forming." These moved from repentance to reconciliation and from reconciliation to renewal for a more ecumenical future. The 2017 NAAE conference will take place in the Boston, Massachusets, area, September 22–24, on the theme of worship: What have we learned from over 100 years of Christians' experiencing and learning from one another's liturgical life? How does worship express and inspire our ecumenical progress? Can we overcome the limits to common worship, not least at the Lord's Table? Once again our presenters will be leading experts in their respective fields. Further information is available at www.naae.net. Thomas F. Best Thomas F. Best Thomas F. Best (Christian Church [Disciples of Christ]), is President of the North American Academy of Ecumenists, 2016–17. An ordained pastor in the CC (DOC), he taught at Butler University and Christian Theological Seminary before being seconded by his church in 1984 to the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches, from which he retired in 2007 as director. A member of the International Disciples of Christ/Roman Catholic Bilateral Dialogue, he holds a B.A. from Harvard, an M.A. from Oxford, and a Ph.D. (1974) in Christian Origins from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA. He has written and edited articles for The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, and the New SCM Dictionary of Liturgy and Worship, and has served as editor and book review editor of The Ecumenical Review. He has delivered keynote speeches to the National Workshop on Christian Unity and the North American Academy of Ecumenists. He published Baptism Today: Understanding, Practice, Ecumenical Implications, Faith and Order Paper 207 (Liturgical Press and World Council of Churches, 2008). Forthcoming publications include the chapter on contemporary ecumenical history in The Oxford Handbook of Ecumenical Studies (Oxford University Press, 2017) and (co-editor) Growth in Agreement IV (World Council of Churches Publications, 2017). Authors in Special NAAE...

The Transformative Process of “Burial Ceremonies” by the Presbyterian Church of Korea: Based on the Book of Common Worship

The Transformative Process of “Burial Ceremonies” by the Presbyterian Church of Korea: Based on the Book of Common Worship

Lex orandi est lex credendi? The God of Anglican liturgy

It has been said that the ways in which we pray establish the ways in which we believe. Part of prayer are the words used to address the divine to whom we pray. While private prayer is difficult to examine objectively there are rich resources of public prayer. I have chosen to examine the communion liturgies of the Church of England as a set of words in which the divine is addressed and spoken of. Accepting that prayer is linked to belief, there will be insights into belief by looking at the God addressed in prayer. I chose the communion liturgies because they have been and are influential in the lives of communities and individuals within and beyond those who actively belong to the Anglican communion. To examine the texts I have used tools from the discipline of psycholinguistics, the study of the processing of language. Language processing occurs rapidly, fluidly and with complex and dynamic interconnections and so writing about these processes by separating them under headings is inevitably artificial. In examining a corpus of words it is also a way of making information and results accessible and so I offer a few of the ways of looking at how language is processed. I give examples of my findings from looking at Common Worship with Thanksgiving Prayer A although the detail is similar across the texts of Common Worship and also the Book of Common Prayer.

“Not a fully homogeneous grouping”: Forming an Office of Worship in the Archdiocese of Seattle

When the Archdiocese of Seattle considered the question of forming a new office to coordinate liturgical efforts in 1976, it consulted extensively with local laity and clergy about the project. The proliferation of liturgical reforms and the increased media attention directed at Catholics and their liturgy following the Second Vatican Council influenced that consultation process as did local preferences for geographic and institutional decentralization. The small task force charged with conducting research discerned a range of ways Seattle Catholics imagined a potential office with some envisioning an aid to local autonomy and others a source of binding norms. In their recommendation for the office’s formation, the task force proposed a model that balanced a strategy for collaboration with one for forming local Catholics into communities who could engage in that collaboration. They hoped to form parishes into homogeneous groups, minimizing liturgical conflict and maximizing common worship.

A Narrative Understanding of Anglican Liturgy in Times of Suffering: The Narrative Approach of Ruard Ganzevoort Applied to Common Worship

A Narrative Understanding of Anglican Liturgy in Times of Suffering: The Narrative Approach of Ruard Ganzevoort Applied to Common Worship

The Receding Sea of Catholic Faith: Collective Memory and Common Worship

This article offers an interpretation of ongoing changes in Catholic worship as seen in relation to the whole process of ecclesial reception of Vatican II in a changing world. The context is a weakening of common Catholic identity and collective memory. The reasons for this are explored, as well as the reasons why participation in Church life waned. As other changes took place, the implementation of the liturgical renewal mandated by Vatican II meant a transition for many from a ritual of devotion to active participation in liturgical ritual. The difficulties inherent to such ritual change are discussed and placed in relation to the deeper cultural and historical challenges to keeping memory of the Christ Event. New modes of expressing collective memory and collective identity are now being sought. There is no single path to follow; some look to a retrieval of popular piety and some to an interpersonal search for truth through scriptural reflection. This latter is often done in different kinds of small communities, allowing attention to be given to the personal and social quest of participants, to freedom of expression and to the cultural diversity of interpretation. This appeal to different modes of prayer has implications for the ongoing development of common worship and the retrieval of a common memory.