WORSHIP and LITURGY at ST. PETER'S
The word
“liturgy” comes from the Greek liturgia,
meaning “work of the people.” The word “worship” comes from the English
“worth-ship”, meaning “renown” or “honor”. Thus, when we talk about “going to
worship” or “celebrating the liturgy” we mean that the work of the people is to
go honor God, to celebrate God’s renown, what God is doing and has done for us.
And it is in that context, in the service of the Divine, that we ourselves
discover our own worth.
As we’ve spent
time worshiping together over the past year you may have noticed changes and
development in our Sunday liturgies and other services. In 2009 we’ve
experimented with “emergent” style contemporary worship on Wednesdays, we’ve
occasionally added the Sanctus Bell to the Eucharist, we now regularly chant
the entrance at memorial services, and the use of salt has been added to the
Baptismal rite. And these are just a few of our liturgical changes. As a result
I have noticed a number of people wondering or questioning where we are going
and what lies ahead.
The answer can
be boiled down to a label that was suggested to me by a wise friend. What we
have been and are developing here at St. Peter’s is a “prayerbook catholicism.”
For any of you who, like me, have a Protestant side, this phrase may raise your
hackles, but give me a moment to explain.
The word
‘prayerbook’ refers to the Book of Common
Prayer, affectionately abbreviated ‘BCP’. The BCP is born out of a desire
for the diverse multitudes to worship in unity while maintaining continuity
with the previous revelations of God’s Spirit over the centuries. The BCP is
both Protestant and Catholic, liberal and conservative, traditional and
progressive, new and old.
The word
‘catholic’ literally means ‘universal’, inferring that it covers both geography
and time. When we say we believe in the ‘One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church
Therefore, as
‘prayerbook catholics’ what we are pursuing in our worship is the following:
·
The
People of God giving renown and honor to God in accordance with the pattern,
prescriptions, and spirit of the current and past Anglican/Episcopal
prayerbooks. (including Jewish practices, Celtic rites, the Sarum Rite, and the
1549, 1552, 1662, … 1928, and 1979 prayerbooks and supplemental
materials.)
·
Full
and complete use of signs and symbols (candles, vestments, gestures, chant,
etc.) so that the Gospel of Jesus Christ will be conveyed and experienced by
all spiritual and bodily senses.
·
Adapting
and preserving our ancient and living Faith in Christ to the language and
practices of the present, that it may passed on to future generations as a
living Faith full of Holy Tradition, and not a dead faith of obsolete
customs.
In the future we
will be considering how we can conform more and be enlivened by the Anglican
spiritual tradition as outlined in the Book
of Common Prayer. This may include celebrating more of the Church’s
calendar (saints’ days, lesser feasts, and fasts), promoting morning and
evening prayer in our daily lives, and other liturgies such as the blessing of
homes, confession, confirmation, and vigils.
Thank you to the
many who make our worship possible: to those who have put
together so many Sunday bulletins; to those who organized many of our lectors and
acolytes; to our Deacon who crafts the Prayers of the People; to our Music Director who
selects our music; to our Acolyte Masters; to the Altar
Guild members, Lectors, Lay Eucharistic Ministers, Acolytes, Ushers, and all
volunteers and worshipers – thank you! The liturgia,
the work of the people, cannot be done without you.
Soli
Deo Gloria, (To
God alone be the glory)
Fr.
James+
- from St. Peter's 2009 Annual Report
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