Hi all
I just wondered if there was a thread where we could 'share' liturgy? I'm on the CiW one on Facebook but I didn't know if there were any on here! Would be a good idea I think :0)
Three things:
- Why aren't you using the Book of Common Prayer? It is the official liturgy, after all, and using it or another approved liturgy like the BCP is part of what it means to be Anglican. Lex orandi, lex credendi, as we like to say.
- If you are using the BCP, what is there to share?
- If you are not using the BCP, but some other service, has your bishop approved? If not, you really should obtain his approval before sharing anything; if he is like most mainline Anglican bishops, he will probably grant it, but remember, the Anglican Communion is episcopal; we have bishops, and they have the right to be informed about any changes the parishes in their dioceses might wish to make; they furthermore have an absolute right to reject unauthroized changes to worship, or to limit the dissemination of said changes.
It is with some reluctance I post this; I certainly don't wish to come across as a wet blanket, or to crush your pious enthusiasm, but this is the Anglican communion, and we do have bishops; tradition, protocol and our canon law require they be kept in the loop about anything relating to worship.
In fact, in several provinces, it is theoretically not allowed to deviate from the established service books. In practice, unless you are in a continuing Anglican jurisdiction, or you are blessed with a very firm, traditionalist bishop, you are likely to get whatever you ask for, but you meed to ask.
Here is an example: in the 1980s, St. Stephen Walbrook, a beautiful Christipher Wren church in the City of London was refurbished, with a stunning new circular altar, as a "church in the round." It is quite lovely, but technically, the arrangement was contrary to the rubrics specifying how churches are to be configured in the Church of England, so the parish had to request approval from the Court of Ecclesiastical Causes Reservedin order to proceed. Such approval was granted, and the splendid altar was built, but the important thing is, the parish asked, and received permission. This is how things are done in Anglicanism, or should be.
We do not simply act capriciously according to our personal aesthetics, instead, if we have an idea for how to make our church better that involves a departure from the rubrics of the Book of Common Prayer or other ecclesiastical refulation, we ask the proper authorities and ovtain permision. And if we get such permission, wonderful, but unless this permission is a blanket oermission applying throughout your deanery or diocese, sharing your liturgical changes with other parishes would be inappropriate without the approval of the bishop.
So I implore you: help keep Anglicanism united in common prayer, and phone your bishop, or ask your priest to phone him, for permission, before sharing any non-standard liturgical services your parish may have developed on the web.
I myself by the way am working with a former Anglican in A,erica on a proposed revision of the BCP for use in the American churches, but our work will carry on the title page the warning "Do not use this without the consent of your bishop."
Remember what the first century martyr St. Ignatius of Antioch said: "Let nothing connected with the Church be done without the Bishop." We Anglicans are blessed to have bishops, so let us pay them all due respect and involve them in our church life as much as possible.
