It is a given of our time that every parish should aim to celebrate the Eucharist every Sunday. This in significant measure grows out of the liturgical movement of the latter half of the 20th century, of which the Book of Alternatives Services is a fruit. We should be grateful for this witness that the Supper celebrating the Lord’s death and resurrection is paramount for a Christian congregation, especially on the weekly day of His resurrection.
Still, it is worth recalling how recently, namely a generation ago, communion once or twice a month was the practice in many parishes. We do well to note some of the unforeseen consequences of that custom’s eclipse. The disappearance of Sunday Morning Prayer means a greater clericalization. Every congregation needs a priest every Sunday. We might offer, by way of contrast, the example of the Anglican Church in the rapidly growing parts of Africa, where a parish priest might oversee a dozen congregations with catechists leading Morning Prayer on Sundays. To be sure, communion usually is celebrated somewhere in an African parish every Sunday. But the priest might not arrive for communion in any particular village more than once every couple of months. Such occasions are filled with anticipation and excitement. Their ministry is more weighted toward lay leadership and catechesis. What if we, like they, had an order of catechists? How might this help us to know our faith better, and help some struggling missions to survive?
There are other unforeseen consequences. Parishes seeking to be more inviting to newcomers flirt with the theologically dubious practice of open communion (giving the unbaptized the sacrament). But at Morning Prayer, the moment at which an inquirer must be barred from receiving never arises; it would seem a better format for a seeker service. Furthermore, the offices of Morning and Evening Prayer are jewels of the Prayer Book tradition and distinctives of Anglican spirituality which are now far less known. In this regard, the booklet called What Happened to Morning Prayer? by John Webster and Alan Hayes is worth reconsideration.
To read more, click here.
To read John Webster and Alan Hayes' booklet, What Happened to Morning Prayer, click here.
To read The Effect of the Parish Communion Movement, click here.
To read Brian Green's Cross+Way article, "40-Year Nose Dive...Does Anyone Ask Why?" click here.
I have wondered if, due to shrinking congregations and budgets, the Church will of necessity return to visiting priests, laity led Morning and/or Evening Prayer, and monthly Eucharist.
ReplyDeleteWhile some Episcopal dioceses have adopted a Total Ministry, Total Common Ministry, or Ministry of the Baptized approach, most are closing churches that they can no longer supply with an ordained minister even as a part of a “yoked mission” and are consolidating congregations. This is what happened to many community schools in the last century. Now we are discovering that children do better in small community schools than in the large consolidated schools. I suspect that we may discover in time large consolidated churches suffer from similar problems as large consolidated schools.
ReplyDeleteActually the church is the gathering of the faithful, two or three are sufficient. Real learning and encouragement does not necessairly take place in a large group setting. Home schoolers do better than do private schools, and private schools do better than public schools in academics. In a familiar (family) situation people simply do better. This certainly does apply to learning of doctrine and worship.
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