A Prayer Book for a Post-Christian World

The Challenges of a Common Liturgy—Part 5

By Robin G. Jordan

During the past 50 odd years a growing number of Anglican provinces have come to recognize the need not only for new services of Morning and Evening Prayer and Holy Communion but also for alternative forms of morning and evening worship. In the West society has become increasingly post-Christian and secular. Services of Morning and Evening Prayer and Holy Communion designed for a time period when Christianity was the dominant if not the established religion and most people attended church services were based on assumptions that are no longer applicable. The West is once more perceptibly a major mission field.

The qualification “perceptibly” is an important one. The West has never ceased to be a mission field from the moment Jesus commissioned his disciples to take the gospel to all people groups and make them his disciples too. Going to church is not the same as accepting Jesus as one’s Lord and Savior and choosing to follow him whatever may be the cost. People may go to church because it is the respectable thing to do in their community. They may be attracted by the ambience of a particular church, by the community it may offer, or how else it may meet their needs. At the same time they may never enjoy a personal relationship with Jesus or a close fellowship with God.

Both the Liturgical and Parish Communion Movements promoted the celebration of Holy Communion as the principal service on Sunday in the twentieth century. A substantial drop in church attendance and a major shortage of clergy has made the establishment of a Sunday or weekly celebration of Holy Communion as a norm impracticable and unrealistic. A large segment of the population is not baptized, much less confirmed, and has very little previous experience of Christians at prayer.

While the early church may have dismissed inquirers before the celebration of Holy Communion in the first - fourth centuries, this practice is viewed as exclusionary and unwelcoming in the twenty-first century. It is also predicated on the assumption that a typical Sunday service congregation consists of those who are baptized and those who are seeking baptism.

In the closing decades of the twentieth century and the opening decades of the twenty-first century such an assumption has no basis. By the twentieth century a church’s Sunday service had become its chief point of contact with unbelievers. In churches that are outward-looking, a typical Sunday service congregation will include the whole spectrum of unbelievers and believers. This broad spectrum will include unbelievers who came at the insistence of a believing friend but have no interest in becoming a Christian; unbelievers who came on their own initiative for reasons of their own but who are also not interested in becoming a Christian; unbeliever who are open to becoming a Christian; unbeliever who are investigating Christianity in an Alpha, Christianity Explored, Starting Point, or similar group; new believers preparing for baptism;  new believer who have undergone baptism and are undergoing further discipling; and believers who are baptized and are at various stages of maturity as disciples of Jesus.

One of the weaknesses of the proposed ACNA catechetical process is that it based upon perceived similarities between the first – fourth centuries and twenty-first century but does not take into account their very real dissimilarities. This lack of sensitivity to the differences between the twenty-first century and earlier centuries may also explain why the Prayer Book and Common Liturgy Task Force has to date produced rites and services that are geared to the preferences and preoccupations of past generations but are not suited for use in the twenty-first century mission field. They are far removed from its realities.

The disappearance of Christendom and the advent of a secular, post-Christian society are not the only factors motivating Anglican provinces to produce new prayers, new services, and new service books. Among other factors are the desire to locally adapt worship to a particular culture and the wish to mobilize the laity in the service of the gospel.

Before undertaking a survey of the newer services of Morning and Evening Prayer and alternative forms of morning and evening worship, we need to briefly examine the history of Morning and Evening Prayer. This will help put a number of liturgical developments into perspective.

The origin of the services of Morning and Evening Prayer can be traced to the “cathedral,” or popular, offices of Lauds and Vespers. The “cathedral” offices differ from the later monastic offices as they are more congregational and participatory, incorporate a number of fixed elements, and may include a homily or sermon. These two services were typically conducted in the main church of a town and all the Christian inhabitants of the town were expected to attend. Their origin can be traced to the prayer services of the Jewish synagogue. They were primarily services of praise and prayer. Depending on the locality they also incorporated proclamation in the form of the reading and exposition of the Scriptures. The language used in these services was the vernacular.

With the rise of monasticism in the fourth century, the cathedral offices of Lauds and Vespers eventually would be absorbed and displaced by the monastic daily offices. At the heart of the monastic daily offices is the recitation of the entire Psalter with each Psalm or group of Psalms interspersed with prostrations and prayers.

A more limited selection of Psalms is used in the cathedral offices, chosen for their suitability to the time of day. Four Psalms that have a long association with Lauds are the morning Psalm—Psalm 63—and the laudate Psalms—Psalms 148, 149, and 150; a Psalm that has a similar association with Vespers is the evening Psalm—Psalm 141. The singing of the Psalms in the cathedral office was responsorial with a leader singing the parts of a Psalm and the congregation singing a chorus or refrain. This type of singing is also known as call-and-response and is found in the folk music of numerous cultures. It was used in the Jewish synagogues in New Testament times and earlier.

A canticle that has a long association with Lauds in the West is Benedicite. In the Gallican Church Lauds was called “Benedicto.” Gloria in Excelsis is the canticle that has similar associations with Lauds in the East. A canticle having a long association with Vespers in both the West and the East is Magnificat.

It deserves special mention that the pattern of worship seen in charismatic praise and prayer meetings of the twentieth century was essential that of the cathedral offices of Lauds and Vespers with the singing of choruses and worship songs replacing the chanting of Psalms and canticles and spontaneous, extemporaneous prayer replacing the recitation of the preces (West) and the litany (East). The charismatic renewal movement would also precipitate a revival of call-and-response singing in churches affected by that movement. The choruses and worship songs used in charismatic worship in the 1980s and 1990s had catchy tunes; simple, easy-to-remember lyrics; and repetition and refrains characteristic of folk music and were eminently congregational and participatory.

Since then the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction. While bands have become ubiquitous in twenty-first century North American churches, the kind of songs that they sing is far more performance-oriented than the type of songs that twentieth century music groups sung.  In Sing God A Simple Song: Exploring Music in Worship for the Eighties (1986) Betty Pulkingham points to our attention: “The music of the church belongs to the people; they are celebrants.” Twentieth-century music groups that recognized this important fact saw their role as releasing the whole family of God into praise and worship. Due to cultural influences contemporary bands have a different understanding of their role.

What we are seeing in many North American churches on Sundays is not corporate worship but parallel worship. Parallel worship is similar to parallel play observable in small children. In parallel play small children play alongside each other but not together. They are actually playing alone and not with each other even though they are in the same room and are in close proximity to each other. Parallel play may also be observed in older children when playing video games on a smart phone or other hand-held device.  

In a gathering in which people are engaging in parallel worship, some may be singing along with the vocalists in the band during worship sets; others may be listening to the vocalist’s singing. A number of people may be praying. Some may sit; others stand. A few may kneel or prostrate themselves on the floor. Sadly parallel worship is encouraged by contemporary worship leaders with directions like “feel free to sing along or just listen.”

On at least one occasion I have witnessed a couple passionately fondling and kissing each other throughout the entire worship set. Presumably they were trying to provoke a reaction from the congregation. Those around the couple paid no attention to the amorous pair. They were too absorbed in whatever they were doing—singing along, listening, or praying.

The phenomenon of parallel worship is not peculiar to the twenty-first century. In Medieval times the people would pray the Rosary or otherwise engage in private devotions while the priest and, in cathedrals and larger churches, the choir intoned the Mass. The use of the vernacular and the other reforms that Archbishop Cranmer introduced into the liturgy of the English Church were intended to do away with such practices and to restore common prayer to the Church.

In his reform of the monastic daily offices Archbishop Cranmer would conflate elements from the monastic offices into two services, one for use in the morning and the other for use in the late afternoon. Cramer named these services Morning and Evening Prayer in the 1552 Prayer Book. The English parish clergy were obligated to read these two services every day and to ring the church bells summoning their parishioners to join them. In the process Cranmer restored the ancient “cathedral” pattern of Lauds and Vespers.

The service of Morning Prayer began with an opening sentence of Scripture, an exhortation, a confession of sin and declaration of forgiveness—Reformed elements, followed by the Lord’s Prayer, the Opening Preces, and the Invitatory Psalm—the  Venite (Psalm 95). The service of Evening Prayer began with the Lord’s Prayer and the Opening Preces and had no Invitatory.

The Psalter was divided between the two services and recited in its entirety in course over a period of thirty days. The Old Testament was read through in one year and the New Testament in three years. The first reading was followed by a canticle—Te Deum or Benedicite at Morning Prayer and Magnificat or Cantate Domino (Psalm 98) at Evensong. The second reading was also followed by a canticle—Benedictus or Jubilate Deo (Psalm 100) at Morning Prayer and Nunc Dimittis or Deus Misereatur (Psalm 67) at Evening Prayer.

The readings were followed by the Lesser Litany, the Apostles’ Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, the Suffrages, and three Collects. This is the basic structure of the traditional Anglican services of Morning and Evening Prayer to this day.

A number of additions have been made to the services of Morning and Evening Prayer in various revisions of the Book of Common Prayer since 1552. They include the addition of the penitential section to Evening Prayer, a Prayer for the King’s Majesty, a Prayer for the Royal Family, a Prayer for the Clergy, and People, a Prayer of St. Chrysostom, and the Grace in 1662.

These services are essentially an adaptation of the monastic daily offices for popular use. They are not a revival of the cathedral form of the daily offices. This would not occur until the twentieth century.

A major drawback of the services of Morning and Evening Prayer in the older Prayer Books, including the 1962 Canadian Prayer Book, is that the chanting of the Psalms and canticles in the services requires strong musical leadership and the right kind of acoustical environment. This limits their usefulness on the North American mission field.

The 1962 Canadian Prayer Book was the last Prayer Book revision of a province of the Anglican Communion, which exclusively uses traditional or Jacobean English in all its services. While the 2005 REC Prayer Book retains the use of traditional or Jacobean English for its services, the Reformed Episcopal Church is an extra-mural Anglican jurisdiction.

By the nineteenth century Morning Prayer would become the principal service on Sunday in many parishes in the Episcopal Church. In response to the Muhlenberg Memorial calling for greater flexibility and variety in liturgical use, the House of Bishops would, in 1856, adopt a resolution that would recommend the use of the services of Morning Prayer, Litany, and Holy Communion as separate services, among other recommendations. The Church of England would see a similar development.

Only in Anglo-Catholic parishes would Mass, or Holy Communion, be given a prominent place. In a large number of these parishes Mass would be a service at which only the priest received communion. The twentieth century Liturgical Movement would be responsible for promoting Sunday or weekly communion in Episcopal parishes. Morning Prayer would be the principle service on Sunday in many Episcopal parishes well in to the 1970s.

The late Eric Routley makes an important point in Church Music and the Christian Faith (1978):“Psalms were originally not primarily for congregational singing and many of them are better as solos or choral pieces for people to listen to.” This puts at a decided disadvantage the small congregation that does not have a cantor or choir and which worship in a poor acoustical environment.

The recitation of the Psalms and canticles is a poor substitute for the singing of these liturgical texts. This may explain in part why the Episcopal Church did not enjoy in rural areas and small towns the success that it enjoyed in large towns and cities.

A comparison of The Hymnal 1916 and The Hymnal 1940 shows a definite shift away from the gospel songs and other popular forms of church music that were the staple of US rural and small town churches. The Hymnal 1940 is modeled on Hymns Ancient and Modern. Its editors added to the selection of hymns from Anglo-Catholic, ancient, and medieval sources and employed hymn tunes that are not widely used outside of the Episcopal Church.

In seeking to give the Episcopal Church a more elevated style of church music, the editors of The Hymnal 1940 widened the gap between rural and small town Episcopal churches and their communities. They also contributed to the unrealistic expectation that every Episcopal church should have an organ, a robed choir, a trained organist, and a trained choir director, an expectation that small churches found difficult if not impossible to meet. This expectation discouraged small churches from taking full advantage of what music resources they did have.

The quality of their worship is a critical factor for all congregations irrespective of their size. But it is particularly a critical factor for small congregations. Small congregations have the most difficulty attracting and keeping new members due to the poor quality of their worship. A denominational hymnal can enable a small congregation to provide high quality worship within the limitations of its musical resources. As in the case of The Hymnal 1940, a denominational hymnal can make this task more difficult.

Some congregations have experimented with the dramatic reading of the Psalms by one or more voices with instrumental music carefully selected to accent their reading played at appropriate points in the reading. Only a few congregations have the resources to pull off this kind of reading. 

One will occasionally read how a church switched from Holy Communion to Morning Prayer as its principal service on Sunday and saw an increase in its attendance. But the service to which these churches switched was choral Morning Prayer. Upon further investigation one discovers that the churches in question were large city churches with traditional worship centers, choirs, organs, trained choir directors and organists, good acoustics, and a population segment appreciative of traditional choral and organ music.

More than five hundred years after Cranmer’s reform of the Church of England’s daily offices, in 1971, the Roman Catholic Church would undertake a major reform of the monastic daily offices in use in that denomination. This reform was quite radical for the Roman Catholic Church. It would greatly simplify the structure of Matins and Vespers, reduce the number of Psalms at each service, and assign more biblical canticles. 

Among the criticism of these reforms was that the daily offices remained essentially private offices for the clergy. They were not the daily prayer of the whole church. Critics would suggest that the only way the Roman Catholic Church’s reformed Liturgy of the Hours could become popular would be to include cathedral type elements.

William G. Storey was a professor of liturgics at the University of Notre Dame and a major critic of the reforms. Dr. Storey and his students collaborated to produce services of Matins and Vespers that would include “cathedral” elements and have a popular character. The result was Morning Praise and Evensong (1973), also known as the Notre Dame Liturgy. Frank C. Senn describes the Notre Dame Liturgy in his Introduction to Christian Liturgy (2012) on pages 92 - 93. The Notre Dame Liturgy would influence a number of the newer services of Morning and Evening Prayer.

The criticism of the Roman Catholic Church’s reformed Liturgy of the Hours would also draw attention to the weaknesses of the traditional Anglican services of Morning and Evening Prayer. It would prompt along with the needs of the contemporary church the development of alternative forms of morning and evening worship as well as new structures for the services of Morning and Evening Prayer. 

In the next article we will survey a number of the services of Morning and Evening Prayer and alternative forms of morning and evening worship that have been published in the past 50 odd years. Most of these services and forms may be found on the Internet. A few have not been posted on the web, a situation that I hope will corrected in the near future. They are part of the wealth of more recent liturgical material available to a working group developing rites and services for a new Anglican jurisdiction in North America.