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Planning the Church Year. Leonel L. Mitchell
Читать онлайн.Название Planning the Church Year
Год выпуска 0
isbn 9780819224774
Автор произведения Leonel L. Mitchell
Жанр Зарубежная эзотерическая и религиозная литература
Издательство Ingram
Liturgy and Church Life
Liturgy is the expression of the life of the Church. It expresses our unity in the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. It is our bond of unity with other Christians and in particular with those with whom we are bound in communion. This is not simply a technical term. It means those with whom we celebrate the eucharist and receive communion, for our common liturgy binds us together. The liturgy of The Book of Common Prayer identifies us as a congregation of the Episcopal Church. It visibly identifies this congregation with other congregations, and where this continuity from congregation to congregation is not apparent, we fail to manifest our unity in Christ.
The liturgy is also an expression of our congregational unity, and it is ultimately the concern of the whole people of God. The priest presides over the assembly but does not rule over the congregation. The canons of the Episcopal Church give the rector ultimate control of worship, but this can only be exercised within a congregation. A symphony conductor cannot function without a body of musicians, and a priest cannot function liturgically without a worshiping congregation.
The full, active, intelligent participation of all the people of God in the liturgy is the right and duty of every baptized man, woman, and child, by reason of their baptism, because worship is a part of the priestly activity of Jesus Christ in which the priestly people of God participate as members of the Body of which he is the Head. The eucharist, for example, is described as the sacrifice of Christ—celebrated in Head and members. Worship is not a performance by skilled professionals for a passive audience. It is the common work of a group of brothers and sisters. The Pauline churches in the New Testament clearly expected the members of the congregation to share their talents, whatever they were, in the worship of the Church.
Every congregation has its own life and tradition, including musical and liturgical traditions. Not every option in the Prayer Book and Hymnal is really available to every congregation. Not only are some things beyond their resources, some things “just aren’t us.” This is neither good nor bad but simply the way things are. Congregations, like individuals, have preferences and tastes. Golden copes and clouds of incense may or may not be a part of your tradition. One congregation prefers the guitar and “renewal” music, another sings only plainsong, while a third carefully avoids both.
Liturgical planners need to look at the life of the parish in its totality and set up general parameters for worship. They need to begin with a realistic inventory of their resources, including both people and things.
Resources for Liturgical Planning
The first resource most congregations have is a church building. It may be a blessing, a headache, an unmitigated disaster, or all three, but it exists, and discovering how best to use it is one of the planner’s first tasks. Is it too small? Is crowding a problem? Or is it too large and needs to be made functionally smaller? It contains a number of fixed and movable church furnishings, such as an altar, a font, a lectern, or pulpit or both, pews or chairs, and choir stalls. These may be badly located, making it difficult for people to participate actively in the liturgy. If they are easily movable, consideration should be given to moving them, and if they are not, then planners need to consider seriously how to make the best possible use of their good features and to minimize their faults. Often people within the congregation or available for consultation in the community or through the diocese can help a congregation answer these questions.
Obviously, for worship we need a protected space where we can gather around a table, a reading stand, and, on some occasions, a font. Some church buildings come close to failing to meet these minimum requirements. Their setups prevent gathering, or their environments are so unfriendly as to preclude doing anything together. Often real work is needed to make a building built in a different time suitable for our worship, but the work is worth doing.
Changing the Worship Environment
Be careful of doing things that cannot be undone, especially if they radically alter the building. Some buildings are indeed hideous, but most were simply built to the specifications of an earlier age and are merely unsuited for contemporary worship without what Pierce Middleton calls “retrofitting” (see A. Pierce Middleton, New Wine in Old Skins).
The most common problem is the long chancel with an altar at the far end that produces a tunnel effect, especially if the choir stalls are empty. One of the most simple and straightforward solutions, if the chancel is nice looking, is to build a new altar at the crossing, thereby moving the action down to the level of the people. The choir can continue to occupy the choir pews, and seats for clergy and acolytes can be moved out toward the center. The chancel itself can then be used as a chapel for small services, with people sitting in the choir stalls.
Often, changing communities leave congregations with churches much too large. Using banners and screens to create new and smaller space often works, as does roping off back pews—or removing them. An open space might be created around the font, for example, where the baptismal parties could stand with the congregation at baptisms. Whatever the problem, imagination is the first step to a solution.
The Prayer Book and Hymnal as Resources
The Book of Common Prayer and The Hymnal 1982 are perhaps obvious resources for liturgical planning, but they are often overlooked. The Prayer Book not only contains the texts of prayers and directions for the conduct of the services but is a guide for the use of other resources. The Hymnal, in addition to the music, contains indexed lists of hymns, metrical psalms and canticles, hymns based on specific liturgical texts, hymns for children, and a liturgical index. A copier will make it possible to reproduce materials, such as those included in the appendix of The Hymnal 1982 or in Gradual Psalms, for congregational use as well as service bulletins.
People as Resources
It is important to identify the people available to fill specific roles in the liturgy: readers, acolytes, lay eucharistic ministers, oblation bearers, singers, dancers, instrumental musicians (organ and guitar are not the only possibilities), and ordained clergy (priests and deacons). People are also needed to prepare for the celebration: altar guild members, bread bakers, wine makers, bulletin preparers (typists and/or calligraphers), and artists. Another list includes those whose skills will be needed if the congregation decides to make alterations in their environment for worship: architects, carpenters, decorators, artists, and people with visual imagination.
Make the inventory first. Discover what is possible before you decide what you want to do. Then decide what you as a congregation are trying to do in worship. If you could do what you (the rector and a representative group of parishioners) think would be best, what would it look like? It may be helpful to let your fantasy take over and be creative. Then look at your inventory of resources and see which things you have the resources to do. Perhaps you can’t do exactly what you would like, but you do have the resources to do something.
Start by thinking of the liturgy itself. How do you involve the congregation actively and intelligently in the worship of God on Sunday morning? The answer is not some kind of gimmick. It is careful planning with members of the congregation. One way to enhance participation is simply to involve people in the planning of the particular service and in its celebration.
The Liturgical Year