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The Bishop: What he is and isn’t

It’s no secret that the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) is going through the wringer right now. We’ve got two bishops under disciplinary investigation or trial, one special diocesan jurisdiction that just got ripped apart in an authority crisis between multiple bishops, and controversy over how each of these cases is being handled. Even some bishops and administrators not currently under scrutiny are being called into question over their alleged or apparent complicity with how various issues and cases have been mishandled in the past. There is a lot of heartache, a lot of broken trust, and a lot of confusion.

Archbishop Wood celebrating Eucharist at his installation as Archbishop, 2024

Fixing this will take more than slapping a canonical revision to Title IV onto the Province; it will take vulnerability and transparency; hard questions must be asked and hard answered given; liars must confess; sinners must repent; the disobedient must conform and the leaders must lead rightly.

yeah I made a meme

Apologia

I’m just a parish priest with a writing habit, sitting in a quiet spot in New England, safely distanced from pretty much everyone involved in provincial matters. I have no personal stakes for or against Archbishop Wood or any of the other men filling in for him in their various capacities, and I have no insider knowledge concerning who’s done what sins and who’s covering up what secrets. So I am very far from being able to offer any solutions; my place largely is to pray for them from my safe distance and strive to live up to the expectations placed upon me and the vows that I have taken as a priest in God’s Church.

As a writer, though, and specifically as a commentator on the Prayer Book that binds us together, I do have some observations on the nature of the episcopacy and how different understandings of that great office may be coming into play in the present crises.

The Bishop’s Vows

As with deacons and priests, one of the best ways to understand the ministry and identity of a bishop is to look at the questions posed to a bishop-elect at his ordination / consecration service. The Examination questions are answered by vows: the clergyman makes promises to his superior(s) that he will live accordingly. So let’s take a look at what the Bishop vows at his consecration.

  1. Are you persuaded that you are truly called to this ministry, according to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Order of this Church? I am so persuaded.
  2. Do you believe that the Holy Scriptures contain all things necessary for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ? And are you determined out of the Holy Scriptures to instruct the people committed to your charge, and to teach or maintain nothing as necessary to eternal salvation but that which may be concluded and proved by the Scriptures? I do so believe, and I am so determined, the Lord being my helper.
  3. Will you then faithfully study the Holy Scriptures, and call upon God by prayer for the true understanding of them, so that you may be able by them to teach and exhort with wholesome doctrine, and to withstand and convince those who contradict it? I will, the Lord being my helper.
  4. Are you ready, with all faithful diligence, to banish and drive away from the Church all erroneous and strange doctrine contrary to God’s Word, and both privately and publicly to call upon others and encourage them to do the same? I am ready, the Lord being my helper.
  5. Will you renounce all ungodliness and worldly lusts, and live a godly, righteous, and sober life in this present world, that you may show yourself in all things an example of good works for others, that the adversary may be ashamed, having nothing to say against you? I will, the Lord being my helper.
  6. Will you maintain and set forward, as much as you are able, quietness, love, and peace among all people, and diligently exercise such discipline as is, by the authority of God’s Word and by the Order of this Church, committed to you?  I will, the Lord being my helper.
  7. Will you be faithful in examining, confirming, ordaining, and sending the people of God? I will, the Lord being my helper.
  8. Will you show yourself gentle, and be merciful for Christ’s sake, to poor and needy people and to all strangers destitute of help? I will, the Lord being my helper.

These are, naturally, very similar to the questions posed to deacons and priests, but there are some important differences too. The 5th question, for example, is markedly more severe than what is asked of other clergymen. Renouncing “all ungodliness and worldly lusts… that the adversary may be ashamed, having nothing to say against you” is more than we ask of our priests and deacons. And this reflects the teaching 1 Timothy 3:7, which says an overseer, or bishop, “must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.” Note this is not just about holiness of life, but also of reputation! This suggests that even if a man is innocent but has a tarnished reputation, we should think twice before putting a miter on him and calling him Bishop.

my diocesan bishop, Andrew Williams, standing before Archbishop Beach upon his consecration, 2019

A Context of Recent Historical Confusion

Although these eight vows are the same historic questions and answers put to Anglican bishops since 1662 (and since 1549 with the exception of #7), there is one influential Prayer Book that broke from this pattern: the Episcopalian Prayer Book of 1979. And since that book was the most widely-used among American Anglicans for forty years before the ACNA’s Prayer Book was published, it is worth wrestling with the questions it asked of bishops. Here’s a comparison of the historic Anglican vows against the 1979 rewrite, lined up for comparison by subject matter:

15491662 through 19281979
1. “Are you persuaded that you be truly called…?”1. “Are you persuaded that God has called you to the office of bishop?”
2. “Will you accept this call and fulfill this trust in obedience to Christ?”
2. “Are you persuaded that the holy Scriptures contain sufficiently all doctrine required…?”3. “Will you be faithful in prayer, and in the study of Holy Scripture, that you may have the mind of Christ?”
4. “Will you boldly proclaim and interpret the Gospel of Christ, enlightening the minds and stirring up the conscience of your people?”
3. “Will you then faithfully exercise yourself in the said holy Scriptures…?”5. “As a chief priest and pastor, will you encourage and support all baptized people in their gifts and ministries, nourish them from the riches of God’s grace, pray for them without ceasing, and celebrate with them the sacraments of our redemption?”
4. “Be you ready, with all faithful diligence, to banish and drive away…?”6. “Will you guard the faith, unity and discipline of the Church?”
7. “Will you share with your fellow bishops in the government of the whole Church; will you sustain your fellow presbyters [priests] and take counsel with them; will you guide and strengthen the deacons and all others who minister in the Church?”
5. “Will you deny all ungodliness, and worldly lusts…?” 
6. “Will you maintain and set forward (as much as shall lie in you) quietness, peace, and love among all…?” 
 7. “Will you be faithful in ordaining, sending, or laying hands upon others?” 
7. “Will you shew yourself gentle, and be merciful for Christ’s sake, to poor and needy people…?”8. “Will you shew yourself gentle, and be merciful for Christ’s sake, to poor and needy people…?”8. “Will you be merciful to all, show compassion to the poor and strangers, and defend those who have no helper?”

It is worth noting that the departure in 1979 from the historic examination indicates a view of the episcopacy that is considerably more authoritarian and clericalist than what is found in the historic Anglican tradition:

  • there are two questions on his calling instead of one,
  • it spells out his sharing in collegial episcopal authority,
  • it gives him the responsibility of “interpreting the Gospel to” and supporting all baptized people as “chief priest and pastor”.

All this makes the Bishop considerably more involved in various avenues of ministry. 

A word for our leaders today

If we are to receive correctives from the classical tradition, which is restored and taught in our 2019 Prayer Book, we are inevitably pointed to a different picture. Instead of a busy bureaucratic micromanager, the Anglican Bishop is to be a man of God who renounces ungodly and worldly lusts more clearly and publicly than the priest is ever asked to do; the Bishop is to be faithful to carry out the episcopal ministry of examining, confirming, and ordaining his people; he is to be an apt teacher of the Word.

We don’t have to spend two questions dwelling on his sense of calling; his vocation has been made clear through the lengthy process of diocesan searching and examination and confirmed by the approval of the College of Bishops.

We don’t have to remind bishops that they are “chief priests and pastors” who need to sustain their priests and support their deacons; they are to be “faithful in ordaining, sending, or laying hands upon others” and be capable teachers of God’s Word for them and diligent exercisers of godly discipline.

At least one small part of our present troubles taking place at the provincial level of the ACNA can be accounted for due to these 1979-style conceptions of the episcopacy carrying over into a system that charitably assumes classically-Anglican bishops. The Bishop’s chief posture is not to be huddled up “with your fellow bishops in the government of the whole Church”, but instead to be ministering God’s Word to his people. I have seen a couple different articles popping up in recent weeks arguing for a reform of ACNA governing polity that takes the College of Bishops down a notch. At first I was indifferent to the idea, but having reviewed the Ordinal as I have presented it above I now see the wisdom in those proposals. Bishops are not meant to be bureaucrats, governors, or senators leading from an office building; the College of Bishops is not meant to be a College of Cardinals meeting in secret. The Anglican ideal, rather, is choosing a Bishop who evidently lives a holy life and has a reliable gift of teaching. If he doesn’t have great administration skills, that’s fine; that’s what the synods, canons to the ordinary, and other assemblies are for.

I don’t write this to condemn any Bishop or leader in particular – like I said before, I don’t know any of the provincial leaders personally. I write this to warn against false perceptions of the episcopacy that have permeated (and perhaps poisoned!) our Church. We mustn’t look to the clericalist authoritarianism of Rome; we mustn’t look to the business-success models of the megachurch movement; we mustn’t look to the cults of personality that surround many men of charisma. Rather, as Anglicans, we should be looking among our priests for the quiet, meek, holy, and faithful teachers whose lives and words proclaim the Gospel with equal measure and integrity.

This is, by the way, why many of our greatest bishops and archbishops throughout history were monks – not because of the early-medieval favoritism often given to the monastic life, but because that is where the men most devoted to a holy life and the Word of God were most often found. Many of the great leaders of the Church had no episcopal aspirations whatsoever – John Chrysostom, Augustine of Hippo, Anselm, and many others much preferred the monk’s habit to the episcopal miter. If we are to rebuild a healthy provincial leadership paradigm, these are the sorts of men we need to be seeking, electing, and consecrating as our diocesan bishops.

No more bureaucrats and mega-pastors! Give me that old time religion! Give me a man who is above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. These are the bishops whose discipline and authority will not only be respected by their flocks, but loved.

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Michaelmas throughout the Scriptures

September 29th is the feast of Holy Michael the Archangel, and most calendars today extend this feast to the celebration of All Angels alongside him. As I’ve done a few times before here, I’d like to reverse-engineer this holy day by walking through several texts of Scripture that have been used over the years to celebrate this great feast.

Prologue: Daniel 10 & Revelation 5

We begin with a pair of great visions, one by the Prophet Daniel and one by Saint John. Daniel ch. 10 is the vision in which an angel comes to speak to Daniel, and he is terrified, as is the usual response to angel visitations. But the angel strengthens him with a touch on the mouth and words of his own, particularly mentioning two different times that the Archangel Michael helped him fight against the “prince of” (read: demon behind) Persia so that he could get to Daniel to deliver this message. Michael is further described as “your prince”, that is, a guardian angel in defense of all God’s people. In Christian religious language, that’d be rendered as Michael being the Patron of the Church. This is of great comfort to Daniel, and it should also be of great comfort to us – that we have such a terrifyingly powerful being fighting on our behalf against the spiritual powers behind or within this dark world of sin.

The vision in Revelation 5 takes this even further up the heavenly ladder: there is a scroll that nobody in heaven seems worthy to open: not even these mighty angels! But there is one who is worthy: the seven-horned lamb standing on a throne as if slain. That’s a terrifying appearance too, perhaps even more than the angel who visited Daniel. Yet we know that this lamb is actually a depiction of the Lord Jesus, who is exalted above all heavenly beings, being God himself. So we enter into this holy day celebrating the angelic hosts and their great Captain, Michael, with a reminder both of their mighty power and of their Lord and ours: Jesus the Son of God.

In the Morning: Psalm 82, Daniel 12, and Revelation 8

Us modern and post-modern folks have a frequently-recurring problem with the supernatural. We tend either toward denial or dualism: denial being that atheistic or de-mythologizing tendency to ignore the existence of spiritual things (or at least downplay their reality), and dualism being the attitude that matter and spirit are utterly separate, and the human soul’s ultimate goal is to escape this mortal flesh and become pure spirit like God. This Psalm and these two lessons smash these false teachings to bits like they’re nothing, and rightly so!

In Psalm 82 God addresses “you princes” and “you gods”. From other examples of Old Testament language (like Daniel 10, above), a prince can refer not only to a powerful human ruler but also to a powerful spirit – a high-ranking angel or a demon. As God sits in judgment in and over the council of princes we hear his calling to defend the poor, deliver the outcast, save the weak from the hand of the ungodly. He acknowledges that these “princes” are “gods” but that they shall die like mortals. Whether it’s an angel or a human, both alike stand before God as subjects. All nations – earthly and heavenly – shall be taken by God as his own inheritance.

This is further promised in Daniel 12, where the angel tells Daniel that Michael the Archangel will arise and commence a great deliverance of God’s people in their time of greatest need. Daniel doesn’t fully understand, but is assured that God has a timetable, the days of suffering are numbered (not endless), and that Daniel himself will have his place to stand (that is, to be vindicated in judgment) on the Last Day.

Revelation 8 also depicts that time of judgement: the Lamb has opened the last seal of the scroll mentioned earlier (in chapter 5, above) and this unleashes a round of judgment upon the earth. And, just like how Psalm 82 blurs the distinction between angelic princes and human princes, Revelation 8 details the offering of the “prayers of the saints” as incense from the hand of an angel: in short, heavenly worship and earthly worship, angelic worship and human worship, is all one, intertwined and inseparable. Thus when we celebrate Holy Michael and All Angels, we do celebrate an order of beings that is quite distinct from us, yet we do so acknowledging that they are also a sort of kin to us; we are one with the angels in service to Christ!

At the modern Eucharist:
Genesis 28:10-17, Psalm 103, Revelation 12:7-12, and John 1:47-51

At the principle worship service of the day, we hear a smattering of texts that further depict this link between earth and heaven. Genesis 28 contains the story of Jacob’s Ladder, in which that ancient patriarch has a dream and sees angels climbing up and down a ladder between heaven and earth. This has forever since served as one of the primary images of the Christian life: aided upwards by angels and discouraged downwards by demons, we are ascending from one world to another. The reading from John 1 is the main New Testament acknowledgement of this image: Jesus tells Nathaniel (Bartholomew) that he will see angels ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. Thus Jesus makes himself out to be Jacob’s Ladder, the very Way to heaven!

Psalm 103 contributes a separate word of connection between earth and heaven. In the same vein as Revelation 8 (above) we here call upon the angels and heavenly hosts to bless the Lord along with us.

And in Revelation 12 we read of the epic battle between Michael (the Archangel) and the dragon (Satan), which represents a cosmic or supernatural or spiritual perspective of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Whether you look at “the war in heaven” or at the Cross of Christ, you see the same result: “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come“.

At a traditional Eucharist: Isaiah 14:12-17, Psalm 148:1-3, Matthew 18:1-10

Instead of (or in addition to) those readings, a traditional eucharistic service might also present us with readings such as these.

Isaiah 14 contains the great contrast to Holy Michael by addressing the dragon, his opponent, the false “Day Star”, Satan. This was once a great and holy being but he chose to “ascend to heaven above the stars of God” without climbing the ladder that is Christ. He sought to make himself “like the Most High” but instead is brought down to Sheol, the place of the dead.

Psalm 148 begins like Psalm 103 ends: with a call to the angels to praise the Lord alongside us and all creation. Again, this emphasizes the unity of heaven and earth, of angel and human, giving us a common identity and calling in the unending worship of God.

And Matthew 18, finally, returns us to the concept of a guardian angel (cf. Daniel 10, above). Here, Jesus warns us not cause “little ones” (that is, children either in age or in spiritual maturity) to sin, for “their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.” In other words, there are angelic beings watching over the weak, and if we mistreat or mislead them, we shall be held accountable. Thus the angels remain very much attentive to human affairs.

In the Evening: Genesis 32 & Acts 12:1-11

The celebration of this holy day wraps up with two last images: Jacob’s wrestling with the Angel of the Lord, and Peter’s angelic breakout from prison. In the former case, the “Angel of the Lord” is so closely associated with God himself that this angel is often understood to be Jesus, before he was incarnate (or made man). This is evidenced in the Angel’s refusal to tell Jacob his name (as a couple other angels were happy to disclose their names to people); for the holy name of Jesus was not yet given. Meanwhile in Acts 12, an angel breaks St. Peter out of prison and leads him to safety.

In both of these cases, the spiritual realms are interposed upon the material world, the heavenly invades the earthly. The Angel of the Lord comes to strengthen and bless Jacob in his night of anguish and fear, and an angel comes to rescue Peter from a possible death sentence before his time. After all those cosmic, large-scale pictures of the union of heaven of earth and the cooperation of angels and men, it helps to conclude with these two, more personal stories. For it sends us away from this holiday thinking not just about the grand idea of angels, but also of specific tangible personal examples of angelic assistance. It’s one thing to say “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (Hebrews 13:2), but it’s all the more real to us when we are reminded of these one-on-one encounters.

May Holy Michael and the angelic hosts of the Lord Jesus be not only an inspiration to you, but a true and powerful help in times of trouble.

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The Prayers of the People hit differently when relocated…

Lately I’ve been looking at different orders of service found in different Prayer Books and contemplating (with help from others) the significance of some of the different configurations that are out there. Some changes can be pretty subtle, like how the Prayer of Humble Access has hopped around a few times in the past 500 years. Other variations are a bit more substantial, though, and that’s where the Prayers of the People come into the discussion.

Over the centuries there are three places where they might be located: in the Eucharist Canon, in the Offertory, and in the Liturgy of the Word. Let’s check ’em out.

DISCLAIMER: The term “prayers of the people” is only a feature of modern Prayer Books, and in classical Prayer Book use it’s typically called the “prayer for the whole state of Christ’s Church [and the world]”. Because they are textually equivalent, I’m just going to use the modern title throughout this article. We’ll explore why it makes sense in some cases more than others.

Location #1: Sacrificial Prayers

The 1549 Prayer Book looks like a real oddball in the collection of Anglican Prayer Books. As essentially the first draft, it contains a number of features that promptly vanished, and the location of the Prayers of the People is one of those things. There, the Sursum Corda (“lift up your hearts”) is relatively early in the liturgy, and right after the Sanctus (Holy, Holy Holy) the priest or deacon turns to the people and says “Let us pray for the whole state of Christ’s Church.” And after the familiar ending of that prayer, “Grant this, O Father, for Jesus Christ’s sake…” he continues immediately with the Prayers of Consecration. No other Prayer Book since has done this, making it feel a rather strange option.

What I recently rediscovered, however, is that this is largely how it worked before the Reformation. In a 1526 version of the Sarum Missal, the Sanctus was followed by a few prayers of intercession, akin to what Catholics today might call “mass intentions.” Indeed, the Sarum prayers were lengthened by Cranmer for the first Prayer Book, perhaps setting the stage for a need to move them elsewhere in the service. In any case, the location of the intercessions here, literally at the altar, spoken by the priest, ad orientem (that is, facing the altar, same as the people), makes the character of these prayers particularly sacrificial. These intercessions are part of the Church’s regular sacrifice of prayer as we fulfill our priestly function in praying for one another and the world around us.

Location #2: Offering Prayers

Prayer Book revision quickly shifted the prayers for the whole state away from the eucharistic canon and landed them in the Offertory, where they remained until the mid-20th century revisions kicked in. This diminishes the sacrificial emphasis of the prayers and moves them more into the realm of the people’s offering. Indeed, this prayer even mentioned “our alms and oblations”, explicitly uniting the offering of our money and ourselves with the offering of our prayers. Thus the intercessions became less of a priest’s intentions at the altar and more of the concerns of a congregation, even though the actual text remained the same. At this point “Prayers of the People” starts to make sense, even though the reader of the prayer was still the priest, and the congregation was still referred to as “they” instead of the modern “we.”

Location #3: The People’s Prayers

In the mid-20th century, in the wake of Rome’s second Vatican Council, a huge movement of liturgical revision and renewal was underway, and no tradition was left unscathed. This novus ordo (literally, new order) rearranged much of the liturgy, and for the Prayers of the People this mean that they were now prayed after the Creed instead of after the Offertory. What’s more, the default reader of these prayers became the Deacon, “or other person appointed”, which implies a layman, not the priest. This was matched with a change of wording from “they” the congregation, to “we” the congregation, such as found in the Anglican Standard Text of 2019. The intercessions were now truly the Prayers of the People in the most literal sense. Gone were the sacrificial undertones of our work of intercession, and even the liturgical offerings sense was dramatically decreased. Rather than a sacrifice or an offering, the intercessions now became a work – the work of the people.

Interestingly, “the work of the people” is one of the ways to render the word liturgy into English (though I would prefer “public work” to better capture its meaning). So in that sense, putting the Prayers of the People more into the hands and mouths of the congregation makes a lot of sense. Furthermore, there is another line of precedent for this: in (at least) English custom, there was a practice of “bidding the bedes” before a sermon, which was essentially calling upon the congregation to pray for various needs in the parish, the city, the region, the realm, or indeed the world. This practice existed in parallel with the “mass intentions” in the proper canon of the liturgy, resulting in two points of intercession in the worship service, one dominated by the people’s concerns, and the other dominated by the Church. Indeed, this practice survived beyond the Reformation, and even popped up explicitly in the 1928 Prayer Book (see its page 71 and 47).

If you survey the various forms of the Prayers of the People in the 1979 Prayer Book (and similar texts put out in other provinces since), you will find that most of them have call-and-response elements, giving increased voice to the congregation. Some of them (including 2019’s own Renewed Ancient Text) are even explicit biddings, not technically praying at all, but instead instructing the congregation what to pray (be it silently or aloud).

Why not both?

This migration of the Prayers of the People over the centuries has revealed that there are indeed multiple places in the Communion liturgy where intercessions can (and should) be profitably made. In proximity to the Scripture Lessons, Creed, and Sermon, the people’s prayers naturally arise as we all respond to God’s Word and bring our own various concerns to bear. In proximity to the Offertory, a set of intercessions make sense as the congregation offers united prayer to God as part of its collective work and service. And in proximity to the consecration of Holy Communion, the Church accomplishes a priestly service, bringing to God a sacrifice of prayer, as is our bounden duty and our joy.

Given the history of our English liturgical heritage, we know that we don’t have to choose just one spot and stick with it. We can have intercessory prayers in the modern location (after the Creed) as well as in the medieval location (after the Sanctus). We don’t have to pick one or the other, or the compromise middle location (after the Offertory). All three locations have historic precedence, devotional value, and liturgical sensibility.

One easy way to experiment with this, using a modern Prayer Book such as the 2019, is to use the call-and-response Prayers of the People from the Renewed Ancient Text in the modern location, emphasizing congregational input, and then having the celebrant read the Anglican Standard Text’s Prayers of the People straight through (without responses) either after the Offertory or after the Sanctus. This way we have both the homegrown spontaneous heartfelt congregational prayers and the scripturally rich, authorized, priestly prayers of intercession for the Church and for the world. Together, these complementary postures of prayer teach all of us more about the significance of prayer in the Christian life, and shape us to pray both formally and informally, generally and specifically, as individuals and as one body.

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Earth to Earth, Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust

As I’ve been studying the development of the Prayer Book tradition, following the lines of what changes and what stays the same, I stumble on quite the fun little surprise every now and again. My latest observation is the famous “Committal Speech”, spoken by the priest as earth is being cast upon the casket. Here are six versions of it from eight different Prayer Books, with unique phrases or terms marked in bold.

1549 1559 & 1662 1789 & 1892 1928  19622019
Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God of his great mercy to take unto himself the soul of our dear brother, here departed,Forasmuch as it has pleased Almighty God, in his wise Providence, to take out of this world the soul of our deceased brother,Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God of his great mercy to receive unto himself the soul of our dear brother here departed:Forasmuch as it has pleased Almighty God of his great mercy to take unto himself the soul of our dear brother, here departed,
I commend thy soul to God the Father Almighty,  Unto Almighty God we commend the soul of our brother departed, 
and thy body to the ground, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust,we therefore commit his body to the ground, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust,we therefore commit his Body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust;and we commit his body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust;we therefore commit his body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust;we therefore commit his body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust;
in sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ,in sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ,looking for the general resurrection in the last Day, and the life of the World to come, through our Lord Jesus Christ;in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection unto eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ;in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection to eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ;in sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ;
  at whose second coming in glorious Majesty to judge the Word, the Earth and the Sea shall give up their Dead;at whose coming in glorious majesty to judge the world, the earth and the sea shall give up their dead; 
who shall change our vile body, that it may be like to his glorious body,who shall change our vile body that it may be like to his glorious body,and the corruptible Bodies of those who sleep in him shall be changed, and made like unto his own glorious Body;and the corruptible bodies of those who sleep in him shall be changed, and made like unto his own glorious body;who shall change our mortal body, that it may be like unto his glorious body,who shall change our perishable body, that it may be like his own glorious body,
according to the mighty working whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself.according to the mighty working, whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself.according to the mighty working, whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself.according to the mighty working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself.according to the mighty working, whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself.according to the mighty working of his Spirit, whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself.

I wanted to explore those fiddly little differences in order now.

The first divergence is the challenging language of God “taking to himself” the soul of the departed. Without biblical and pastoral guidance, this phrase can make God sound a little bit capricious, paving the way for that awful and cruel saying “God needed another angel in heaven.” This misunderstanding has been addressed in two different ways. First there was the early American solution: it is in God’s “wise Providence” that he is pleased to take unto himself the departed soul. This denies an arbitrary and heartless picture of God, and assures us that there is a purpose behind his will. It’s also worth noting that appeals to divine providence was a common feature of early American discourse, both in the New England Puritan context as well as in the growing Deist heretical movement that colored much the country’s founding documents.

In 1962, the Canadian solution was to switch from speaking of God “taking” to God “receiving” the departed soul. Again, God is clearly innocent of any divine malpractice, though this language may fall afoul of the opposite problem: suggesting divine helplessness, or at least haplessness.

On the other hand, the 1549 and 1928 Prayer Books side-step that problem altogether by not using that phrase at all, and beginning the Committal Speech immediately with the commendation. In both of these cases, the soul is commended to God and the body is committed to the ground. It’s interesting to observe the slightly more sacerdotal approach in 1549, with the priest himself saying “I commend thy soul…” which gives way to the communal emphasis of “we” ever thereafter.

The next part of the Speech contrasts the mortal and the immortal states. The language of our “vile” body in England switches to “corruptible” in the USA, “mortal” in Canada, and “perishable” in the ACNA.

Finally, the ACNA’s 2019 Prayer Book adds one more prepositional phrase near the very end of the Committal Speech. Christ’s “mighty working” of subduing all things to himself is clarified to be accomplished through “his Spirit”, filling out a more overtly trinitarian theology of the inseparable operations of the three Persons of the one Godhead.

It’s in tracking little changes like these that really helps illustrate why there is no such as thing as any one “perfect” Prayer Book. There are always things that can be improved, and cultural context plays a large role in that. Some doctrines may need to be highlighted more carefully at certain times; various problems and misunderstandings and heresies plague the Church in different places and times; what one cultural setting may feel is too long a prayer another may find too short, and vice versa. And so it is both good and necessary to make these little edits from time to time, in order that the one faith is most clearly communicated in each generation. Thus this principle also rules out the opposite tendency: to make changes quickly on a whim, without weighing the pastoral and doctrinal gains and losses.

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The Many Texts of Pentecost

Although less popularized than Christmas and Easter, the feast of Pentecost is liturgically just as exalted, and is equally rich with seemingly endless appropriate Scripture readings to aid our celebration, edification, and instruction. As I treated the feast of the Visitation a week and a half ago, I’d like to list and identify a number of scripture readings that you can pull up to enrich your experience of the great feast of Pentecost.

For, at least traditionally, Pentecost is not just one day. In ancient times it had a full octave – eight days of liturgical commemoration starting on Sunday (yesterday) and culminating on the following Sunday, which became known as Trinity Sunday. In the Prayer Book tradition this was simplified to Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, with Trinity Sunday being the theologically-oriented follow-up. Sadly, the modern calendar and lectionary has done away even with that, leaving us with only a single day, officially. Of course, that doesn’t mean we can’t continue the celebration despite the lack of rubrical direction! So let’s get to it.

The Main Event

Without a doubt, the primary text for the Christian holiday of Pentecost is Acts 2:1-11. There we read of the descent of the Holy Spirit in power, enabling the disciples to preach the Gospel in many languages to the multi-national crowd that was in Jerusalem at the time. Thousands came to believe in Jesus within days! For all intents and purposes, the New Covenant Church completed its secret gestation and was born into this world.

Although it doesn’t normally show up in the traditional lectionaries, the rest of Acts 2 is good reading also. It continues the story, chronicling the preaching of Saint Peter and the largely-positive response of the crowds who heard.

One of the key texts that he cites in the course of his preaching, however, is one of the commonly-appointed readings for Pentecost: Joel 2:28-32. God promises through the ancient prophet that he will pour out his Spirit upon all flesh, all his people will receive him, and Peter is pointing out that the events of his day were seeing this promise fulfilled.

The Old Testament Foundation

Pentecost, of course, was already a major Jewish holiday. In fact, it was one of the top three holy days where the Law of Moses required all men to come to the appointed place (Jerusalem) to offer sacrifice. Thus we find another traditional scripture reading: Deuteronomy 16:9-12, which could be extended to cover verses 1-17 if you want to read about the other two top feasts of the Old Covenant sacred calendar. Here Pentecost is called the Feast of Weeks, so named because of its placement seven weeks after the Passover, which remains true in the New Covenant sacred calendar: Pentecost is seven weeks after Easter. And the name “Pentecost” by the way is just the Greek-language version of this, noting the fifty days distance from Easter/Passover.

The Gospel of our Lord Jesus

The Gospel texts appointed for the feast of Pentecost are, unusually, a little sparse, since its primary text is in Acts instead. The historic liturgical appointment for the Gospel lesson on the day of Pentecost is John 14:15-31a, and in the modern lectionaries it’s John 14:8-17, so there’s a bit of overlap there. Both readings include these words of Christ:

 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”

The older emphasis went on to read the continuing explanation of the Holy Spirit as the Helper who is to come, while the new order is to read of the unity between the Father and the Son, making the giving and indwelling of the Spirit to be the climax of the lesson.

On the subsequent days, the Prayer Book appointed Gospels are John 3:16-21 and John 10:1-10. The former is the famous text about God loving the world in such a way that he sent his only-begotten Son to give life to the dead. The latter is the beginning of Jesus’ Good Shepherd Discourse, in which he says much the same thing: “If anyone enters by me, he will be saved…” While neither of these readings speak directly of the Holy Spirit, their placement on Pentecost Monday and Tuesday invites us to recognize the realities that Jesus describes as things that are brought about in us because of the Holy Spirit’s work within us.

There’s also John 16:1-15 which pops up in the 2019 Prayer Book. Like much of the Upper Room Discourse of chapters 14-17, it is likely to have been read already on one of the previous Sundays. Here, the Spirit is again named as the Helper, but also as the Spirit of Truth who teaches and guides God’s people.

Subsequent Echoes of Pentecost

The Day of Pentecost in the book of Acts is a pivotal event, and like most pivotal events it has echoes where things kind of repeat themselves in new settings. St. Luke was clever in the way he wrote this book, for while he started with the thoroughly Jewish Pentecost in Jerusalem, he then went on to write about a similar event taking place in Samaria in Acts 8:14-17 and again among Gentiles in Acts 10:34-48. Both of these (albeit in reverse order) are the traditionally appointed readings on Pentecost Monday and Tuesday, keeping the theme and our attentions firmly anchored on the powerful gift of the Holy Spirit.

Another interesting event takes place in Acts 18:24-19:7. While this is less flashy than the previous readings, it does bring the experience down to earth a bit more, and it provides some important teaching along the way. Here, we find two brief scenarios where devoted believers in Jesus have not heard about Christian Baptism, having known only the baptism of John (the Forerunner of Christ). These short encounters provide us with the further teaching that Christian Baptism is also our primary reception of the Holy Spirit into our lives, and that without it we are severely lacking.

As it happens, the New Testament’s most prolific author, Saint Paul, missed almost all these. For most of that time he was raging against this “new sect” and trying to put Christians to death. And so his experience of the giving and the ongoing ministry of the Holy Spirit was a little bit different. Rather than focusing on specific moments in history which are descriptive, he gives us some straight-forward teaching which is prescriptive.

Romans 8:12-39 is one standout example. Through the Spirit, he writes, we receive adoption as sons of God. Indeed, the Holy Spirit serves as a sort of midwife not only for us but for all of creation, groaning for new life. And only for the start of our Christian life, the Holy Spirit continues to be our Helper through every stage of growth, all the way to the promise of eternal glory. Therefore we can live with confidence, as “more than conquerors“, knowing that the presence of the Holy Spirit within us makes us inseparable from the Father and the Son.

For a longer discourse on the gifts and empowerment of the Holy Spirit, we can also turn to 1 Corinthians 12, 13, and 14. There we read of the unity of the Body of Christ, the Spirit giving both diversity of gifts and ministries as well as unity of purpose and mutual interdependence as one Church. And although he does list a number “gifts of the Spirit,” he goes on to highlight the most important of them is love. With that in mind, he is then able to go on to write more about some of the different gifts of the Spirit like tongues and prophecy, and then wrap it up with exhortations to conducting sound worship in which everything is intelligible, decent, and in order. The Spirit is not a spirit “of confusion, but of peace.”

Saint Peter also chimes in on the primacy of love as characteristic of a Spirit-filled Christian in another scripture lesson appointed for Pentecost Tuesday in one or two Prayer Books: 1 Peter 1:17-23. There he exhorts our love as a result of our new birth from “imperishable seed“, indicating also thereby that the gift of the Spirit is not just any new life, but eternal life.

Other Old Testament Types and Shadows

Besides the establishment of the original Jewish Pentecost in the books of the Law, and the prophecy of Joel, there are countless other Old Testament texts which point forward to the feast of Pentecost in some way. At this point we’ll finish our scriptural tour in canonical order, rather than tracing any more specific topics or themes.

Genesis 11:1-9 is the story of the Tower of Babel. Its connection to Pentecost is that, here, the manifestation of multiple languages was used to divide the people, whereas on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 the gift of tongues was used to unite people around the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Numbers 11, or especially verses 24-30, tells the story of God sharing “the spirit upon Moses” with seventy other elders of Israel. When the Spirit comes upon them they prophecy, and Moses famously quips “Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!” This, too, has been fulfilled in the gift of Pentecost.

The story of the plague and the bronze serpent in Numbers 21:4-9 is normally associated with John 12 and the crucifixion of Christ. But it can also serve here as a backup to the preaching of St. Peter throughout the first half of the book of Acts. It also provides a handy illustration of living by faith: look up to Jesus and rely on God’s strength rather than grumbling about in your sins. Life in the Spirit changes us and redirects our attentions.

Psalm 48 is a celebration of the heavenly Jerusalem, or Zion, from where God reigns, and beneath which we wait, watch, and worship. The blowing of the East Wind and the loving-kindness of God in the midst of his Temple also can evoke pictures of the Holy Spirit’s power and presence among us his people.

Much of Psalm 68 is associated with the Ascension of Jesus, but specifically verses 1-10 also has a place among the Pentecost psalms because these verses focus a lot on the benefits that God’s people enjoy as a result of his “arising.” Pentecost is very much the promised result of Christ’s ascension, so it is sensible to continue some ascension-themed material to its fulfillment now.

Psalm 104 is a celebration of God’s work of creation. In particular, verses 24-35 summarize the psalm’s theme in identifying God’s wisdom in creating all creatures, and that it is the giving of his breath, or Spirit, that all things are made and given life.

Although a more generic psalm of praise, Psalm 116:1-4 and 12-16 show up in ancient liturgical appointments for Pentecost Tuesday. While not directly mentioning the Spirit of God, it does direct us to respond to his grace, his deliverance, all his benefits, with vows and praises and sacrifices. The gift of the Holy Spirit not only enables us, but compels us to worship him.

The last of the traditionally appointed psalms is Psalm 145, which praises God for his everlasting goodness and his unending kingdom. Its language of God giving “food in due season” and preserving “those who love him” is reminiscent of the themes in Psalm 104.

Ezekiel 36:22-28 is one of the great prophecies of the giving of the New Covenant, and this one, specifically, is the one that uses the language of removing our heart of stone and giving us a heart of flesh. This promise is flanked by two important details: “I will sprinkle clean water on you” and “I will put my Spirit within you,” thus giving us a picture of Holy Baptism and its benefits.

Ezekiel 37:1-14 follows the above prophecy with the Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones. Just as a heart of stone indicates a person who is dead inside, so too do dry bones indicate a body that is thoroughly deceased. And while the word of prophecy can reassemble and enflesh the dead, it is the breath of the Spirit of God that animates them, bringing new life. Once again, this is a major role of the Spirit in creation, and in the new creation.

Having explored the law and the prophets, we now turn to the writings. In Wisdom 7:15-8:1 we read of the role of divine wisdom, personified as a women (as found also throughout the book of Proverbs). Now, the church has traditionally found the most appropriate interpretation of Lady Wisdom to be a type of Jesus, God the Son (hence the final verse of this reading giving us the lyrics “O come Thou wisdom from on high” in the song O come O come Emmanuel). Nevertheless, as the Holy Spirit is our Helper and Guide and Teacher, and even more importantly the one who unites us with Christ, this text still reminds us of one of the great benefits of the post-Pentecostal reality of being indwelt with the Holy Spirit.

Wisdom 9:1-6, finally, is a prayer for wisdom written as if by King Solomon. The entire chapter is the full prayer, but the first six verses give us the gist of it, especially in the final line: “without the wisdom that comes from [God] he will be regarded as nothing.” Again, life without the Holy Spirit, is no life at all.

Thanks be to God for this, his greatest of gifts to his people.

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Celebrating the Visitation of the Virgin Mary with Scripture

One of my hobbies of late, in this long period of quietness online, has been gathering the appointed readings from various Prayer Books for the holy days in the Church year and lining them up as additional readings for the Daily Office for a deeper dive into these commemorations. In the case of today’s holiday, the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth, most of the Prayer Book tradition did not appoint or observe this feast, so there aren’t as many different sources to pull from. But there are still enough readings to run with.

Preparation Readings

Isaiah 11:1-10 = One of Isaiah’s prophecies of the shoot (or branch) from the stump of Jesse, this is where we read the traditional sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit often associated with Confirmation, and pictures of nature at peace with itself because of the perfect reign of the Righteous Branch (Jesus). The inspiration of the Holy Spirit at the presence of the pre-natal Jesus is going to feature prominently in this holiday’s main story.

Hebrews 2:11-18 = Jesus is not afraid to call us (humanity) brothers, because he became incarnate, true man. His compassion and aid are thereby assured in his incarnation, which we are about to celebrate today.

Beginning the Feast

1 Samuel 1:1-20 = A barren woman receives a miraculous pregnancy! Hannah serves as a sort of type (or picture) both of Mary and of Elizabeth, who also experienced miraculous pregnancies from God. Hannah promises to dedicate her child (before he’s even born) to the Lord, just like with Mary and Elizabeth’s sons (Jesus and John).

Hebrews 3:1-6 = Christ is faithful over God’s house as a Son and heir. Again, his incarnation brings about a new layer of relationship with his people that confirms his greatness (even above Moses) as well as his faithfulness and effectiveness.

The Main Event

Luke 1:39-56 = This is the holiday’s commemoration. Here we read of the Virgin Mary visiting her relative Elizabeth, both pregnant, and the pre-natal John leaps for joy at the presence of the pre-natal Christ! Elizabeth blesses Mary for it, and Mary delivers her Magnificat, that great song (or canticle) of praise that serves as part of the Church’s daily prayers to this day.

Zephaniah 3:14-18 = Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion, the prophet writes, in anticipation of Mary’s words in the approaching Gospel. The prophet’s words of restoration and hope also set the stage for what Mary herself proclaimed.

Psalm 113 = He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children, this Psalm proclaims among the various blessings of our benevolent Lord. With the memory of the story Hannah echoing in our minds from earlier, this psalm is thus a popular choice for holidays that have to do with the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Colossians 3:12-17 = Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as he once did in Mary, and sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs such as hers as well.

The Wrap-Up

Zechariah 2:10-13 = Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for God will dwell in your midst! Mary is the Daughter of Zion par excellance, and indeed she delivered quite the song in response to God dwelling within her. We all are now admonished to keep our flesh silent in worshipful adoration before the arising of Christ from his holy dwelling of the womb of Mary.

John 3:25-30 = Years later, John made this great statement about Jesus: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” John the Baptizer never ceased jumping for joy at the presence of his Savior, and his final recorded command is for us to join him in following Christ. May it ever be so.

Almighty God, by whose grace Elizabeth rejoiced with the Blessed Virgin Mary and greeted her as the mother of the Lord: Look with favor on your lowly servants, that, with Mary, we may magnify your holy Name and rejoice to acclaim her Son as our Savior; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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Passion Week: anticipating Holy Week

Users of the 2019 Prayer Book may notice that yesterday (the 5th Sunday in Lent) is labeled “Passion Sunday”. This can be a little confusing for those unaccustomed to the classical Prayer Book tradition, or pre-modern Western Catholicism in general, because we’re used to thinking of Palm Sunday as the day when we observe the passion and death of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Let’s briefly explain that.

Most major Sundays in the calendar have a follow-up Sunday to give it further explanation and context: Easter Sunday is followed by a Sunday that looks at the events of Easter evening; Pentecost is followed by Trinity Sunday to explain how this third person of the godhead still does not threaten monotheism; Christmas is followed by the Circumcision (before 1928 anyway; since then there’s been a 2nd Sunday in Christmas which fulfills the same role with different scripture readings). But Palm Sunday doesn’t have room for a follow-up Sunday, because the next Sunday after that is Easter Day. Granted, the entirety of Holy Week is a wonderfully slow-motion examination of the events of Palm Sunday, but in terms of having an actual Sunday dedicated to giving it further context you have to look backwards instead of forwards, and that gives us the 5th Sunday in Lent. So on this “Passion Sunday” we anticipate Palm Sunday by looking at the blood of the covenant. The traditional Epistle lesson is from Hebrews 9, examining the blood of Christ as the giving of the New and better Covenant, over against the Old Mosaic Covenant. On Passion Sunday we examine the sacrifice of Jesus as our Great High Priest, in preparation for examining the sacrifice of Jesus as the Spotless Victim on Palm Sunday.

With that traditional background in mind, I’d like to recommend a modern take on observing “Passion Week” in preparation for Holy Week. Specifically, as Holy Week walks through the events that surround our Lord’s crucifixion (Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, John 19), why not look at the ‘previous chapter’ throughout this week? Let’s pick up where Jesus and his disciples leave the Upper Room and head over to the Garden of Gethsemane.

#1: Peter’s Denial Foretold
Hebrews 3:12-19, Psalm 53, Matthew 26:30-35 or Mark 14:26-31

Saint Peter and the others express confidence that they will never fall away, despite Jesus’ warning. The reading from Hebrews continues that warning against falling away and points it toward us, and the Psalm hammers that home even further with the indictment: “The fool says in his heart, ‘there is no God’.“

#2: Our Lord’s Prayer in the Garden
1 Samuel 3, Psalm 116:12-end, Matthew 26:36-46 or Mark 14:32-42 or Luke 22:39-46

As Samuel learned to pray and listen to God’s voice in the middle of the night, so Jesus shows the perfected art of nighttime vigil, pleading with the Father for mercy yet submitting his human will to the divine will. The Psalm allows us to join in with his prayer, lifting up the cup of salvation and recognizing the blessedness of the death the Holy One.

#3 (and #8): Our Lord’s Betrayal
Isaiah 33:1-10, Psalm 109:1-15, John 18:1-14

As Judas betrays his Lord, we are reminded in Psalm 109 of the curse that Peter would later identify against him for his treachery. Isaiah’s prophecy also speaks against the likes of Judas, promising destruction upon the destroyer.

#4: Our Lord’s Betrayal Arrest
Colossians 1:9-13, Psalm 107:10-18, Matt. 26:47-56 or Mark 14:43-52 or Luke 22:47-53

When Jesus is arrested we see the long-building of conflict between worldly darkness and divine light coming to a head. It is ironic that the crowd must carry torches to light the way through their own dark world in order capture and detain the Light of the World. The Epistle and the Psalm, therefore, direct us to reflect on our redemption from the domain of darkness.

#5 (or #9): Peter’s Denial Before the Cock Crows
Isaiah 22:1-4, Psalm 88:13-end, Luke 22:54-62 or Matt. 26:69-75 or Mark 14:66-72

Jesus is totally abandoned by his earthly companions. Isaiah’s prophecy call out the “leaders” for their flight, Psalm 88 expresses our Lord’s loneliness having lost all his friends from sight, and Saint Peter realizes his shame yet cannot now repent of his denials.

#6: Our Lord is Mocked and Beaten
Isaiah 65:1-7, Psalm 74:9-19, Luke 22:63-65

Isaiah speaks of a holy servant of God who stands silent before his mockers, and that is what we read here fulfilled in Luke’s account. “How long is the enemy to scoff?” we ask ourselves in the Psalm, and then go on to encourage ourselves with the truth of our Lord’s reign despite the appearances the moment.

#7: Our Lord’s Trial before the Jewish Council
Jeremiah 38:14-28, Psalm 110, Matthew 26:57-68 or Mark 14:53-65 or Luke 22:66-71

The Prophet Jeremiah was subjected to a stacked court, and was only saved at the last minute by the King. Jesus, too, is subjected to an unfair (and even illegal) trial, with false accusations being thrown at him. In both scenarios it is the Word of the God which they both speak which finally earns them a verdict of blasphemy. Psalm 110 stands as a testimony of God’s eternal promises to his Anointed One.

#8 (or #3 continued): The Unfaithfulness of Annas and Peter
Isaiah 33:1-10, Psalm 109:1-15, John 18:15-27

Peter begins to deny his association with Jesus while the senior priest Annas also demands Jesus’ respect and rejects his teachings. As before against Judas, Isaiah 33 and Psalm 109 speak against those who betray the Lord’s Christ.

#9 (or #5): Peter’s Denial Before the Cock Crows
Isaiah 22:1-4, Psalm 88:13-end, Matt. 26:69-75 or Mark 14:66-72 or Luke 22:54-62

Jesus is totally abandoned by his earthly companions. Isaiah’s prophecy call out the “leaders” for their flight, Psalm 88 expresses our Lord’s loneliness having lost all his friends from sight, and Saint Peter realizes his shame yet cannot now repent of his denials.

#10: Our Lord’s Trial before Pontius Pilate
Sirach 4:20-28, Psalm 45:1-9, John 18:28-40

The wisdom of Sirach cautions us never to speak against truth, even before rulers, even unto death, and that is precisely what Jesus does until Pilate finally scoff’s “What is truth?” Psalm 45, in turn, celebrates the true and beautiful lordship of Christ.

If you want to see a roadmap for how you can organize these devotions through all three of the modern lectionary years, here’s a handy table:

Year AYear BYear C
Monday
Hebrews 3:12-19
Psalm 53
Matthew 26:30-35		Monday
Hebrews 3:12-19
Psalm 53
Mark 14:26-31		 
Tuesday
1 Samuel 3
Psalm 116:12-end
Matthew 26:36-46		Tuesday
1 Samuel 3
Psalm 116:12-end
Mark 14:32-42		Monday
1 Samuel 3
Psalm 116:12-end
Luke 22:39-46
Wednesday
Isaiah 33:1-10
Psalm 109:1-15
John 18:1-14		  
Thursday
Colossians 1:9-13
Psalm 107:10-18
Matthew 26:47-56		Wednesday
Colossians 1:9-13
Psalm 107:10-18
Mark 14:43-52		Tuesday
Colossians 1:9-13
Psalm 107:10-18
Luke 22:47-53
  Wednesday
Isaiah 22:1-4
Psalm 88:13-end
Luke 22:54-62
  Thursday
Isaiah 65:1-7
Psalm 74:9-19
Luke 22:63-65
Friday
Jeremiah 38:14-28
Psalm 110
Matthew 26:57-68		Thursday
Jeremiah 38:14-28
Psalm 110
Mark 14:53-65		Friday
Jeremiah 38:14-28
Psalm 110
Luke 22:66-71
 Friday
Isaiah 33:1-10
Psalm 109:1-15
John 18:15-27		 
Saturday
Isaiah 22:1-4
Psalm 88:13-end
Matthew 26:69-75		Saturday
Isaiah 22:1-4
Psalm 88:13-end
Mark 14:66-72		 
  Saturday
Sirach 4:20-28
Psalm 45:1-9
John 18:28-40
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What’s in a name (or title)?

The title page in books is not typically a source of great attention for the modern reader.  Their role in the modern book is little more than a formality, at best an ornamentation to showcase the fine art of typesetting.  But in years past, the title page was precisely that – a page for the full title of the works following, akin to the abstract of a research paper or the thesis of the essayist.  And it is in this old traditional vein that the Prayer Book’s title page functions today.

Our cultural preference for brevity and compact bundles of information has created a literary world full of acronyms, and the Prayer Book is very much bundled into this phenomenon.  “BCP” is the standard abbreviation for this book, though as with all acronyms it has its shortcomings.  For many curious observers from the outside of the Anglican tradition, BCP is often thought to stand for “book of common prayers”.  While this may seem like a small error, simply pertaining to grammar, the difference between common prayer and common prayers speaks to a fundamentally different understanding of liturgy and worship.  The term “common prayers” evokes an image of an anthology book – a resource containing a number of prayers that can or should be used regularly and widely.  For those not formed by the church’s historic liturgical tradition, this is closest understanding they have of what liturgy is: a collection of prayers that a church or individual uses in certain times and in certain ways.

“Common prayer”, however, denies the punctiliar or isolated view of the contents of the book, and takes it as a whole.  The Eucharist is not only the object of the sacrament, it is an entire worship service.  The Daily Office is not only a string of scriptures and prayers, it is a devotional whole.  Liturgical worship is not only a slavish pattern of how, when, and what to pray together, but a coherent lifestyle of worship, prayer, devotion, and ministry.  The goal of liturgy is not to orchestrate a monotonous chorus of voices speaking in unison, but to unite hearts and minds in the knowledge, love, and proclamation of the triune God (cf. Romans 15:5-6, Ephesians 4:1-6, Philippians 1:27, 2:2, 1 Peter 3:8).

And yet, the Prayer Book is more than about unity through prayer.  The full title is far more expansive.  Consider the five parts in turn:

The Book of Common Prayer

This primarily refers to the Daily Office, historically Morning and Evening Prayer but also now to Midday Prayer, Compline, and Family Prayer.  The common prayer of the Church is her daily sacrifice of penitence, praise, and thanksgiving, which spiritually continues and fulfills the ancient daily sacrifices under the Old Covenant of Moses.  As the pious Hebrew in those ancient days united their times of prayer with the daily sacrifice in the Temple (cf. 1 Kings 18:36, Ezra 9:5, Psalm 5:3, 141:2, Daniel 9:21, Amos 4:4), so too does the Christian now join in spiritual union with the whole Church in the act of Common Prayer.

And Administration of the Sacraments

The Sacramental ministry of the Church is also Common Prayer in the sense that it is the prayer of the Church gathered, but it stands apart in that it is a priestly liturgy.  Just as only authorized priests could offer certain types of sacrifice at the Lord’s Altar under the Old Covenant, so too is the work of feeding and teaching the flock limited to those who are duly called and ordained for the task (cf. John 21:15-17, Titus 1:5-9, James 3:1, Article XXIII). 

With Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church

The language of Article XXV has been understood in different ways, namely that either (1) there are two Sacraments and five sacred rites which used to be called sacraments before the reformation, or (2) there are two Christ-given Sacraments and five Church-given Sacraments.  Whichever side of this debate one finds oneself upon will dictate where the line is drawn between “Sacraments” and “Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church.”  But in either way of grouping them, the Prayer Book contains liturgies for all of them.  The Thanksgiving for the Birth or Adoption of a Child is a sacred rite; the Consecration of a Place of Worship is a sacred rite; the anointing of the sick and the marriage ceremony are at least sacred rites, if not also sacramental.

According to the Use of the Anglican Church in North America

As Article XXIV asserts, “It is not necessary that Traditions and Ceremonies be in all places one, and utterly [a]like; for at all times they have been divers[e], and may be changed according to the diversities of countries, times, and men’s manners, so that nothing be ordained against God’s Word.”  This honest commitment to the historical reality that liturgy is changeable protects us against “Prayer Book Fundamentalism”, insisting upon extreme forms of uniformity that have never existed in the history of the Church.  This phrase in the book’s title identifies the part of the Church that uses this liturgy.  Thuse the Use of the Anglican Church in North America stands alongside the Use of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, the Use of the Church of England, the Use of Sarum, the Lutheran German Mass, the Tridentine Mass, the Gregorian Mass, the Liturgy of Saint James, and countless other variations of the One Church’s liturgy throughout the ages.

Together with the New Coverdale Psalter

Finally, the largest section of the book is actually simply Scripture, namely, the Book of Psalms.  Traditionally this line identifies them as “The Psalms of David,” though in this 2019 edition of the Prayer Book it was deemed appropriate to identify the new translation used for the Psalms.  The inclusion of the Psalms in the Prayer Book itself, rather than resorting to reading them from the Bible, is for several reasons.  First, they are specially notated in the Prayer Book, or pointed, for congregation recitation or chanting, which is not a feature of regular translations of the Bible.  Second, there are multiple translations of the Bible currently in use throughout the Church, which would cause difficulty when different groups come together.  Similarly, third, from an historic perspective the first Prayer Book did use a then-current Bible translation (The “Great Bible”) for its Psalter, and once it was established in common use it was better to retain that translation rather than replace it with the Geneva Bible in 1560, the Bishops’ Bible in 1568, or the King James Bible in 1611.  This leads, fourthly, to the present day, in which a modernization of liturgical language is desired.  Rather than creating an entirely new translation (as was the case in the American Book of 1979), it was deemed better to use the historic Prayer Book Psalter (originally translated by Miles Coverdale) as the basis for the present modernization.  This way our language of worship resonates more closely with the language of our forebears, and those who look back into the historic books will find familiar turns of phrase there.

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Telling the Story of Ash Wednesday: A Scriptural Tour

While there are a great many church traditions and history lessons that can be explored and explained, oftentimes the best way to understand “Why we do what we do” on various holy days throughout the year is to look at the use of Scripture on and around those days.

Ash Wednesday is rich with scriptural material to explain its purpose and position in the church calendar.

By far the best place to start is the traditional first reading at the mass, or service of Holy Communion. Normally this would be an Epistle but Ash Wednesday is one of the extremely rare occasions that called for an Old Testament lesson instead: Joel 2:12-17. (Modern Prayer Books often appoint verses 1 & 2 as well.) This is one of the iconic calls to corporate fasting in the writings of the Prophets, and even on its own stands as a remarkably clear introduction to the season of Lent. Reading this text aloud almost feels like issuing a public announcement in and to the Church. We now call a solemn assembly to consecrate a fast with weeping and mourning, to rend our hearts and not our garments, for all of us old and young have sinned against the Lord and are called to repent.

This is followed by the traditional Gospel, Matthew 6:16-21 (again, with modern lectionaries often adding verses 1-4 for further context). Here, Jesus is teaching us us how to go about fasting, as if in response to Joel’s proclamation to begin a communal time of fasting. “When” (not if!) “you fast, do not look gloomy… [but] anoint your head and wash your face so that your fasting may not be seen by others.” As if Joel wasn’t clear enough about the sincerity of repentance to which we’re called, the Gospel of Jesus Christ sets the record straight: this is not a performative spiritual discipline, but one we are to undertake wholeheartedly with sincerity.

The next text of Scripture which is iconic for use on Ash Wednesday is Psalm 51. This is the Penitential Psalm par excellance, the most famous and the most heartfelt of all the penitential psalms in the Bible. The praying or chanting of this psalm is a typical component of the Ash Wednesday penitential service, and even in churches outside the liturgical tradition there are echoes of this psalm throughout other traditions of worship and lament. If you are not in the habit of praying the Psalms, Psalm 51 on Ash Wednesday is a perfect place to start.

Other psalms often associated with worship services on the first day of Lent include Psalms 6, 32, 38, 57, 102, 103, 130, and 143.

Modern liturgies tend to favor three readings of Scripture at services of Holy Communion, so to Joel 2 and Matthew 6 is now added an Epistle lesson. There are three main possibilities, depending upon the particular tradition you dip into. One is Hebrews 12:1-14, where we are exhorted to pick ourselves up despite the discipline of the Lord, and to receive his chastisement of evidence of his loving desire to see us grow unto perfection. Another is 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10 (starting with “We implore you on behalf of Christ…”). “Now is the favorable time… now is the day of salvation”, St. Paul declares, as he recounts his many sufferings which commend his legitimacy as a true Apostle of Christ and encourages us likewise not to receive the grace of Christ in vain. The third is James 4:1-10 which speaks of God’s desire for us and the call to humble ourselves before him so that the devil may flee from us and that God may exalt us.

To these core Scripture lessons we can add a number of additional readings, drawn from various Prayer Books over the centuries, to give us further context and instruction. Let us consider them in canonical (rather than logical) order…

Isaiah 58 – This is a classic text on the nature of true fasting, noting (like Jesus did) that a true fast is one that inwardly kept, not merely outwardly performed. Here the other traditional Lenten disciplines of alms-giving and prayer are introduced alongside fasting, making the three a composite whole of godly spirituality.

Isaiah 59 – More in the vein of Joel 2, this chapter decries the sinfulness of God’s people and the lack of justice in their midst and the justice that God promises to bring (either for or against them) in the end. This is should help us further our meditations on our own sinfulness.

Jonah 3 (& 4) – The story of Jonah preaching repentance to Nineveh (and his subsequent anger at the fact that they actually did repent and were spared by the Lord) is another effective entrance into the Lenten season. We should follow the example of the wicked Ninevites who actually repented in sackcloth and ashes, rather than the example of Jonah who just wanted to see them all dead.

Luke 15 – The parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son are beautiful pictures of God’s compassion toward sinners and his desire to see us repent. In a way this reading can be seen as an extension of the lesson of James 4, mentioned above.

Luke 18:9-14 – The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector gives us a further illustration of the teachings of Isaiah 58 and Matthew 6. Only the tax collector returns home justified because his prayer came from a truly contrite heart, as opposed to the pharisee’s prayer of prideful access.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 – This epistle text is the same as that traditionally appointed on Septuagesima Sunday, nearly three weeks before Lent begins. Here we read of the call to self-discipline as a spiritual exercise, as in running a race. This invites us to enter the Lenten fast with vigor and intent.

Hebrews 3:12-4:13 – The discourse in the early chapters of Hebrews deals with the promised “Rest”, the ultimate Sabbath, to which God’s people are called, and how neither Moses nor Joshua ultimately brought anyone to the true spiritual land of rest. This gives another layer of vision to our conception of Lent: our spiritual disciplines at this time comprise our “striving to enter that rest” to which we look forward.

2 Peter 3 – Finally, this chapter gives Lent a slightly eschatological flavor to it, which is more typical of Advent. Nevertheless, this period of discipline pointing toward the ultimate hope of glory does have an “endtimes” sort of vibe to it, and the call to holy living issued here by St. Peter neatly ties together the themes of spiritual discipline, holy living, and preparation for the glory of the eternal life to come.

All of these readings and themes can be said to be collected up in this prayer:

Almighty and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made,
and dost forgive the sins of all them that are penitent:
Create and make in us new and contrite hearts,
that we, worthily lamenting our sins, and acknowledging our wretchedness,
may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.
Posted on by Fr. Brench

The Organ and the music collection

Perhaps one of the most noticeable things, when one walks into our chapel, is the little organ sitting against a wall. This is a pump organ – you work the bellows with your feet while your hands play the manuals (keyboard). It has two stops underneath the keyboard (not quite in sight in the picture below) that you can work with your knees: the one on the left is an octave link, rendering the highest and lowest thirds of the keyboard louder and more majestic; the one on the right is damper board, muffling the sound coming out if you want to have a more dramatic difference in dynamics (volume). From what I understand of these 100-year-old pump organs, they were typically employed in small churches and homes, and it certainly fulfills that role excellently for us!

Apart from a nice built-in stand for holding up music in front of the player, this organ also has some handy shelf space where I can keep accessible the most useful church music. I need very little of it in my church, as we rarely deviate from the one hymnal we use, and I don’t prepare special preludes or postludes. That would be nice, but as I function as both priest and organist, there’s only so much back-and-forth that I can handle.

So what are the books that we’ve got on hand here?

In the center is the Book of Common Praise, the hymnal that we’ve been using for the past several years, now. It’s a great book, and I’m glad we switched to it.

On the left-hand side there are actually twelve books (half of them are very thin).

  1. The Hymnal 1982 – this was the standard hymnal of the Episcopal church, still used by a number of contemporary-language Anglican churches as well.
  2. The Hymnal 1940 – our church received a large box of these as a donation when we started meeting (before even I joined!), so this is what we used for the first several years.
  3. The American Psalter – published in 1930, this book contains all the Psalms and Canticles (in the 1928 prayer book) set to Anglican Chant tunes.
  4. Saint Dunstan’s Plainsong Psalter – this is a newer book for traditional-language worshiping churches. It’s a beautiful resource and we’ve used one or two of its hymns before.
  5. The Plainsong Psalter – from 1932 and renewed in 1960, this book contains only the Psalms, set to ancient plainchant. It’s largely redundant in light of the previous book, but an extra copy isn’t a bad thing!
  6. The Choral Service – this Manual for Clergy and Organists from 1927 has instructions and music for setting the majority of the Prayer Book services to chant, with a good bit of historical information included along the way.
  7. The Plainchant Evening Psalter and Canticles – from 1916 and revised in 1920, this book only contains the psalms and canticles for Evening Prayer.
  8. The Kyrial (St. Dunstan Edition) – This book contains a whole bunch of different ancient plainchants for the various “mass parts” (primarily the Kyrie, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, and Gloria in Excelsis) set to the English language.
  9. The English Gradual (Part 1 – The Ordinary) – Using modern notation rather than historic chant notation, this book provides a number of chants useful for clergy and choirs (again in the traditional Prayer Book language) for various parts of the Communion service.
  10. The English Gradual (Part 2 – Supplement) – I think this is a homemade photocopy edition, bearing only about 40 pages of additional music. It’s mostly for Anglo-Catholic commemorations (like some of the Roman devotional masses in honor of the Blessed Virgin) but it also supplies chants for a few holy days that are now standard such as the Transfiguration and St. Joseph Day.
  11. The English Gradual (Part 2 – The Proper) – this is the real sequel to book 9 above. For the most part this book supplies the “proper” parts of a mass, that is, the chants that are unique to a given day or commemoration, namely the Introit, Gradual, Alleluia or Sequence, Offertory, and Communion sentences.
  12. The English Gradual (Part 2 – The Proper, Supplement) – like book 10, this tiny booklet provides additional Proper chants for those extra feasts and commemorations mentioned above.

On the right-hand side we just have eight music books.

  1. Grace Anglican Church – Supplemental Music Collection – I printed our own supplement to the hymnal we normally use, after several years of drawing particular songs and hymns from other sources.
  2. Hymns for the Living Church – printed in 1986 by Hope Publishing Company, this is a fairly standard evangelical hymnal.
  3. Worship and Service Hymnal – also printed by Hope, this 1957 hymnal (reprinted in 1999) was the book I grew up using in my childhood congregational church.
  4. The Hymnal for Worship & Celebration – Word Music published this hymnal in 1986, and my congregational church switched to it sometime when I was a teenager. It’s got a few responsive readings and “services” (combinations of songs) built in, making it an interesting liturgical resource for a church that has no official liturgy.
  5. The Saint Dunstan Hymnal – in 1968, this book was put together as a supplement to to the 1940 Hymnal, providing a number of chant-based hymns (mostly ancient) that bring some of the treasures of the monastic tradition to the table.
  6. Hymns of Worship & Service – in 1905, this hymnal was produced to be an ecumenical resource (perhaps one of the first hymnals of this kind), based on then-current usage in various church traditions. Interestingly it has a few canticles and liturgical bits towards the end, utilizing both plainchant and Anglican Chant!
  7. Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs – this book was a smaller project put together by a seminary professor and a professional church organist, and contains a lovely collection of songs that they wrote. Much of these songs use well-known melodies, making them very easy to pick up, and I’ve drawn from this book quite a bit over the years.
  8. The Book of Psalms for singing – My wife got this giant three-ring-binder book of metrical psalms before we were married. Metrical psalms are psalms that have been re-translated so that they conform to the metre of English poetry and thus can be sung as hymns. The result of this is that you get some interesting paraphrases of the Psalms, but they’re often easier for a congregation to sing than the chant forms.