Unexplored Resource
FROM THE RECTOR
A few weeks ago, at the beginning of the 7:30 a.m. service, I realized that I had forgotten to grab a copy of the bulletin. I thought about turning my microphone on and letting the congregation know that I would be right back as I slipped into the sacristy to grab one, but I imagined how disruptive that could be for those who were prepared to begin the liturgy. After another second or two of internal debate, I decided that I could carry on without one. Because I had carried a Book of Common Prayer with me, I figured that I would be able to find the right pages for the start of the service, the collect of the day, and the psalm without too much trouble. Admittedly, there were a few longer-than-usual contemplative pauses, and I lapsed into the Rite II version at one point while I searched for the next part of the liturgy, but we made it through without too much trouble.
The Book of Common Prayer is an incredible resource not only for corporate worship but also for individual prayer, devotion, and study, yet I suspect that most of us, because of the availability of complete bulletins and smartphone apps, may not know how to use it fully. As the pandemic continues to limit our ability to gather in person, I wonder how a renewed focus on this text, which unites Episcopalians across our denomination, might sustain us.
At St. Paul’s, we give prayer books to youth and adults who are being confirmed when the bishop is here in May. More than a convenient gift, the prayer book is presented as an invitation for those who have completed confirmation classes to continue their study of the Episcopal tradition. A while back, a few recent confirmands acknowledged that, while they loved their prayer books, they were not really sure what to do with them. “We can follow along in the service,” they acknowledged, “but then the priest starts reading things that must come from somewhere else.” How frustrating it must be to be invited into something more deeply but then discover the superficiality of that invitation! Ideally, the Inquirers Class and youth confirmation classes would provide an intimate familiarity with the prayer book, but both the limited number of classes and the recent challenge of meeting online make anything more than a shallow exploration impossible.
For the next four Sundays, I will be leading a class on the prayer book during the Adult Forum. You may come and participate in person or watch online. If you have a prayer book, I encourage you to bring one with you or open it up when you watch from home. Four weeks is still not enough to really study the rich heritage of the Book of Common Prayer. I want to say so much about its history and the process for revising and adopting a new prayer book and its relationship with prayer books from across the Anglican Communion, but those will need to wait for another series.
This class will focus on how to use the prayer book for personal devotion and corporate worship. Those who take part will learn how to use the prayer book while worshipping in church or online. They will learn how to join Christians across the world in daily prayer. They will learn where to turn when they need a particular prayer for healing, celebration, anxiety, or frustration. They will learn why common prayer is the foundation for our peculiar identity as Episcopalians.
Although a complete bulletin, which contains all the words of the liturgy, is a great help for newcomers and a wonderful convenience for everyone, I think we do ourselves a disservice by depending on a secondary resource when we gather in church. Because the prayer books in our pews are largely untouched, they remain for many an intimidating and impenetrable text. If the church’s copier broke, and we were forced to rely only on prayer books and hymnals, many of us would not even know where to start. If such a crisis were to happen, we would get by—mostly—but the prayer book is so much more than a reference for what happens in church on Sunday morning. Join me as we try to make this central resource in our tradition something that each of us can use every day.
Yours Faithfully,
Evan