An Introduction to Anglican Worship
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EXPLORING FAITH Theology for Life An Introduction to Anglican Worship Level 4 Year A Term 1 Module Code: REL424 INTRODUCTION Aims and Content of the Module Module Aims: To enable students to investigate the biblical foundations of Christian worship To enable students to examine ways in which the worship developed within Anglicanism To enable students to examine the liturgies available within the Church in Wales and to explore ways in which they can be used creatively within a range of liturgical and pastoral contexts.. To enable students to reflect critically on their own experience of worship and the ways in which it supports their Christian discipleship and ministry The Seminar Day is designed to set the scene, to explore the nature of Christian worship and to identify ways in which worship can be examined and explored. Session 1 explores the ways in which the Church’s worship is rooted in the experience of the New Testament. Session 2 examines the Eucharist in the Book of Common Prayer 1662, investigates the contexts from which it emerged. Session 3 examines the Eucharist in The Book of Common Prayer 1984 and An Order for the Holy Eucharist 2004, investigates the context from which they have emerged, compares them with the BCP and explores how they can be effectively used today. Session 4 investigates the development of Morning and Evening Prayer and explores how this can be used to support the common prayer of the Church and the spiritual formation of ministers and people. Session 5 examines the development of ‘A Service of the Word’ and explores ways in which worship can be constructed from resources that are available. Session 6 investigates the Church as a pilgrim people and examines ways in which the concept of journey has shaped the structure and provision of liturgy in the Church in Wales. It further explores ways in which the Church’s Year can help the church to witness to the story of salvation and the ways in which Church in Wales liturgy can articulate the transitions between different stages of human life. Session 7 examines ways in which liturgy can express and enable the pastoral practice of the Church and explores ways in which services of wholeness and healing can be used to support the Church’s pastoral ministry. Session 8 explores how the Gospel can be proclaimed through the structure of Sunday worship, through special occasions in the Church’s Year and through the construction of special services that support the Church’s outreach. Learning Outcomes On successful completion of the unit, students will be able to: demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the biblical and theological foundations of church worship demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the development of worship within Anglicanism demonstrate knowledge of the authorised liturgies of the Church in Wales. demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the principles that inform the structures of worship evaluate ways in which worship works best in different physical, social and spiritual contexts 1 The Sessions Please study the Introduction to each session carefully and undertake the recommended reading. In addition to the Textbook - Liturgy (SCM Study Guide) by Stephen Burns - a Reading Block is provided giving an additional piece of reading for each session to support assignment work. Candidates are provided with a Work Sheet that they should use to write answers to the questions that are set in preparation for each session. Where appropriate sessions are supported with material in the Resource Section. Assignment questions are provided at the back of this handbook. Worship and Prayer Please surround each session with worship and prayer. Provision is made for worship at the beginning of each session and for prayer at the end. Please be imaginative and creative. 2 Booklist. Please note that the materials in the Reading Block are drawn from the following list (marked *), but you may still wish to consult other chapters from these sources to broaden your knowledge. * Avis D - Church Drawing Near * Cocksworth C - Holy Holy Holy: Worshipping the Trinitarian God 1997 0232521875 Dawn Marva J - Reaching Out without Dumbing Down - 1995 0802841023 * Drane J - The Macdonaldisation of the Church 2000 0232522596 Duffy E - The Stripping of the Altars - 0300060769 * Earey M (ed) - Common Worship Today 2001 0005993814 Giles R - Repitching the Tent 2004 1853115711 * Giles R - Creating Uncommon Worship 2004 1853115908 * Helfing and Shattuck (eds) - The Oxford Guide to the Book of Common Prayer 2008 0195297628 Hurtardo L - At the Origins of Christian Worship 1999 0853649928 * Jones C et al (eds) - The Study of Liturgy (Revised Edition) 1992 0281045550 * Perham M - New Handbook of Pastoral Liturgy 2000 0281052522 Ward H and Wild J - Human Rites: Worship Resources for an Age of Change 1995 0264673344 Online Resources Almost all of the liturgical resources mentioned in this handbook are available for free on the Internet. For the Book of Common Prayer 1662 and other historical texts, please see: http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/england.htm For all Church in Wales liturgies, please see http://www.churchinwales.org.uk/publications/downloads/ For Church of England resources please see: For Common Worship: http://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-worship/worship/texts.aspx For Times and Seasons:http://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-worship/worship/texts/times-and- seasons.aspx For Pastoral Services: http://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-worship/worship/texts/pastoral.aspx For New Patterns for Worship: http://www.churchofengland.org/prayer- worship/worship/texts/newpatterns.aspx Supplementary Material Grove Booklets series - Ministry and Worship, The Worship Series, Liturgical Studies, Leaves on the Tree, All-Age Learning and Worship. Produced by the National Society/CHP Bradshaw P (ed) - The New SCM Dictionary of Liturgy and Worship 2002 0334028833 3 4 SEMINAR DAY AN INTRODUCTION TO ANGLICAN LITURGY The Seminar Day is designed to enable candidates to i) examine the origins and development of Christian worship ii) explore the experience, nature and purposes of worship iii) develop methods of enquiry into Christian worship. For the Seminar Day i) Study the Introduction to the Seminar Day ii) In 500 words Describe an act of worship that has had a significant impact on you and say why it was significant. 5 SEMINAR DAY Introduction to Anglican Liturgy INTRODUCTION ‘Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea; and all that is in them singing, ‘To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honour and glory and might for ever and ever!’ And the four living creatures said ‘Amen!’ And the elders fell down and worshipped.’ Revelation 5:13-14 In these words the writer of the Apocalypse tells his story of the future, and his hope in the present. How different from this vision of heaven seems the experience when it is ‘two or three who are gathered together’ in a remote medieval country church or a great Victorian barn in town – but is it? Huddled together or scattered to the four corners, what is going on? Or when thronged together at a multi-media ‘prayer and praise’ event – is it then any nearer the apocalyptist’s vision? The answers we may give to these questions will depend on our understanding of what worship is. They will be shaped by our experiences, by what we have been taught, by our expectations. The word Worship comes to us out of the Saxon language where it describes the ‘grant of worth’. Because the actions of God are behind all Christian being and behaving, worship has often been described as ‘response’, our recognition of the worth of God as we ‘offer our bounden duty and service’. This has led to a tradition in the west that considers worship to be something that we do. In some places this has become even more inward looking, being practiced as if it was simply a congregational activity. The Revelation of John challenges us to look at worship from a different direction. So it is that Christians have become aware that while worship is the means of our honouring God, it is also the way in which God gives to us a new dignity which is enacted and affirmed in our worship. At the conclusion of our Eucharistic Prayers we often find a phrase that has resonated through the centuries, ‘through him, with him, in him’. So we find our offering of praise and thanksgiving is made ‘through’ Christ to his Father, yet it is also made ‘with him’ and ‘in him’. So it is that we find ourselves not on the outside but on the inside of the prayer of God. This challenges us to look at our worship from the perspective of God, as well as from that of the sanctuary or the pew. This understanding of the Christian on the ‘inside’ of the divine presence and activity is found in the Revelation of John and has led the eastern churches to talk of the ‘mystical theology’ of worship, the understanding and expression of the mystery whereby in Christ heaven and earth are made one and our worship itself becomes a sacrament of heaven. Our experience of worship will have dimensions that are spiritual and physical, individual and corporate, personal and social, local and global, of the moment and eternal. This experience, and what we have been taught, will influence our expectations so that we may be looking for the personal rather than the communal. That what is done, and desired, in worship is not inconsistent with our daily life has been born out by liturgical studies, over the last half-century, which have sought to understand worship in terms of human behaviour.