The Development of Eucharistic Liturgies in the Anglican Church of Australia

THE DEVELOPMENT OF EUCHARISTIC LITURGIES IN THE ANGLICAN CHURCH OF AUSTRALIA

Part 1: A Case Study in Multiformity up to 1995

1. Anglican Eucharistic Theology Is Multiform

Anglican eucharistic theology and eucharistic liturgies vary not only between the different theological hermeneutics of parties such as Anglican Catholics and Anglican Evangelicals but also between different philosophical assumptions, such as realism and nominalism.1 Realists, most typically Anglican Catholics, base their assumptions on the linking of the signs of the Eucharist2 with what they signify such that the signs instanti- ate what they signify.3 Nominalists, most typically Anglican Evangeli- cals, deny this realist analysis and do not link the signs with what they signify in any real way apart from the enquiring mind and by semantic analysis. Hermeneutic idealism is often the reason for the multiformity of Anglican eucharistic theology and its expression in liturgical forms. Hermeneutic idealism is a term derived from the work of the German philosopher Jurgen Habermas and has been defined by Terence Lovat and Brian Douglas as “that conceptualizing of reality that is totally de- pendent on one’s own (or one’s communal groups’) beliefs, values and interpretations, whilst at the same time remaining blind to their causes, background and those wider connections that would contextualize them and help those holding them to see that they are in fact just one set of beliefs, values and interpretations in a sea of related and unrelated sets.”4 This means that various parties within Anglicanism express particular

1. See Brian Douglas and Terence Lovat, “The Integrity of Discourse in the Anglican Eucharistic Tradition,” The Heythrop Journal 51 (2010) 847-861 and Brian Douglas, A Companion to Anglican Eucharistic Theology, Volumes 1 and 2 (Leiden: Brill, 2012). 2. The signs of bread and wine and the offering of the Eucharist itself. 3. The signified body and blood of Christ and the representation of Christ’s sacrifice in the Eucharist. 4. See details in Terence Lovat and Brian Douglas, “Dialogue Amidst Difference in Anglican Eucharistic Theology: A Habermasian Breakthrough,” Australian EJournal of Theology 9 (2007) 1-11. 176 Brian Douglas eucharistic theologies, based on say an Evangelical or an Anglican Catholic hermeneutic, in the development of eucharistic liturgies. This article explores the understanding and application of the multiformity of the Anglican eucharistic tradition5 in more depth by use of a case study of eucharistic liturgies, in the Anglican Church of Australia up to the year 1995. This article aims to chronicle the development of eucharistic liturgies while at the same time pointing to the multiformity of hermeneutic and philosophical assumptions. The year 1995 was the year in which the modern and current prayer book, A Prayer Book for Austra- lia,6 was approved by the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Aus- tralia and came into use and seems an appropriate point to pause the dis- cussion before development after 1995 is considered in another article.7

2. Early Departures from the Use and Theology of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer

The eucharistic liturgy of the Anglican Church of Australia, until the second half of the twentieth century, was principally the service of Holy Communion as found in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer.8 There were however some notable departures from this liturgical norm. Bishop Reginald Halse, as Bishop of Riverina, published in 1939 a booklet entitled The Holy Eucharist,9 otherwise known as ‘The Brown Book’ due to the colour of its cover. Halse stated that the order for the celebration of the Eucharist contained in this booklet was the Alternative Order for the Holy Communion as set out in the 1928 BCP.10 Although based on the 1928 BCP, and therefore including material such the Kyries, the Benedic- tus and the extended eucharistic prayer, Halse also made some significant departures from that book. He included, for example, the Agnus Dei and various rubrics and headings, which were not in the 1928 BCP. He used the words ‘The Canon’11 before the Sursum Corda and then before the

5. See Brian Douglas and Terence Lovat, “Dialogue Amidst Multiformity: A Habermasian Breakthrough in the Development of Anglican Eucharistic Liturgies,” Jour- nal of Anglican Studies 8 (2010) 35-57. Here the insights of Habermas in relation to dialogue and communicative action are critically applied to the development of Anglican eucharistic liturgies while at the same time recognizing the inherent multiformity of the Anglican eucharistic tradition. 6. Anglican Church of Australia, A Prayer Book for Australia (Sydney: Broughton Books, 1995). 7. Brian Douglas, “The Development of Eucharistic Liturgies in the Anglican Church of Australia. Part 2: A Case Study in Multiformity – 1995 to the present,” in this issue, pp. 196-219. 8. Book of Common Prayer 1662 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004). 9. Reginald Halse, The Holy Eucharist (otherwise known as The Brown Book) (Bishop of Riverina: Lockhart, 1939). 10. Ibid., Introduction. 11. Ibid., 20. Eucharistic Liturgies in the Anglican Church of Australia. Part One 177

Prayer of Consecration he added the heading ‘The Pleading of the Sacri- fice of Christ’.12 This suggests a realist theology of eucharistic sacrifice. During the Prayer of Consecration he added the headings ‘The Invoca- tion’13 and ‘The Oblation’.14 The Invocation however did not include an invocation of the Holy Spirit on the bread and wine and no specific epiclesis was found in the Prayer of Consecration, although the rubric immediately after the heading ‘Prayer of Consecration’ stated that “the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Ghost.”15 The Prayer of Oblation was in the 1928 position16 and therefore suggested, in a realist manner, the offering of the bread and wine, consecrated on the altar, to God as part of the praise and thanksgiving. There was no recitation of the mighty acts of Christ. Halse’s liturgy suggested a real presence of Christ in the Eucharist and adoration of Christ in the consecrated elements. The ringing of bells during the Prayer of Consecration was intended “to call us to adoration”17 and the rubric directed that people should “bow your head and say silently to our Lord, present upon his altar throne: Jesus, my Lord, I thee adore,”18 thereby suggesting a real presence of Christ in the Eucharist and eucharistic elements. In a later work entitled Adoremus,19 and otherwise known as ‘The Green Book’ because of the green colour of its cover, Halse, as Archbishop of Brisbane, added an introduction which commended the form to those who might find it useful. Adoremus is stated as being based on the 1928 BCP although, like Halse’s 1939 ‘Brown Book’, it makes some significant departures from that use. Adoremus did not use the heading ‘The Canon’, as ‘The Brown Book’ had done, but did expand the prayer entitled ‘The Oblation’ to include the mighty works of Christ as an anamnesis where the celebration of these mighty acts was specifically linked with the gifts of bread and wine being “set before thy Divine Maj- esty.”20 The rubric stating that the bread and wine became the body and blood of Christ by means of the Holy Spirit was no longer used as it had been in the Brown Book and no specific consecratory epiclesis was in-

12. Ibid., 21. 13. Ibid., 22. 14. Ibid., 24. 15. Ibid., 21. 16. Transposed from after the position of alternative prayer after Communion in the 1662 BCP to before Communion and as part of the Prayer of Consecration. 17. Halse, The Holy Eucharist, 23. 18. Ibid., 23. 19. Reginal Halse, Adoremus: A Plain Guide to the Worship of the Church and to the Use of Certain Sacraments (otherwise known as The Green Book) (Archbishop of Bris- bane, Melbourne, 1946). Although originally published in 1946 the Green Book had reached a fifth edition by 1962 and it is this fifth edition which is referred to in this Case Study. 20. Ibid., 26. 178 Brian Douglas cluded as was the case in the 1928 BCP. In ‘A Note Concerning this Book’21 the matter of whether to include an epiclesis is discussed. Adoremus opts for not including the epiclesis (in the prayer of consecration) on the basis of doubt “among liturgist as to whether, and if so, where, this prayer should stand in our Rite”22 and so includes a modified 1928 BCP wording of the epiclesis as a private prayer after the Offertory and before the Intercession. This private prayer says: “Hear us, O merciful Father, we most humbly beseech thee, and with thy Holy and Life- giving Spirit vouchsafe to bless and sanctify these thy gifts of Bread and Wine, that they may be unto us the Body and Blood of thy Son, our Sav- iour Jesus Christ, to the end that we, receiving the same, may be strengthened and refreshed both in body and soul. Amen.”23 Whereas the 1928 BCP form invokes the Holy Spirit on both the gifts and the people, the form used in Adoremus invokes the Holy Spirit on the gifts alone24 but it does this at the Offertory and not as part of the consecration. De- spite this the Prayer of Consecration was in the extended form, minus the epiclesis, with the Prayer of Oblation transposed to before Communion and the Lord’s Prayer, peace greeting and Agnus Dei, together with various silent prayers, also being placed before the Communion. These all suggested a real presence of Christ in the consecrated elements as did the addition of a form of the communion of the sick from the reserved sacrament.25 The most famous departure from BCP 1662 in Australia was a book entitled The Holy Eucharist,26 or more commonly, ‘The Red Book’, so named because of the colour of its cover, published by Bishop Arnold Wylde in the Diocese of Bathurst in 1942.27 ‘The Red Book’ was a version of the Eucharist based principally on the 1662 BCP and the 1928 BCP, with the inclusion of items traditionally associated with a Catholic and realist interpretation of the Eucharist, such as the Kyries, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei. The word ‘altar’ was also used instead of ‘holy table’ and the heading ‘The Offertory’ was also placed in the service.28 At the offertory Wylde used the following prayer which suggested that the gifts of bread and wine were a sacrifice or oblation to God and that they would become the body and blood of Christ: “Most merciful God, look gra- ciously upon the gifts now lying before thee, and send down thy Holy

21. Ibid., 3-4. 22. Ibid., 4. 23. Ibid., 15. 24. Ibid. 25. Ibid., 36-37. 26. Arnold Wylde, The Holy Eucharist (otherwise known as The Red Book) Pub- lished by the Bishop of Bathurst: Bathurst, 1942). 27. Stephen Judd and Ken Cable, Sydney Anglicans: A History of the Diocese (Syd- ney: Anglican Information Office, 1987) 253. 28. Wylde, The Holy Eucharist, 10. Eucharistic Liturgies in the Anglican Church of Australia. Part One 179

Spirit upon this sacrifice, that he may make this bread the Body of the Lord, and this wine the Blood of the Lord. Amen.”29 Wylde intended to teach the doctrine of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, indicating in a note before the Prayer of Consecration in ‘The Red Book’ that in this prayer “the bread and wine become the Body and Blood our Lord Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Ghost.”30 The Prayer of Consecration was immediately followed by what Wylde called ‘The Oblation’31 which was the Prayer of Oblation from the 1662 BCP, transposed from after Communion to before Communion and said in the presence of the consecrated elements, thereby suggesting that ‘this our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving’ referred not only to the individual communicant’s offering of praise and thanksgiving for the death of Christ, but also to the elements as a means of praise and thanksgiving. This was accentuated by the fact that the Lord’s Prayer, a greeting of peace and the Agnus Dei32 were also to be said in the presence of the consecrated elements. This delayed the reception of communion, allowed prayers to said in the presence of the consecrated elements and broke the 1552 and 1662 BCP tradition of receiving Communion immediately after the Prayer of Consecration, and was intended to avoid any suggestion of adoration of the consecrated elements. Wylde however specifically em- phasised adoration by rubrics suggesting that a bell should be rung after the consecration of the bread and again after the consecration of the wine “to call us to adoration.”33 This direction of adoring Christ, present in the elements, was further heightened by the inclusion of prayers to be said silently by the communicant. The following, for example, was suggested to be said before receiving Communion: “We, thy servants, O Lord, bow down to thee, before thy holy altar, waiting for the rich mercies which are from thee. Send down upon us, O Lord, thy grace and benediction, and hallow our souls and bodies, that we may be worthy partakers of thy holy mysteries, unto forgiveness of sins and eternal life.”34 Suggestion of the real presence of Christ in the elements in Wylde’s liturgy was also made by a form of Communion of the Sick which speci- fied that this was “with the Reserved Sacrament.”35 Although Wylde included no epiclesis or anamnesis in the form of consecration, an invocation of the Holy Spirit was suggested in the rubric before the consecration and implied the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.36

29. Ibid., 11. 30. Ibid., 20. 31. Ibid., 23-24. 32. Ibid., 24-25. 33. Ibid., 22. 34. Ibid., 25. 35. Ibid., 33. 36. Ibid., 20. A rubric stated that The Consecration was the time “when the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy 180 Brian Douglas

These directions and uses were assumed by some Evangelicals (both in the Diocese of Bathurst and the Diocese of Sydney) to teach pre- Reformation doctrines of eucharistic presence and sacrifice, including that of transubstantiation and so a civil action was brought against Bishop Wylde in the Equity Court of New South Wales. ‘The Red Book’ and the court case are reviewed more fully in Rodd,37 Teale38 and Judd and Ca- ble39 and while the details of this action do not concern us here, the use of ‘The Red Book’ however, demonstrates that a more realist view of the Eucharist than was found in the 1662 BCP was desired by some in the Anglican Church of Australia, and that others, presumably with a more Reformed view, resisted such a view strongly on the basis of denying that there could be a real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. This suggests that the theology of the Eucharist in the Anglican Church of Australia, often based on church parties and hermeneutics centred in particular dioceses, was indeed multiform. Another departure from the 1662 BCP was The Order of the Holy Eucharist,40 also called ‘The Yellow Book’ because of the colour of the cover. This form follows the pattern of 1662 to some extent and adds material from the 1928 BCP as well as other traditional material. ‘The Yellow Book’ uses the Prayer of Consecration from 1662 BCP but does not proceed directly to Communion and instead places the Agnus Dei and various private prayers before the receiving of the elements.41 The eucharistic prayer is therefore not in the extended form and is presented without epiclesis, anamnesis, oblation or mighty acts of Christ. The Kyries are in shortened form and the Benedictus is used as in the 1928 BCP. The various prayers suggested for private use strongly suggest a doctrine of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist and in the elements, with one prayer stating in reference to Christ’s body and blood that “they are here”42 while a rubric before the Prayer of Consecration states: “The Bread and Wine will be consecrated, and by the power of the Holy Spirit become the Body and Blood of the Lord. Our Lord Jesus is very near us.”43

Ghost” that the prayer should be said “to show the reverence and awe which priest and people ought to feel at such a time.” 37. Lewis Rodd, John Hope of Christ Church St Laurence (Sydney: Ambassador Press, 1972) 160-169. 38. Ruth Teale, “The ‘Red Book’ Case,” Journal of Religious History 12 (1982) 74- 89. 39. Judd and Cable, Sydney Anglicans: A History of the Diocese, 252-255. 40. John Norman, The Order of the Holy Eucharist (otherwise known as The Yellow Book) (Sydney: Church Stores, undated). Although undated this liturgy seems to have been produced around the middle of the twentieth century and used in various dioceses of Australia. 41. Ibid., 14-16. 42. Ibid., 16. 43. Ibid., 14. Eucharistic Liturgies in the Anglican Church of Australia. Part One 181

3. The Constitution of the Anglican Church of Australia, 1962

Despite the multiformity within the Anglican Communion and within the Anglican Church of Australia, the theology of the 1662 BCP was however enshrined by means of the Constitution of the Anglican Church of Australia of 1962.44 The Constitution stated that the Church of England in Australia (as it was then) “retains and approves the doctrine and principles of the Church of England embodied in the Book of Common Prayer” and sets the 1662 BCP, together with the Thirty-Nine Articles, “as the authorised standard of worship and doctrine in this Church” with the proviso that “no alteration in or permitted variations from the services or Articles therein contained shall contravene any principle of doctrine or worship laid down in such standard.”45 Despite this, the Constitution allows the bishop of a diocese to “permit deviations from the existing order of service” as long as such deviations are “not contravening any principle of doctrine or worship as aforesaid.”46 This provision has been invoked by various bishops within the Anglican Church of Australia with very different results.47 It seems that Article 4 of the Constitution has the power of very elastic interpretation, although it may be that the extremes of Anglicanism in Australia do not share the same interpretations of the variations developed under the authority of Article 4 of the Constitution.

44. Anglican Church of Australia, Constitution of the Anglican Church of Australia (Sydney: Anglican Church of Australia General Synod Office, 1962). 45. Ibid., Article 4. 46. Ibid. 47. A previous bishop of Ballarat for example, The Rt Rev’d David Silk used this provision to publish a set of materials entitled The Holy Eucharist, which present an explicitly catholic and realist theology of the Eucharist. For details see below and David Silk, The Holy Eucharist. Alternative and Additional Texts for Use with the Orders of the Eucharist in AAPB and APBA. Authorised and commended by the Bishop of Ballarat under Article 4 of the Constitution of the Anglican Church of Australia. Published together with a number of service cards entitled: The Holy Eucharist; The Holy Eucharist in Advent; The Holy Eucharist in Christmas and Epiphany; The Holy Eucharist in Lent; The Holy Eucharist – Eastertide; The Requiem Eucharist; The Funeral Mass (Ballarat: Angli- can Diocese of Ballarat, 1995) and David Silk, The Holy Eucharist: Alternative and Additional Texts for Use with the Order of the Eucharist in AAPB and APBA. Authorised and commended by the Bishop of Ballarat under Article 4 of the Constitution of the An- glican Church of Australia (Ballarat: Anglican Diocese of Ballarat, 2002). More than one Archbishop of Sydney has also used this provision to publish liturgical material in the Diocese of Sydney which presents a reformed and nominalist theology of the Eucharist. See Archbishop of Sydney’s Liturgical Panel, Sunday Services: A Liturgical Resource Prepared by the Archbishop of Sydney’s Liturgical Panel (Sydney: Anglican Press Aus- tralia, 2001). 182 Brian Douglas

4. Prayer Book Revision in Australia, 1966

With the Constitution of the Anglican Church of Australia and its provi- sions in mind a 1966 ‘Report of the Prayer Book Commission to General Synod of the Anglican Church of Australia’48 observed that most of the autonomous churches of the Anglican Communion had for many years produced revisions of their traditional prayer books and that such changes were in accord with Anglican tradition and principles.49 In fact work on prayer book revision in Australia had begun in May, 1962, when a commission had been appointed with the task of exploring the possibilities of prayer book revision.50 The Commission published a conservative revision which was essentially the service of Holy Communion from the 1662 BCP with a few minor alterations in language.51 The need for more contemporary language, the expression of fuller eucharistic doctrine, the influence of the liturgical movement and the changes in society regarding patterns of worship, prompted however, a more radical process of revision.52 By 1966 the first revisions of the Eucharist had been carried out, taking into account work already completed on the structure of the Eucharist by the Liturgical Consultation of the Anglican Communion meeting in 1963 in Canada and some contemporary liturgies.53 A Liturgy for Africa was used in Australia as an experimental liturgy and presented a more advanced realist theology of the Eucharist than was apparent in the 1662 BCP, particularly in an identification of the bread and wine of the Eucharist with an ‘offering’ in the Eucharist. In what was termed ‘The Great Thanksgiving’, A Liturgy for Africa used the following words: “Wherefore, O Father, we do this as thy Son commanded, offering to thee, with this holy Bread and Cup, our praise and thanksgiving for his one sacrifice once offered upon the cross, for his mighty resurrection and glorious ascension.”54 The offering of bread and wine to God as an act of praise and thanksgiving for the mighty acts of Christ, is a realist linking of these signs of bread and wine with the signified acts of Christ. This presented a distinctly more realist theology than was present in the 1662

48. “Report of a Commission of the General Synod appointed to explore the possibilities of revision of, and addition to, the Book of Common Prayer for the Church of Eng- land in Australia, 1966,” in The Church of England in Australia, Prayer Book Revision in Australia: Report of a Commission of the General Synod appointed to explore the possibilities of revision of, and addition to, the Book of Common Prayer for the Church of England in Australia, 1966 (Sydney: The Standing Committee of the General Synod, 1996) i-xviii. 49. Ibid., i 50. Ibid., ii. 51. Ibid., 18-29. 52. Ibid., iii-iv. 53. For example, A Liturgy for Africa (London: SPCK, 1964/1967) and “A Modern Liturgy,” Prayer Book Revision in Australia, 70-87. 54. A Liturgy for Africa, 11. Eucharistic Liturgies in the Anglican Church of Australia. Part One 183

BCP, and this seems to have caused difficulties for some within the An- glican Church of Australia, since Prayer Book Revision in Australia55 recommended that the words ‘with this holy Bread and Cup’ be changed in their experimental Australian use to ‘in the communion this holy Bread and Cup’. No reason is given for this change and perhaps it could be ar- gued that any offering so closely associated with the bread and wine, rather than with the ‘communion’ (that is, the act of administration of communion) was too clearly realist to suit some within the Anglican Church of Australia who saw the important aspect as reception rather than presence.

5. A Modern Liturgy, 1966

In ‘A Modern Liturgy’56 published in 1966 as part of the report on prayer book revision in Australia. This eucharistic prayer broke with the 1662 BCP pattern of mentioning only Christ’s sacrificial death and referred instead to the mighty redemptive acts of Christ and associated these more closely with institution narrative57 thereby suggesting a realist identification of the signs of bread and wine with the signified person and work of Christ. In this same context, the eucharistic prayer prayed that God would “give us life by your Holy Spirit, that we who receive your gifts of bread and wine according to our Saviour’s word, may share by faith in his body and blood, and may eat and drink with him at his table in his kingdom.”58 The prayer also went on to say: “We thank you for this bread” in the same sentence as it thanked God “for Christ your Son, the true and living bread given for the life of the world.”59 At the fraction of the bread it was declared: “This bread we share, is it not our fellowship in the body of Christ”60 suggesting an ecclesial identification of bread and wine with the Church as the body of Christ. ‘A Modern Liturgy’ presented realist philosophical assumptions relating to the Eucharist, linking the signs of bread and wine with the work and presence of Christ, however it did this in a restrained manner without a specific epiclesis over the bread and wine and without any specific offering of the elements to God or any linking of the oblation of the Eucharist with the oblation of the cross.

55. The Church of England in Australia, Prayer Book Revision in Australia, x. 56. Published in Prayer Book Revision in Australia, 70-87. 57. “A Modern Liturgy,” 78. 58. Ibid., 79. 59. Ibid. 60. Ibid. 184 Brian Douglas

6. A Service of Holy Communion for Australia, 1969 (Australia, ’69)

The radical and more realist view of eucharistic theology in liturgical revision carried the day in Australia and A Service of Holy Communion for Australia, 196961 was published with distinctly more realist eucharistic theology. This service, the fruit of trial use in Australia and consultation with other parts of the Anglican Communion62 was put into use in the Anglican Church of Australia. The service reflected the modern liturgical movement in form and wording but also maintaining aspects of the 1662 BCP Holy Communion. The bread and wine were directed to be placed on the table immediately before the eucharistic prayer (called a ‘Thanksgiving’) was said, thereby associating the elements with the central action of the Eucharist. The mighty acts of Christ’s redemption were recounted in the Thanksgiving and then the priest was directed to say: “And now, Father, we thank you for this bread that we break and eat in remembrance of Christ, the true and living bread who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. We thank you for this cup in remembrance of our Saviour Christ, the true vine.”63 The bread and wine are here linked with the remembrance of Christ, the true bread and true vine. The institution narrative is followed by thanks for Christ’s redemption and an invocation of the Holy Spirit on the people, asking that they may be partakers of the body and blood of Christ.64 An invitation to receive communion was then issued in these words: “Come and take this holy sacrament of the body and blood of Christ in remembrance that he died for you and feed on him in your heart by faith, with thanksgiving.”65 The realist words of administration as the bread and wine were delivered to the communicants were, “The body of Christ strengthen you” and “The blood of Christ strengthen you”66 which could be used as an alternative to the more traditional 1662 BCP words of administration. Overall A Service of Holy Communion for Australia 1969 presented a first more realist shift in eucharistic theology in the Austra- lian Anglican scene.

61. The Church of England in Australia, A Service of Holy Communion for Australia, 1969 (The Standing Liturgical Commission of the General Synod of the Church of Eng- land in Australia, Melbourne: GBRE, 1969). 62. Ibid., Foreword. 63. Ibid., 12. 64. Ibid., 13. 65. Ibid. 66. Ibid. Eucharistic Liturgies in the Anglican Church of Australia. Part One 185

7. Sunday Services Revised, 1972

These services, in reaction to Australia, 1969, were a conservative revision of the Holy Communion from the 1662 BCP, and were published in 1972.67 This liturgy took the form of the 1662 Holy Communion and its Prayer of Consecration68 (note not Thanksgiving) as a modern translation of the Prayer of Consecration in the 1662 BCP. The mighty acts of Christ’s were not listed, and there was no thanking of God for the elements of bread and wine in close proximity to the institution narrative. Emphasis was placed on the receiving of the bread and wine, rather than on any realist linking of the elements with the body and blood of Christ, with the Prayer of Consecration ending immediately after the institution narrative, with administration of communion following immediately in 1662 BCP style, and the words of administration being those of the 1662 BCP only. The ‘Preface’ acknowledged that the services presented were “a contemporary translation of … Holy Communion in the Book of Common Prayer of 1662” and that this was “the standard of worship and doctrine in this Church,” while it also acknowledged that “many Angli- cans are content gratefully to continue using that book, more or less as it was published.”69 The ‘Preface’ also acknowledged, in reference to any future revised prayer book, that these 1662 style services “will have a place in the Australian Prayer Book which we hope will be published within the next few years.”70 The theology of the Eucharist expressed in Sunday Services Revised was less realist than the theology expressed in A Service of Holy Communion for Australia, 1969, and seems to represent a conservative reaction against the trend of modern liturgies which included increased realist assumptions in eucharistic theology. The impetus for more realist versions of the Eucharist was not however stalled. The Liturgical Commission of the Church of England in Australia published in 1973 A Service of Holy Communion for Australia 1973, which was the successor to the 1969 revised eucharistic liturgy and it continued the use of realist assumptions.

67. The Church of England in Australia, Sunday Services Revised. Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, The Litany, Holy Communion (Melbourne: The Standing Liturgical Commission of General Synod of the Church of England in Australia, 1972). 68. Ibid., 39-40. 69. Ibid., 3. 70. Ibid. 186 Brian Douglas

8. A Service of Holy Communion for Australia, 1973 (Australia ’73)

Australia ’73,71 as this liturgy became known, acknowledged its debt to previous modern liturgical developments72 and at the same time the ‘Preface’ expressed the hope that “a definitive form of this service will be published not later than 1977, to be used along with other forms, including a contemporary version of the 1662 service.”73 The intention for prayer book development in Australia was intended to include both a modern eucharistic rite and a 1662 eucharistic rite, but at the same time this meant that both a more explicitly realist theology of the Eucharist (Australia 1973) and a less explicitly realist theology (Sunday Service Revised, 1972) were countenanced. This suggests the continuance of a multiformity of eucharistic theology in the liturgies of the Eucharist in Australia at that time. Australia ’73 reflected the form and wording of the modern liturgical movement and in ‘The Thanksgiving’ expressed a realist theology of the Eucharist. The mighty acts of Christ’s redemptive activity were recounted and thanksgiving for the bread and wine was made immediately before the institution narrative, thereby associating the bread and wine with the central action of the Eucharist.74 Following the institution narrative however, a more specifically realist association of the bread and wine with the sacrifice of Christ, than that found in Australia ’69, was made. The Thanksgiving prayed: “Therefore, Father, with this bread and this cup we proclaim his perfect sacrifice made once for all upon the cross; we celebrate the redemption he has won for us; and we look for his coming to fulfil all things according to your will.”75 The bread and wine are here specifically identified with the proclamation of Christ’s sacrifice, but care is taken not to suggest any form of fleshy realism, since the proclamation is of the ‘perfect’ and ‘once for all upon the cross’ sacrifice. Nonetheless there is a realist identification here between the signs of bread and wine and the proclamation of Christ’s sacrifice and coming fulfilment. An epiclesis on the people stops short of making a specific linking between the bread and wine and the presence of Christ’s body and blood in the Eucharist. It says: “Grant that we who eat and drink these holy things may be filled with your life and goodness for ever. Re-

71. The Church of England in Australia, A Service of Holy Communion for Australia 1973 (Sydney: The Liturgical Commission of the Church of England in Australia, 1973). 72. “A Modern Liturgy,” 1966; A Service of Holy Communion for Australia, 1969; and some English liturgies, including the Series 2 and Series 3 orders of Holy Commun- ion which had also been trialled in Australia. See Church of England, Alternative Service Second Series (London: Cambridge University Press, 1966) and The Church of England, Alternative Services Series 3: An Order for Holy Communion (London: SPCK, 1971). 73. The Church of England in Australia, A Service of Holy Communion for Australia 1973, 5. 74. Ibid., 14. 75. Ibid., 15. Eucharistic Liturgies in the Anglican Church of Australia. Part One 187 new us by your Holy Spirit, that we may be united in the body of your Son and be brought with all your people into the joy of your eternal kingdom.”76 Whereas Australia ’69 prayed, following the institution narrative, that the Holy Spirit would make people ‘partakers of the body and blood’ of Christ, Australia ’73 refers only to an ecclesial sense of Christ’s presence where people are ‘united in the body of your Son’, but nonetheless refers to the bread and wine as ‘holy things’. Despite this, realist words of administration (“The body of Christ keep you in eternal life” and “The blood of Christ keep you in eternal life”77 are used along with the more traditional but modernised form of the 1662 BCP. A commentary on Australia ’7378 was published to support its use and reference to this work will provide more detail on Australia ’73, its theology and how it was intended to be used.

9. An Australian Prayer Book (AAPB) 1978

The publication of An Australian Prayer Book (AAPB)79 in 1978 was a major event in the history of liturgy in the Anglican Church of Australia. It passed through General Synod in 1977 with only one dissenting voice in the House of Clergy and unanimous agreement in the Houses of Bish- ops and Laity80 with few amendments to the draft before the Synod.81 One of the guiding principles of the Liturgical Commission in assembling the liturgies of AAPB was the recognition of what Archbishop Grindrod calls “theological variance” and the desire “to discover the truth behind the divergences” without seeking any longer to regard the principle of uniformity of liturgical use as authoritative in the Anglican Church of Australia.82 Archbishop Grindrod was adopting the position taken years earlier by the Lambeth Conference of 1958,83 but at the same time he

76. Ibid. 77. Ibid., 16. 78. Evan Burge, Proclaim and Celebrate. Introducing Australia 73 (Sydney and Mel- bourne: Anglican Information Offices, 1973). 79. The Church of England in Australia, An Australian Prayer Book (Sydney: AIO Press, 1978). 80. John Grindrod, “The Story of the Draft Book,” When We Meet for Worship: A Manual for Using An Australian Prayer Book, 1978, ed. Gilbert Sinden (Adelaide: Lu- theran Publishing House, 1978) 29. 81. The Church of England in Australia, An Australian Prayer Book (Draft Only) (Standing Committee of the General Synod of the Church of England in Australia, Syd- ney: AIO Press, 1977). 82. Grindrod, “The Story of the Draft Book,” 24. 83. The Lambeth Conference of 1958 had taken the position that the 1662 BCP could no longer be seen as normative for the Anglican Communion. See “Report of the Sub- committee on the Book of Common Prayer,” Lambeth Conference Report, 1958 (London: SPCK, 1958) Resolution 2.78. 188 Brian Douglas seemed to be putting some distance between the products of liturgical revision (in this case AAPB) and the restrictions of the 1962 Constitution of the Anglican Church of Australia which required that the 1662 BCP be the standard of doctrine and worship in the Anglican Church of Australia. Grindrod seemed to be signalling an impending period of ‘theological variance’ expressed in the various eucharistic liturgies to be used. The result was that An Australian Prayer Book was “embraced far more widely than could ever have been anticipated” and even though it did not bring uniformity, it did bring “to the Church a measure of unity and common practice which had previously been lacking.”84 Unity and common practice seemed to recognise, not only a variety of eucharistic liturgies but also ‘theological variance’ as the norm in the Anglican Church of Australia. This was accepted eagerly by some and rejected strenuously by others. AAPB supplied two eucharistic orders, the First Order, a conservative revision of the 1662 service of Holy Communion and the Second Order, a form drawing on the modern liturgical movement and the work already carried out in Australia.85 The First Order86 passed through the Synod with only very minor alteration. This Order reflected the theology and shape of the service of Holy Communion in the 1662 BCP, although there were some concessions to the modern liturgical movement.87 It was a “‘conservative’ form of service for the Holy Communion” and “represents a ‘translation’ of the 1662 Communion service.”88 The Prayer of Consecration (not called ‘The Thanksgiving’) closely resembled the Prayer of Consecration in the 1662 service, but with modern language. The atonement theology of 1662 was a feature and no reference was made to the mighty acts of Christ, nor to his coming again. There was no epiclesis or anamnesis, nor was there any thanksgiving for the gifts of bread and wine or offering of them to God. Communion followed immediately after the Prayer of Consecration, which ended with the institution narrative, and the words of administration were modelled on the 1662 service, although the alternative words from the Second Order were allowed, but not printed in the First Order. The tone of the First Order was distinctly that of Reformed eucharistic theology with any realist language and theology being restrained as is the case in the 1662 BCP. This particularly applied to the reception of the bread and wine being the climax

84. David Richardson, “A Prayer Book for Australia: Historical Background,” A Prayer for Australia: A Practical Commentary, ed. G. Varcoe (Sydney: Dwyer, 1997) 8. 85. Especially in uniting aspects of the Australia ’69 and Australia ’73 eucharistic orders. 86. The Church of England in Australia, An Australian Prayer Book, 114-133. 87. The Kyries, modern introductions to the readings, modern language, an abbrevi- ated Exhortation and additional seasonal material. 88. Sinden, When We Meet for Worship, 97. Eucharistic Liturgies in the Anglican Church of Australia. Part One 189 and central point of the Eucharist in this First Order as it is in the 1662 BCP. The Second Order of the Eucharist in AAPB89 reflected the shape and theology of many other modern eucharistic liturgies in the Anglican Communion. The ‘Thanksgiving’ appears in several alternative forms which express a more realist eucharistic theology than is found in the First Order. The mighty acts of Christ are recounted and this is followed by thanks for the gifts of bread and wine in the following words: “Merci- ful Father, we thank you for these gifts of your creation, this bread and this wine, and we pray that we who eat and drink them in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit in obedience to our Saviour Christ in remembrance of his death and passion may be partakers of his body and his blood.”90 The bread and wine are to be eaten in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit and it is in so doing, following Christ’s command, that the communicants are said to be partakers of Christ’s body and blood. The bread and wine are in this way identified with the body and blood of Christ in a realist manner, but there is no specific consecratory epiclesis, in the sense that the Holy Spirit is invoked to ‘make’ the bread and wine ‘become’ the body and blood of Christ.91 Instead the Holy Spirit is said to be present in fellowship with the eating and the drinking and it is in the eating and the drinking that people are partakers of Christ’s body and blood. Following the institution narrative of the Second Order there is a realist identification of the bread and wine with the celebration of the mighty acts of Christ. The Thanksgiving says: “Father, with this bread and this cup, we do as our Saviour has commanded; we celebrate the redemption he has won for us; we proclaim his perfect sacrifice made once for all upon the cross, his mighty resurrection and glorious ascension; and we look for his coming to fulfil all things according to your will.”92 The bread and wine as signs are here identified in a realist manner with the celebration and proclamation of Christ’s acts of sacrifice, resurrection, ascension and coming again. This is followed by an invocation of the Holy Spirit upon the people who make the celebration and proclamation using the bread and wine, that is, “Renew us by your Holy Spirit,”93 and in ecclesial terms, that is, “unite us in the body of your Son.”94 This ecclesial sense is reinforced by a sentence used before communion which

89. The Church of England in Australia, An Australian Prayer Book, 134-174. 90. Ibid., 147. 91. This type of more explicit epiclesis over the bread and wine is found in other An- glican eucharistic liturgies in the prayer books of say The Episcopal Church of the USA and The Province of Southern Africa. The Australian use is not as realist and prefers the ‘partakers of his body and blood’ language in the style of the 1662 BCP. For some, such as Evangelicals, the more specific realist language is avoided and the 1662 style is pre- ferred. 92. The Church of England in Australia, An Australian Prayer Book, 147. 93. Ibid., 148. 94. Ibid. 190 Brian Douglas says: “We who are many are one body in Christ, for we all share in the one bread,”95 however the sacramental presence of Christ is also stated in the words of invitation to receive communion, that is, “Come let us take this holy sacrament of the body and blood of Christ” but this is not a fleshy sense of realism, since the invitation continues, “in remembrance that he died for us, and feed on him in our hearts by faith with thanksgiving.”96 In addition to words of administration patterned on the 1662 service of Holy Communion, there is also a modern form which say: “The body/blood of Christ keep you in eternal life”97 which suggest a realist linking of the bread and wine with the body and blood of Christ. A ru- bric98 also directs that during the Communion hymns or anthems can be used. These include the Benedictus and the Agnus Dei, both of which are suggestive of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist and a realist identification of the signs of bread and wine with the signified body and blood of Christ. These however are not printed in the text of the service but placed in a section called ‘Notes’ at the end of the service99 thereby distancing them somewhat from the Thanksgiving and lessening the im- mediacy of the sacramental realism. Despite this attempt to meet Evan- gelical objections to the use of both the Benedictus and Agnus Dei, their placement in AAPB represents the first official appearance of these parts of the Eucharist, traditionally associated with a realist eucharistic theology, in any official Australian Anglican eucharistic liturgy and as such they help to demonstrate a realist theology. An Australian Prayer Book of 1978 met a perceived need for liturgical revision in the Anglican Church of Australia in the last quarter of the twentieth century. It was widely used and accepted by all dioceses, ini- tially meeting the needs of both Evangelical and Catholic Anglicans.100 It was not intended however to remain in use for a long period of time, and AAPB’s own ‘Preface’ stated it was expected to have a life of about 10 to 15 years.101 This meant that the process of revision continued, both na- tionally through the work of the Liturgical Commission102 and in various diocesan uses.103

95. Ibid. 96. Ibid., 149. 97. Ibid. 98. Ibid. 99. Ibid., 153. 100. Richardson, “A Prayer Book for Australia: Historical Background,” 8. 101. The Church of England in Australia, An Australian Prayer Book, 13. 102. In the subsequent revision called The Holy Communion also Called the Eucha- rist and the Lord’s Supper published in 1993 and reviewed below. 103. Among the Evangelicals, the Diocese of Sydney produced Experimental Sunday Services in 1993 and Sunday Services in 2001 and among the Catholics, the Diocese of Ballarat produced a manual entitled The Holy Eucharist in 1995 and revised it in 2002. Eucharistic Liturgies in the Anglican Church of Australia. Part One 191

10. Experimental Sunday Services 1993 (Diocese of Sydney)

For the Evangelicals the publication of Experimental Sunday Service104 arose from some unease with the increasing realist eucharistic theology of what was described as “the expanded thanksgivings in modern Angli- can liturgies.”105 There was a desire to produce services which brought “out the biblical teaching that we meet to express our fellowship with God on the basis of Jesus’ sacrifice and our fellowship with one another.”106 This desire seemed to be based on a belief that “it is easy to obscure the focus of New Testament teaching about the Lord’s Supper and its significance for us” and so there was a wish “to return to the sim- plicity of The Book of Common Prayer”107 where there was a less specifically realist theology and where the focus was on the eating and drinking in remembrance of Jesus and his sacrifice. Experimental Sunday Services in 1993 expressed these Evangelical needs in the Anglican Church of Australia and as such added to the multiformity of theology and practice. In the two eucharistic liturgies of Experimental Sunday Services108 there is a receptionist theology expressed in words such as: “And now, Father, we thank you for these gifts of bread and wine, and pray that we who receive them, according to our Saviour’s word, may share his body and blood.”109 This suggests that it is the receiving of the bread and wine, not the bread and wine themselves, that are linked, by Christ’s word, with the sharing of Christ’s body and blood. Aspects of the Eucharist traditionally associated with a realist understanding were omitted.110 The words of administration followed the pattern of the 1662 BCP. The attempt here appears to be to lessen any realist notions of presence and sacrifice in the Eucharist.

11. The Holy Eucharist 1995/2002 (Diocese of Ballarat)

For the Anglican Catholics in Australia there was also some unease with AAPB of 1978 since the eucharistic liturgies were regarded by some “as being unrepresentative of fully developed Anglican Catholic teaching and therefore inadequate as a liturgical base.”111 Bishop Silk of Ballarat in his

104. Liturgical Committee of the Synod of the Diocese of Sydney, Experimental Sun- day Services (Sydney: AIO Press, 1993). 105. Ibid., 7. 106. Ibid. 107. Ibid. 108. Ibid., 21-27 and 28-33. 109. Ibid., 26. 110. The mighty acts of Christ in addition to Christ’s death, an epiclesis and anamnesis, as well as the Benedictus and Agnus Dei. 111. Richardson, “A Prayer Book for Australia: Historical Background,” 8. 192 Brian Douglas

1995 (Revised 2002) manual entitled The Holy Eucharist,112 for example, makes changes to the eucharistic liturgies of An Australian Prayer Book so that they might have as he describes it, a “Catholic interpretation”113 and a more “adequate” epiclesis and anamnesis.114 In the 2002 edition of his manual he further clarifies these amendments by stating that they make the thanksgiving prayers “clearly inclusive of Anglican Catholic understandings.”115 In the First Thanksgiving of the Second Order of AAPB for example, significant changes are made. AAPB states: “Merciful Father, we thank you for these gifts of your creation, this bread and this wine, and we pray that we who eat and drink them in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit in obedience to our Saviour Christ in remembrance of his death and passion may be partakers of his body and blood.”116 Bishop Silk however amends this so that it becomes a more complex, but presumably to him more adequately catholic, set of words, saying: “Merciful Father, we thank you for these gifts of your creation, this bread and this wine, and we pray that we who eat and drink them in obedience to our Saviour Christ in remembrance of his death and passion, may, by the power of the Holy Spirit, by them be partakers of his body and his blood.”117 The Holy Spirit’s power is more closely linked with the partaking of the body and blood of Christ and the less realist ‘in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit’ is removed. The bread and wine are also more closely linked with the body and blood of Christ by the addition of the words ‘by them’, suggesting that it is by them (that is, the bread and wine) that the partaking of the body and blood of Christ occurs, rather than by the receptionist suggestion of the presence of Christ through the action of eating and drinking. Silk also amends the anamnesis of AAPB, changing: “Father, with this bread and this cup, we do as our Saviour has commanded; we celebrate the redemption he has won for us; we proclaim his perfect sacrifice made once for all upon the cross, his mighty resurrection and glorious ascension; and we look for his coming to fulfil all things according to your will”118 so that it becomes: “Father, we offer you this bread and this cup as our Saviour has commanded, and we celebrate the redemption he has won for us; we proclaim his perfect sacrifice made once for all upon the cross, his mighty resurrection and glorious ascension; and we look for his coming to fulfil all things according to your will.”119

112. Silk, The Holy Eucharist, 1995 and 2002. 113. Silk, The Holy Eucharist, 1995, 198. 114. Ibid., 199. 115. Silk, The Holy Eucharist, 2002, 8. 116. The Church of England in Australia, An Australian Prayer Book, 147. 117. Silk, The Holy Eucharist, 1995, 160. 118. The Church of England in Australia, An Australian Prayer Book, 147. 119. Silk, The Holy Eucharist, 1995, 161. Eucharistic Liturgies in the Anglican Church of Australia. Part One 193

The intention here seems to affirm a sacramental realism since it refers to a ‘perfect sacrifice made once for all’ but at the same time con- tains a realist theology with an oblation of the bread and wine, suggesting that by the offering of the bread and wine there is a celebration and proclamation of Christ’s sacrifice. This suggestion of a present offering is however, even more developed by 2002 in the eucharistic prayer for the Feast of Corpus Christi – the Blessed Sacrament.120 Here Bishop Silk says: “At the last supper, as he was at table with his apostles, he offered himself to you as the spotless Lamb, the acceptable gift that gives you perfect praise. Christ has given us this memorial of his passion to bring the saving power to the end of time.”121 The offering is more closely associated with the Last Supper or the institution of the Eucharist and not only with the cross of Calvary. It is this offering, in the Eucharist, that is said to give ‘perfect praise’ and it is this ‘memorial of his passion’ which brings the saving power of Christ in a way distinct from the event of the cross. Amendments are also made to other Thanksgiving prayers of AAPB122 but in the 2002 second edition of his manual Silk only uses the first thanksgiving of AAPB123 since this is the only thanksgiving that he now sees as being “patient of a Catholic interpretation”124 in AAPB. He states simply that the other eucharistic prayers in AAPB “are not recommended,”125 whereas in the 1995 edition of the manual he states more fully that the Fourth Thanksgiving Prayer of AAPB126 is not recommended, because it has what Silk describes as “neither adequate anamnesis nor epiclesis.”127

12. The Holy Communion also called the Eucharist and the Lord’s Supper 1993 (Liturgical Commission)

In 1993 the Liturgical Commission produced a new set of eucharistic liturgies for trial use in the Anglican Church of Australia entitled The Holy Communion also called the Eucharist and the Lord’s Supper.128

120. Silk, The Holy Eucharist, 2002, 102-103. 121. Ibid., 102. 122. Silk, The Holy Eucharist, 1995, 162-167. 123. Silk, The Holy Eucharist, 2002, 133-136. 124. Ibid., 8. 125. Ibid., 136. 126. The Church of England in Australia, An Australian Prayer Book, 165-166. 127. Silk, The Holy Eucharist, 1995, 199 and 201. 128. The Anglican Church of Australia, The Holy Communion also Called the Eucha- rist and the Lord’s Supper 1993. Prepared by the Liturgical Commission of the Anglican Church of Australia for use under section 4 of the Constitution (Sydney: Broughton Books, 1993). 194 Brian Douglas

There were two orders of the Eucharist – First Order,129 which was a translation of the service of Holy Communion in the 1662 BCP, similar to the First Order in AAPB of 1978 and Second Order,130 and a modern liturgy in shape and wording, the Second Order, which was intended to be streamlined and provide variety whilst taking into account developments in ecumenical consensus. The Thanksgiving Prayers in the Second Order came from a variety of sources.131 In each of the six thanksgiving prayers there were realist ideas of both Christ’s eucharistic presence and sacrifice. An epiclesis (although not in the developed realist sense of asking that the bread and wine ‘become’ the body and blood of Christ) and an anamnesis (although not a specific offering of the bread and wine) were included in each thanksgiving as was the Benedictus, now printed in the service following the Sanctus, but placed in brackets. The Agnus Dei and other anthems were set to be sung or said during communion as had been the pattern in the Second Order of AAPB. The words of administration included a 1662 BCP form, the AAPB form132 and a new form which was specifically linked the bread to the body of Christ and the cup to the blood of Christ, that is: “The body of Christ, the bread of heaven” and “The blood of Christ, the cup of salvation.”133 This new set of services expressed a more developed realist expression of Christ’s eucharistic presence and sacrifice than was the case in AAPB of 1978 or in Experi- mental Sunday Services of 1993. For some however, the expression of a realist theology of the Eucharist, especially in relation to the epiclesis and anamnesis was still too muted and there was a desire for a fuller and more catholic expression of eucharistic theology.134 Such developments would have to await the publication of a new prayer book, A Prayer Book for Australia, in 1995.

13. Conclusion

This article has reviewed the multiformity of Eucharistic theology in the eucharistic liturgies of the Anglican Church of Australia up to 1995. The history of liturgical development and use in this province of the Anglican Communion shows evidence of a realist eucharistic theology, where the signs of the Eucharist are linked with and convey what they signify.

129. Ibid., 1-19. 130. Ibid., 21-67. 131. Including AAPB, ancient liturgical models such as the Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus, other provinces of the Anglican Communion such as Canada’s 1985 The Book of Alternative Services and newly developed forms reflecting Aboriginal creation motifs and a responsive form. 132. “The body/blood of Christ keep you in eternal life.” 133. The Anglican Church of Australia, The Holy Communion also Called the Eucha- rist and the Lord’s Supper 1993, 51. 134. Richardson, “A Prayer Book for Australia: Historical Background,” 8. Eucharistic Liturgies in the Anglican Church of Australia. Part One 195

There is also evidence of a nominalist eucharistic theology, where there is no real link, other than in the enquiring mind, between the signs and what they signify. These two streams of eucharistic theology have been present through the twentieth century and into the present. The second part of this article analyses the development of eucharistic liturgies and eucharistic theology in the Anglican Church of Australia from 1995. The year 1995 is the date of publication of the current modern prayer book, A Prayer Book for Australia. An analysis of the eucharistic liturgies of this prayer book and the alternative liturgies developed in two dioceses of the Anglican Church of Australia will be considered in this second article.

St Mark’s National Theological Centre Brian DOUGLAS Charles Sturt University 15 Blackall Street Barton. ACT. 2603. Australia [email protected]