Briefly I want to indicate that from the 1960s the new definitions of sin, the search for community and an emphasis upon celebration required the new YOU-God, the caring, ever-present, Deity, the God of immanence known in the here and now. The old THOU-God of the pre-1960s King James Version of the Bible and Book of Common Prayer just did not fit the bill. He was too transcendent, majestic, and holy and over concerned with redemption & eternity and thus with heaven and hell.
Let us begin by recalling that the culture of the 1960s put the human self into the forefront and called for everyone not only to be afforded dignity but also to possess self-respect and to pursue self-realization and self-fulfilment. So to have a low self-esteem was seen as a serious psychological fault to be remedied by psychotherapy. Religion with its community of faith serving the YOU-God was expected to be supportive of the psychotherapy and rejoiced to be so.
The description of sin, the calls for repentance from sin, and the confessions of sin found in the ancient Book of Common Prayer and old devotional books were seen as leading people into low self-esteem, or confirming them in such. This form of piety attempted to humble human beings in the dust before an omnipotent God, the THOU-God, making them feel themselves to be guilty, sinful creatures and to cry out, "There is no health in us!" before they could receive redemption.
What was needed, it was felt in the 1960s, was a more educated and realistic understanding of sin as mistakes and errors of the individual and community, rather than an incurable cancer of the soul leading to mindless acts of rebellion against the transcendent THOU-God. Only before the immanent and affirming YOU-God could such a new appreciation and understanding of sin in self and others be held.
And to make sure that affirming selves did not even attempt to plumb the depths of self-abasement required by the old religion, it was often emphasized that the assembly of the new style Christian community is for Celebration. That is a joyful gathering and affirmation before the YOU-God, rejoicing in all that he means and provides.
The primary assembly, the parish Eucharist, was held in mid-Sunday morning and participation was seen as the badge of membership and the statement of belonging, and the central act of celebration. In this act, which created and confirmed community, creation with its gifts and bounty were celebrated, and this affirmation found practical expression in environmental concerns. Celebration of God's justice and righteousness easily found expression in concerns in the world for human dignity, peace and justice for all peoples. Then the spiritual gifts of the YOU-God through and in Jesus Christ were celebrated, leading to an emphasis upon life, living life to the full and for others. Further, there was celebration of solidarity in community, given vivid expression in the extended passing of the peace.
If still permitted celebration before the THOU-God using the old rite was pushed to 7.30 or 8.a.m. and not much advertised. It was seen as a concession to the old and infirm, those who were unlikely to join the vibrant community of faith for they were stuck in their individualism and frozen in their habits, but yet [and this could not be discounted] they were those who helped to pay a sizeable proportion of the bills.
In this Order for Holy Communion addressed to the THOU-God there was no music, only minimal ceremonial to accompany the words. While there was thanksgiving for creation and its gifts the primary emphasis before the THOU-God was on the redemption from this fallen world by the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary's cross. By his blood there is forgiveness and redemption for repentant sinners leading to membership through Christ of the mystical Body of Christ and fellowship/communion one w ith another and supremely with God the Father.
We need not labor the point that this theme of redemption from sin and the fullness of life in heaven with the THOU-God stands in contrast to the abundant life on this earth in peace and justice with the YOU-God.
Let us continue by emphasizing that from the 1960s one cultural current inimical to the retention of the BCP & the KJV and traditional hymnody with its THOU-God was a concern for Christian COMMUNITY, which was presented as a positive response to contemporary individualism and atomisation. Liturgical reformers looked for a recovery of organic relationships within a Church set over against a fractured society.
Expressions like "God's Frozen People" in vogue at the time portrayed rows of people boxed and immobilised in pews, using an old prayer book, Bible and hymnbook with outdated language, and worshipping the THOU-God.
Liturgists decided that these unfortunate people had to be unfrozen and integrated into the new community and so the communitarian impulse from the zealous reformers found expression in various ways (which are not all bad in themselves but were directed to a questionable end!). Here are some of them:
1. The use of the Kiss of Peace/Passing of the Peace was attractive for it offered to unfreeze people in their private space.
2. Baptism had to be in the main service on a Sunday and not semi-privately at Noon or in the Afternoon. No private baptisms - infants and families must be on public view and publicly made part of the community of faith.
3. Community of Faith became a sacred term even though not a biblical model for the church. Koinonia also was now translated as "community" instead of "communion" or "fellowship."
4. Relationship became a sacred term both God-ward and humankind-ward.
5. There was a preference for circles and half circles for worship to allow direct eye contact and to make the minister a real part of the community. Gone were the catholic eastward and the evangelical north-side celebrations! The minister looked westwards towards his/her people who faced him/her in the divine circle or half-circle.
6. The Creed was changed from "I" [which it had been as Credo for 15 centuries in the Mass] to "We" to make its recital an act of the community not of isolated individuals.
7. All-member ministry and shared ministry became the norms and so as many as possible had to have a part in the service and ministry, whether or not they were competent in music or reading or whatever.
8. Music became that of the common denominator which meant that classical church music was seriously neglected.
9. Sharing, proximity and cooperation were emphasized and differences minimized.
10. Shared and fellow feeling (immanence) took precedence over reverence and awe (transcendence) in worship services and especially in "the Eucharist." The YOU-God was in the celebration of togetherness and community.
11. No learning by heart or memorisation of Bible and Liturgy but rather an experience of the REAL through variety of rites and forms of and versions of the Bible used in the community worship and teaching.
12. A dumbing down in quality and standards in order to make all feel good, and with a general emphasis upon the therapeutic dimensions of pastoral care.
13. An appeal [often spurious] to the Early Church in justification of some of the above practices to give them a superiority over BCP forms and ways
So it was that God in, with and through all the community and its activities needed to be addressed in ordinary speech - just like the members of the community addressed each other -- thus YOU. To use THOU was to hanker after the old religion and to make God outdated, remote and irrelevant. It was also to destroy the modern, community faith and spirit. So modern liturgy, modern Version of Bible and modern songs and choruses are addressed to the YOU-God for they belong to each other.
August 20, 2002
The Rev'd Dr. Peter Toon
Minister of Christ Church, Biddulph Moor,
England & Vice-President and Emissary-at-Large
of The Prayer Book Society of America
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