& Papist, Anglican & Puritan Performance in the Sixteenth Century (A MEDITATION UPON THE NATURE OF PUBLIC WORSHIP)
Within the one Church of England in the 16th century there were displayed three very different approaches to the relation of the clergy to the congregation in divine worship. To understand these and to reflect upon them can give one a perspective in evaluating modern approaches to public worship. Here I merely OPEN up the subject.
First of all, consider the traditional, late medieval relation of clergy and people, which may be termed PARALLELISM. Here especially at the Mass but also at Matins on Sundays the clergy did its holy work while the laity engaged in its own different holy work.. In the Mass the laity came into direct rather than parallel relation to the priest only at one supreme point, the elevation of the host when the bell was rung to gain their attention.
The priest faced East and went through the Latin Rite addressing God on his own behalf and in the stead of the congregation, doing his own holy thing. The laity had their own little books of devotion and/or their rosaries and they said their own private prayers as they waited for the Elevation and the saying aloud of the Pater Noster. They received Communion rarely and only after making their confession to the priest. By being there, by watching and by engaging in private devotions they were blessed because the Sacrament was by divine grace seen to be all powerful.
Secondly, consider the totally new relation of clergy and people created by the use of the English Book of Common Prayer, which may be termed, COMMONALITY. Here the intention was that both the basic thoughts and the expression in words of clergy and congregation were identical. There was to be no private performance of the priest in the chancel and no private prayers of the people in the nave. The whole Rite and text belonged to all and this was signified by the requirement that certain parts of the service were said/sung together and that where the clergy read the service aloud the people should say a hearty "Amen" to what had been said on its behalf. The philosophy here is that people are formed in right thinking, right praying and right action by the repetition prayerfully and together of a sound text in the vernacular which they understand. Thus it is, and becomes more through practice and usage, truly common prayer.
In the third place, the relation of clergy to congregation created by the type of services created by the Puritans (Presbyterians) which may be termed FOLLOW THE LEADER. Here there was a minimal or no set liturgy. The pastor/preacher was pivotal and his proclamation of the whole counsel of God in his lengthy sermon was central. He preached and the people listened. Then in the lengthy pulpit/pastoral ex tempore prayer he prayed aloud and the people listened, giving their "Amen" at the end. Everything hinged on the ability & holiness & rhetoric of the pastor who was to be a godly and learned man. Only in the singing of Psalms in metre together did the people actively participate in the service. The primary duty of the pastor was to preach, teach, pray and lead and that of the people was to listen and receive and sing.
It will be observed that the new "Anglican" method created by Archbishop Cranmer et al in the 1540s and set forth in the two editions of The Book of Common Prayer (and of course supported by government statutes and royal proclamations) is very different from the other two, which have likenesses. The ANGLICAN aim is not in the first place to get total doctrinal unity but to get unity of practice in a comprehensive way so that by the learning by heart and by the regular doing of the liturgy a people can be formed in the habit of prayer and worship and hearing God's word in the vernacular. Thus individual piety and family prayers can then flow from the public liturgy as water from a spring.
In modern times, not only have these three primary models been modified in various directions to suit modern taste & conditions, but other models have been popularised.
One such model is based on the theatre and has as its setting an auditorium wherein there is a stage. The performance occurs on the stage from where everything is directed by the performers, and the folks in the auditorium sing and shout, stand and sit, as directed. Here there is little distinction between worship of God , popular evangelism and entertainment. The aim is to keep people happy and at the same time help them to find God in some ways. (And God works in marvellous ways his wonders to perform!)
This theatre model (which is often married to the "community" model) has also influenced changes in the three primary models. In terms of the Anglican model this has usually occured through there being given a kind of theological basis by developing such themes as "shared ministry", by introducing worship committees, music groups & the "Peace," by lowering the talk about sin and judgment, and by catering very clearly to the modern sense of subjectivity and the need for self-affirmation and self-worth. At the same time the clergy have given more time and attention to being therapists and managers and to finding ways to preach, teach and lead without causing offence.
Thus Common Prayer as a Common Rite and Common Text to be used and known by all by heart has given way in many places to Common Prayer as being a common structure with a few common elements, leaving space for local variations and adaptations, wherein the psychotherapeutical and entertainment models are influential.
What has happend to R C's, Baptists/Congregationalists etc is a related story.
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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