CHAPTER 1

PreliminaryEssentials

Before we turn our attention to directions and suggestions for particularservices, there are certain preliminary matters that we must consider: (1) thepattern of worship presupposed by The Book of Common Prayer and its theologicalbasis; (2) the participants in worship and their function and vesture; (3) thesetting of worship—"the house of the church"; (4) ceremonial action; (5) thelanguage of the liturgy; and (6) the use of music.

The Pattern of Christian Worship

The first matter to be considered is one that frequently escapes our attentionaltogether. The Book of Common Prayer is not a miscellaneous collection ofservices; it provides a pattern for our worship that sets forth the appropriateservice for each situation. If we do not understand this, our use of the PrayerBook will easily get off course.

The first rubric of The Book of Common Prayer 1979 states:

The Holy Eucharist, the principal act of Christian worship on the Lord's Day andother major feasts, and Daily Morning and Evening Prayer, as set forth in thisBook, are the regular services appointed for public worship in this Church.

This rubric makes explicit what was implicit in all prior editions of The Bookof Common Prayer: that the Prayer Book prescribes a pattern of services forparochial worship—daily Morning and Evening Prayer and the Holy Eucharist onSundays and other major feasts for which propers are provided. A "regular"service in this sense is one which is regulated by the calendar of the churchyear and the lectionaries of the Prayer Book.

Daily Morning and Evening Prayer is rooted in the tradition of the Church andultimately in its heritage from the Jewish synagogue. These services form thefirst major section of service material in the Prayer Book, The Daily Office.Also included in this section are two other parts of the Office which may beused as occasion requires—An Order of Service for Noonday and An Order forCompline, as well as a festive form of Evening Prayer—An Order of Worship forthe Evening, and informal Daily Devotions for Individuals and Families. TheGreat Litany, prescribed by earlier Prayer Books for use after Morning Prayer oncertain days, follows.

The occasions for which the celebration of the Eucharist are prescribed aretheologically grounded. Sundays, "the first day of the week," when Christ"overcame death and the grave, and by his glorious resurrection opened to us theway of everlasting life" (Preface 2 of the Lord's Day, pages 345 and 377), arefor that reason "feasts of our Lord Jesus Christ." They and other feasts ofChrist are appropriately observed by the celebration of the Eucharist in whichthe "Risen Lord" is "known to us in the breaking of the Bread" (EucharisticPrayer C, page 372). The feasts of the saints are observed in the same waybecause (Lesser Feasts and Fasts, page 56)

... the triumphs of the saints are a continuation and manifestation of thePaschal victory of Christ ...

For the major feasts of the Calendar, the celebration of the Eucharist isprescribed; other feasts listed on the calendar are days of optionalcommemoration, along with the weekdays of Lent and Easter. Propers for theseoptional commemorations are found in the book of Lesser Feasts and Fasts. TheEucharist is not appropriate on Good Friday and Holy Saturday, days whichcommemorate Christ's death and burial.

The propers in the Prayer Book for Various Occasions are not commemorations;they are provided for what have been known in the West as "votive celebrations,"celebrations related to a theme or intention rather than to the calendar. Theymay not replace the major feasts of the calendar, but may be used at othertimes. A daily celebration of the Eucharist (except on Good Friday and HolySaturday) is neither required nor forbidden. The daily celebration of theEucharist does tend to blur the distinction between feasts and other days,however, and overshadow the office as the proper form of daily worship.

The Collects for the Church Year, the section of the Prayer Book following theGreat Litany, are provided for use with the regular services—that is, the DailyOffice and the Holy Eucharist. Rubrics in this section regulate the use of thevarious propers.

The Proper Liturgies and Holy Baptism, the sections printed before the HolyEucharist in the Prayer Book, may also be understood as "regular services"—thatis, as services regulated by the calendar. The Proper Liturgies are specialforms of the Proclamation of the Word of God used in Lent and Holy Week and atthe Great Vigil of Easter. The Book of Occasional Services also provides properliturgies. These include baptismal vigils for the Baptism of Christ and AllSaints' Day or Sunday, other special forms of the Ministry of the Word on otherdays; seasonal material for the Office (lucernaria, or lamplightingresponsories), the Eucharist (confractoria, or fraction anthems), and blessings;materials for the catechumenate for use in Lent or Advent; and seasonal serviceswhich are, properly speaking, paraliturgical. All of the material from this bookis for optional and supplementary use.

Holy Baptism, formerly considered an occasional office, is now understood as theproper service for the baptismal feasts—Easter, Pentecost, the Baptism ofChrist, and All Saints' Day or Sunday—and for the Bishop's visitation. Thebaptismal Eucharist is the proper liturgy for these feasts; in the absence ofcandidates for Baptism on these days, the Renewal of Baptismal Vows shouldreplace the Creed at the Eucharist (rubric, pages 312; form, pages 292–294). Aspecial bidding is provided for the Easter renewal of vows and one might becomposed for the other days, relating the theology of Baptism to the theology ofthese feasts. A procession to the font would also be appropriate on these days,with a blessing of the water using the form provided on pages 570–571 andperhaps an aspersion of the congregation. The rubric on page 298 tells us thatthe baptismal Eucharist is an appropriate liturgy for any Sunday or feast.Baptism should not be administered at other times except in an emergency.

As distinct from these regular services, the Pastoral Offices and EpiscopalServices in the Prayer Book and similar materials in The Book of OccasionalServices are occasional services—that is, their use is determined by occasionsin the lives of individuals and congregations rather than by the calendar. Notethe second and third rubrics on page 13 of the Prayer Book:

In addition to these services [the regular services] and the other ritescontained in this book, other forms set forth by authority within this Churchmay also be used. Also, subject to the direction of the bishop, specialdevotions taken from this Book, or from Holy Scripture, may be used when theneeds of the congregation require.

For special days of fasting or thanksgiving, appointed by civil or Churchauthority, and for other special occasions for which no service or prayer hasbeen provided in this Book, the bishop may set forth such forms as are fittingto the occasion.

These rubrics cover:

1. Pastoral Offices and Episcopal Services ("other rites contained in thisBook");

2. Services in The Book of Occasional Services ("other forms set forth byauthority");

3. "Special devotions" to meet the particular needs of a congregation, subjectto the bishop's direction;

4. Forms for special days of fasting or thanksgiving set forth by the bishop.

It is important to be attentive to this pattern and its rhythms, in order thatChristian worship reflect and embody the proportion and balance of Christiantheology. Today, the Prayer Book pattern is recognized as true to the bestCatholic and Evangelical tradition; its observance should not become a matter ofcontroversy, as it was often in the past.

The Participants in Worship and their Function and Vesture

Recent liturgical theology has described worship as the epiphany of the Church—thesituation in which the true character of the Church is revealed.Consequently, the functions of the members of the Church in the life of theChurch are revealed by their functions as participants in the Church's worship.All Christians by virtue of their baptism share in the royal priesthood ofChrist and in Christ's ministry of reconciliation. This is made explicit in TheBook of Common Prayer 1979 by the references to this royal priesthood in theforms for the consecration of chrism and for the welcoming of the newly baptizedon pages 307 and 308 and by the answer to the question, "Who are the ministersof the Church?", on page 855 in the Catechism.

The Episcopal Church's present understanding of ministry is stated most clearlyin the Preface to the Ordination Rites on page 510 and in the section in theCatechism entitled "The Ministry" on pages 855 and 856. On the whole, itrepresents a recovery of a biblical and patristic theology of ministry which waspartly displaced in the Middle Ages. Its key insight is the doctrine of theroyal priesthood and of the ministry of reconciliation which is conferred bybaptism. Unfortunately, the wording of the catechism gives the impression thatlay persons constitute an order of ministry equivalent to the three orders ofordained ministers. Properly speaking, both the ordained and those not ordainedshare a common ministry by virtue of their baptism; besides this common ministryeach order of the ordained has special functions within the ministry of theChurch. The answer to the first question in this section of the catechism mightbetter be phrased, "All Christians are ministers of the Church by virtue oftheir baptism," and the second question might better be worded, "What is theministry which we share by virtue of our baptism?". Apart from the catechism,the Prayer Book ordinarily reverts to the older usage and means "ordainedminister" when it says "minister."

Canon Charles Guilbert, commenting on the usage of the word minister in therubrics of the 1979 Book writes (letter to the author dated May 25, 1987):

The Standing Liturgical Commission strove to clarify the older ambiguous usageof "minister" by the use of "celebrant," "officiant," or the specific order ofordained ministry when such distinction is intended. The exceptions are veryfew: (1) some of the rubrics of the Rite One Eucharist, where close adherence tothe 1928 rite was aimed at; (2) "Minister of the Congregation" to denote theperson, clerical or lay, to whom the notice of illness or death is to be made;(3) ministers of other denominations who might be participating in Prayer-Bookrites; and (4) additional members of the altar team, called "other ministers,"which would include both lay and clerical members."

There is a similar ambiguity in regard to the use of the word "priest." The worditself is ambiguous in English, being derived from the Latin for presbyter butusually carrying the meaning of the Latin word for priest (sacerdos). Theliturgical texts of Baptism speak of the priesthood of the baptized. The rubricsof the book, however, use the word to refer to ordained priests. Properlyspeaking the orders of the ordained ministry are bishops, presbyters, anddeacons. These are separate and distinct orders of ministry, each with itsspecific functions. First bishops, and then presbyters, came to be calledpriests. In the Middle Ages, the orders of ministry came to be understood not asfunctions within the ministry of the Church, but as participation, in varyingdegrees, in the priesthood of Christ. In other words, bishops, presbyters, anddeacons were understood as chief priests, priests, and apprentice priests. Asone scholar notes, an omnivorous presbyterate devoured the other orders ofordained ministry.

The present Prayer Book operates generally with the patristic idea of threeseparate and distinct orders of ministry rather than with a hierarchical ladderwhere one advances from diaconate to priesthood and a few advance further to theepiscopate. It continues to use "priest" for "presbyter," however, probablypartly out of a desire to maintain that the presbyterate is a priestly ministry.At other times, as in the rite for Communion under Special Circumstances andthat for the Reconciliation of a Penitent, "priest" is to be understood as"bishop or presbyter." Although the usage of the rubrics is somewhatinconsistent and ambiguous, the context usually makes the meaning clear.

What are the functions of these orders of ministry? They are set forth in thePreface to the Ordination Rites, page 510. Bishops "carry on the work ofleading, supervising, and uniting the Church." Presbyters, as associates of thebishops, "take part in the governance of the Church, in carrying out itsmissionary and pastoral work, and in the preaching of the Word of God andadministering his holy Sacraments." Deacons "assist bishops and priests [=presbyters] in this work."

These general functions are revealed in the way each order functions in worship.The functions are set out in general terms in the directions on page 14 of thePrayer Book "Concerning the Service of the Church":

In all services, the entire Christian assembly participates in such a way thatthe members of each order within the Church, lay persons, bishops, priests [=presbyters] and deacons fulfill the functions proper to their respective orders,as set forth in the rubrical directions for each service.

The leader of worship in a Christian assembly is normally a bishop or priest [=presbyter]. Deacons by virtue of their order do not exercise a presidingfunction; but, like lay persons, may officiate at the Liturgy of the Word,whether in the form provided in the Daily Offices, or (when a bishop or priest[= presbyter] is not present) in the form appointed at the Eucharist. Underexceptional circumstances, when the services of a priest [= presbyter] cannot beobtained, the bishop may, at discretion, authorize a deacon to preside at otherrites also, subject to the limitations described in the directions for eachservice.

The initial directions concerning each service give more specifics, as do therubrics in the text of services and the additional directions printed afterthem. In particular we see in this Prayer Book much more careful attention tothe appropriate functions of deacons and lay persons, whose parts in the serviceshould not be usurped by bishops and presbyters.

For most of the Church's history, Christians have considered it appropriate toclothe those with special functions in public worship with particular vesture,both for seemliness and to indicate their office and function. This is truetoday, although there is presently a certain freedom to omit vestments onoccasions of informal worship. In the Church of England, the vesture ofministers has been regulated by rubric and canon. The Episcopal Church for mostof its history in this country has not officially regulated the vesture of itsministers at all. The only explicit requirements of The Book of Common Prayer1979 are that candidates for ordination be presented in an alb or surplice (forthe diaconate and presbyterate) or in an alb or rochet (for the episcopate).

We will treat the vesture of ministers by noting first the vestments andinsignia of office in common use, then looking at the usage through history (byregulation or custom) in the Church of England, and finally by makingsuggestions for the Episcopal Church today.

Vestments in Use:

Basic Vestments. The cassock is properly speaking not a vestment at all, but thestreet dress of clerics. Since it is not in fact generally worn this way today,it may be (and often is) omitted, except with the surplice and the older formsof the rochet. The basic Christian vestment is the alb, a full-length whitetunic with narrow sleeves. It was in origin the basic undergarment of the Romanempire. Since Christians were clothed in a clean white tunic when they cameforth from the baptismal washing, this came to be considered the appropriategarb of the baptized, symbolic of the purity bestowed in baptism. It is anappropriate garment for any person with a particular function in public worship.Traditionally it has been girded with a cincture and worn with either aneckpiece (amice) or a hood. Contemporary forms of this garment have a highcollar or hood in place of the amice and may be worn girded or ungirded. Thesecontemporary forms, worn without cassock, often are cut like a double-breastedcassock and are consequently easier to put on than the traditional form of thegarment. The most common variant is often known as the "cassock-alb" for thisreason.

Two other variants of the alb have developed over the centuries. The surplice isin origin an alb of ample proportions and full sleeves, large enough to be wornover a fur-lined cassock. In the Middle Ages it came to be worn by all thosewith functions in public worship who were not vested as eucharistic ministers.Originally (and at the time of the Reformation in England) ankle-length, ittended to shrink to a waist-length vestment over the centuries. This latter formis not terribly attractive, and current taste favors a form no shorter thanbelow the knees. Since it requires a cassock underneath, there has been a trendin recent years to replace the surplice with the alb for all uses.