Liturgical Commission Preparing Draft Revised BCP
Diocesan Press Service. February 4, 1974 [74029]
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A reorganized structure of the Standing Liturgical Commission was set in motion January 17 to complete the preparation of a Draft Revised Book of Common Prayer for the General Convention of 1976.
The 20-member Commission, including five new members, held its first meeting of the triennium at the Roanridge Institute in Kansas City, Mo. It elected the Rt. Rev. Chilton Powell, Bishop of Oklahoma, Chairman; the Rev. Dr. Massey H. Shepherd, Jr., of the Church Divinity School of the Pacific, Berkeley, Calif., Vice-Chairman; the Rev. Canon Charles M. Guilbert, Custodian of the Book of Common Prayer, New York, Secretary; and it set up 15 committees, including a Theological Committee to review all the material produced by the Commission and authorized for trial use.
The Commission welcomed five new members appointed by the Presiding Bishop and the President of the House of Deputies: the Rt. Rev. E. Otis Charles, Bishop of Utah; the Rt. Rev. Morgan B. Porteus, Suffragan Bishop of Connecticut; the Rev. William A. Dimmick, parish priest, formerly of Tennessee and now of Southport, Conn.; the Very Rev. Robert H. Greenfield, Dean of the Cathedral in Portland, Ore.; and the Rev. Paul E. Langpaap, parish priest of Seattle, Wash.
The other 12 members of the Commission, not mentioned above, whose terms have either not expired or who were reappointed by the Presiding Bishop and the President of the House of Deputies, are Mr. Dupuy Bateman, Jr., of Pittsburgh, Pa.; the Rev. Canon Lee M. Benefee of Nashville, Tenn.; Mr. James D. Dunning of New York; the Rev. Robert W. Estill of Alexandria, Va.; the Rev. Donald L. Garfield of New York; Mrs. Virginia Harbour of Gambier, Ohio; the Rt. Rev. James W. Montgomery, the Bishop of Chicago; the Rev. H. Boone Porter, Jr., Director of the Roanridge Institute, Kansas City, Mo.; the Rev. Charles P. Price of Alexandria, Va.; the Rev. Bonnell Spencer, Order of the Holy Cross, West Park, N.Y.; Mr. Harrison Tillman of Valdosta, Ga.; and the Rev. Richard Winn, parish priest of Philadelphia, Pa.
The committee structure set up by the Commission is both "horizontal" and "vertical ": the horizontal, or across-the-board, committees will examine various aspects of the Draft Revised Book as a whole; the "vertical" committees will consider the several services or sections.
Thus, a Theological Committee, under the Chairmanship of the Rev. Charles P. Price of the Virginia Theological Seminary will study the Draft Book as a whole from the point of view of its theology; a Committee on Style, the Rev. Canon Charles M. Guilbert, Chairman, will consider consistency and clarity of language and idiom of the Book as a whole; a Constitution and Canons Committee, under the Chairmanship of Mr. Dupuy Bateman, will have the task of singling out all those features of the new services which may be in conflict with the existing legislation of the Episcopal Church; a Committee on Rubrics, under the Chairmanship of Mr. Harrison Tillman, a lay reader, will examine the directions and suggestions in all of the services from the point of view of their clarity and consistency; another committee on the Use of Holy Scripture, with the Rev. H. Boone Porter, Jr., as Chairman, will study all of the lections and Psalms appointed in the various services to ensure that an adequate balance of biblical material is contained in the Book as a whole, and in particular, that no passages of special importance have been inadvertently omitted or too frequently duplicated.
A Legislative Committee, under the Chairmanship of Mr. Dupuy Bateman, will study how the material of the draft Book may best be presented to the General Convention of 1976, in order to ensure the most expeditious and the most thorough study of all the material.
The 1973 Convention decided to request a Special Order of Business at the beginning of the 1976 Convention for the purpose of considering the draft Book.
A Committee on the Contents and Order of the B. C. P., under the Chairmanship of the Rev. Robert W. Estill, former Rector of St. Albans, Washington, now of the Virginia Theological Seminary, will study the contents and sequence of material in the future Book, including prefatory material.
Another "across-the-board" committee, headed by the Rev. Donald L. Garfield, Rector of St. Mary the Virgin, New York City, will study the question of "First Services," i.e. services that largely follow the traditional language and style of the present Book of Common Prayer.
It is the Commission's intention to propose that the future Prayer Book contain at least three services in "traditional" language: the Eucharist, Morning and Evening Prayer, and the Burial of the Dead, as well as the Collects.
The "vertical" committees will be concerned with the review of separate rites or groups of rites. These include a Committee on the Holy Eucharist, with the Rt. Rev. James W. Montgomery as Chairman; a Committee on the Daily Offices, the Rev. William A. Dimmick, Chairman; a Committee on the Psalter, the Rev. Canon Charles M. Guilbert, Chairman; a Committee on the Initiatory Rites with the Rev. Bonnell Spencer acting as Convener until a Chairman is appointed; a Committee on Pastoral Offices, under the over-all Chairmanship of Mr. James D. Dunning, and with several sub-committees responsible for such pastoral offices as Marriage, Burial of the Dead, Ministry to the Sick, etc.' and a Committee on the Ordinal and Other Pontifical Rites with the Rev. H. Boone Porter, Jr., as Chairman.
In addition, a Committee on Educational Materials, under the Chairmanship of Mrs. Virginia Harbour, will study all the services, including the Catechism, from the viewpoint of their use in Christian Education.
The membership of the various committees will be announced at a later date when their composition has been completed.
The Commission is assisted by the Rev. Leo Malania, Co-ordinator, who is also Vicar of St. David's Church, Queens, N.Y., and by Capt. Howard Galley, Editorial Assistant, a member of the training staff of the Church Army in the U.S.A.
The Commission elected two representatives to the International Consultation on English Texts: the Rev. Massey H. Shepherd, Jr., and the Rev. Canon Charles M. Guilbert.
Among its other actions, the Commission decided:
* To recommend to the Presiding Bishop and the President of the House of Deputies the reappointment of its Reader-Consultants to follow the work of all the Committees and to contribute to the Commission's work by correspondence;
* To draw even more actively than in the past on the assistance of Chairmen of Diocesan Liturgical Committees or Commissions;
* To hold its next meeting in June 1974, by which time it is hoped that most of the working committees will have had sufficient opportunity to complete a substantial portion of their work;
* To reaffirm the pledge it made in its report to the 1973 General Convention "to keep all of this material, both old and new (authorized for trial use) under constant review in the light of comments, criticisms, and suggestions received from Bishops and the clergy of the Church . . . . "
* To make full use of the advice and co-operation of the newly created Standing Commission on Church Music, which was represented at the Meeting by two of its members, the Von. Frederic P. Williams of Indianapolis, Ind., and the Rev. Norman C. Mealy of Berkeley, Calif.