Associated Parishes Offers Help With Trial Services
Diocesan Press Service. April 15, 1974 [74106]
Barbara R. Rathell, Editor, Washington Diocese
During the summer of 1973 Associated Parishes moved its national office to the city where it was born. The new office is in Hearst Hall on the National Cathedral grounds in Washington, D.C., and Mr. Arthur Jenkins is its part-time coordinator.
When the association marked its 25th anniversary in 1972, Presiding Bishop John E. Hines wrote that Associated Parishes was "responsible for a recovery (or re-discovery) of the valid dimensions of the Liturgy and the relationship of liturgy and mission. "
Although Associated Parishes is not directly credited for the current series of Services for Trial Use, their earlier efforts to help the Church use the 1928 Prayer Book creatively did much to demonstrate the need for clarification of the Prayer Book to meet the needs of today's worshiping congregations. At least four AP members have served on the Standing Liturgical Commission, the group responsible for recommending revisions to the General Convention.
The twelve who gathered in 1947 at Washington's College of Preachers to form Associated Parishes were concerned with the renewal of the church through liturgy and mission through interpretation of the 1928 Prayer Book. Their sponsor was the late Bishop Noble Powell of Maryland. Another guide through the early years was the late Rev. Theodore Wedel, who was then Warden at the College of Preachers.
Theological and practical revitalization of worship remains Associated Parishes' primary thrust. The association now has about 1,400 clergy and lay members, mostly Episcopalians but including many from other liturgically-oriented faiths. The Rev. H. Boone Porter, executive director of Roanridge in Missouri, and former Professor of Liturgics at General Theological Seminary in New York City is currently president.
Associated Parishes goes about its mission in several ways. A newsletter, Open, is published regularly and contains a variety of liturgical helps and commentary. At one time they prepared a series of brochures dealing with each of the sacraments as celebrated in the 1928 Prayer Book. Since the introduction of the "Green Book," they have produced many articles, brochures and booklets to help churches understand and become familiar with the revised services. Celebration: Community and Communion, for instance, is a study guide for parishes wishing to include children in the Eucharist. Associated Parishes has also sponsored several seminars and conferences to stimulate intelligent trial use for various groups, including liturgical committees and commissions.
Currently, AP is seeking a full time liturgical consultant who will be available to parish worship committees, diocesan liturgical commissions and other groups throughout the United States. This person will serve as a resource for the Episcopal Church, helping train local leaders toward deepening and strengthening liturgical life. The consultant will be in close contact with seminaries and seminarians and the Standing Liturgical Commission and will use the insights of various liturgical authorities.
Associated Parishes was represented at the recent General Convention. As one would expect, they supported continuance of trial use toward a revised Prayer Book, speaking especially for open alternatives in worship services. Their members were involved in planning and conducting the many worship services that were a vital part of the Louisville scene.
Perhaps one of the most visible signs of AP at Convention was the publication, Issues, published and financed by a coalition which included Associated Parishes. Issues, published daily, contained news stories, editorials and behind-the-scenes commentary concerning the decisions and activities of the Convention.
The Rev. Canon Charles M. Guilbert, custodian of The Book of Common Prayer, numbers Associated Parishes among the several small and voluntary groups of committed churchmen "whose impact and impetus have brought enlightenment and growth to the Church."