East Carolina Meet Studies, Ok's DPBCP
Episcopal News Service. June 29, 1976 [76224]
Nancy R. Duvall
WILMINGTON N. C. -- An adjourned meeting of the convention of the Episcopal Diocese of East Carolina reconvened in late June to take a hard look at -- and eventually to approve -- the general thrust of the work of revising the Book of Common Prayer.
The convention had adjourned its 93d session in February in order to meet here at St. Paul's Church with the Rev. Massey H. Shepherd, Ph. D., Professor of Liturgies at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific (CDSP) and a member of the Standing Liturgical Commission (SLC).
At the conclusion of the two-day meeting, East Carolina delegates cast 85 votes to memorialize the General Convention: "to accept the Draft Proposed Book as presented, with whatever minor amendments may be made by the General Convention, and with approval for immediate trial use." A proposal to reject the book as presented and affirm the 1928 Book of Common Prayer as the standard of worship in the Church received only 15 votes, while a third alternative which would send the Draft Book back to the SLC for further work and ask for a "more modest revision of the Book of Common Prayer" gathered 59 votes.
The Wilmington delegates also passed a memorial to General Convention introduced by Walker Taylor, a member of the national Executive Council and General Convention deputy. In it General Convention will be requested to ask each diocesan convention to express its approval or disapproval of any constitutional action of the Minnesota convention on the Draft Proposed Book, and give this information to the 1979 Denver Convention before it takes final action on a new Prayer Book.
A native of Wilmington who spent much of his early life in Columbia, Dr. Shepherd began his first talk by expressing the hope that he would not be a prophet without honor in his own city. At the end of his third address he was given a standing ovation by the convention delegates and visitors, many of whom had come with negative feelings about the Draft Book. The convention passed a resolution thanking him for making the journey from California and describing him as "a prophet filled with honor and God's Grace."
Designed to include small group discussions after each of the liturgist's presentations, the convention began at 2 p.m. Friday afternoon and concluded just before 2 p. m. the following afternoon. Both delegates and visitors, who were assigned to groups at registration, were able to voice questions and comments on Dr. Shepherd's talks or ask him to speak on aspects of the proposals they did not understand. Each group reported to the convention as a whole after each of the three meeting times. Many of the reported comments dealt with Draft Proposed Book language, the peace, Baptism and Confirmation services and the unwieldy size of the proposed book.
Several groups said they felt that what happened in their group was more significant than a report on the Draft Proposal. In these groups a bond had been established during the meeting which led to silent and intercessory prayer in the final session.