The Threefold Eucharistic Rite of Tomorrow
Diocesan Press Service. July 31, 1970 [89-5]
The Reverend A. Pierce Middleton, Ph.D., Consultant, Standing Liturgical Commission
As a result of the trial of the proposed Eucharistic rite known as the Liturgy of the Lord's Supper and the questionnaires that were widely circulated throughout the Church, the Standing Liturgical Commission has reached three conclusions.
Three Conclusions
First, that it is hopeless to try to mingle contemporary English with the stately, though archaic, language of Archbishop Cranmer. To have literary integrity, a service should be entirely one or the other. Second, that in their zeal to streamline the rite, the Commission excised some passages -- the Prayer of Humble Access, for example -- which through the years have come to mean so much to many habitual worshippers that their omission would be a grievous loss to them. And third, that among the youth and in occasional groups meeting outside ecclesiastical buildings there is a strident demand for much more flexible and informal Eucharists, often composed for special occasions and containing extemporaneous elements both in the text and the musical accompaniment.
Therefore, in making further revision of the Trial Rite for presentation to the 1970 General Convention, the Standing Liturgical Commission has come up with three forms of the Eucharist to be authorized for trial use. All bear the same title: "The Liturgy For the Proclamation of the Word of God and Celebration of the Holy Eucharist". They are distinguished by their subtitles: "First (Second, and Third) Order of Service".
The First Order
The First Order is a rite which follows the order of the trial Liturgy of the Lord's Supper but is composed almost exclusively of elements from the 1928 Prayer Book Eucharist and is entirely in Tudor English. It is, in fact, the old rite rearranged. The familiar confession, comfortable words, and absolution are all there. Even the Prayer for the Whole State of Christ's Church is virtually unchanged, although, optionally, after each paragraph the people may say "Lord, hear our prayer". There are a few minor changes, e.g. instead of praying for "all Christian -rulers", we beseech God to rule the hearts of those who bear the authority of government in this and every land, and there is a petition, long overdue, that we may be good stewards of the riches of the earth and neither foolishly waste nor selfishly destroy its life-sustaining elements. The words of the Consecration prayer are -ft intact, although an exchange of the peace has been inserted immediately before the offertory because of St. Matthew 5:23 where the worshipper is enjoined to make peace with his neighbor before offering a gift at the altar, or optionally just before receiving Communion. The ceremonial breaking of the Bread is elevated to a co-ordinate position with the Offertory, Consecration, and Communion in accordance with the pre-medieval practice of following St. Matthew's account (25:26) of our Lord's actions when He instituted it: "'And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples". The Prayer of Humble Access is left intact with the option to omit the phrase "that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body, and our souls washed through his most precious blood". The objection is that Cranmer went beyond the limits of our knowledge in assigning different virtues to our Lord's sacramental body and His Sacramental blood. The prayer after Communion is the familiar one and, as of old, it is followed by the blessing beginning "The Peace of God..." without provision for the Gloria in excelsis or any other hymn at this point. A shorter alternate blessing is permitted, and afterwards the Deacon or Priest may send the people forth with one of two brief dismissals, each consisting of a versicle and response.
The Second Order
The Second Order of Service follows the same sequence, but is rendered in completely contemporary English. Basically it is the trial Liturgy of the Lord's Supper further revised in response to the questionnaires and purged as far as possible of language with an archaic flavor. Thus "Thee" and "Thou", formerly used in addressing God, are now "You" and "Your". Another major change since our trial use of it in 1968 is the Prayer of Intercession, which has been completely recast, and, I think, greatly improved. Minor changes include placing the exchange of the peace immediately before the Offertory rather than before the Prayer of Intercession. The Consecration prayer has been rewritten and is a model of simplicity and clarity, active rather than passive, and stripped of cumbersome dependent clauses. At the invitation to Communion the old "Holy Things for the People of God" has been changed to "The Gifts of God for the People of God", certainly an improvement. At the Communion the priest has a choice of three things to say: "The Body of Christ", "The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ keep you in everlasting life", or "Receive the Body of Christ". Several new prayers of thanks appear incorporating the ideas formerly contained in the dismissal. A blessing is optional and so is the dismissal: "Go in Peace", with the response "Thanks be to God". If one may hazard a guess, the provision of two Eucharistic rites, one in Tudor English and the other contemporary is intended to accommodate the special needs of communicants over thirty (or forty) and to assure them of a continuity of the familiar Prayer Book language for a few more decades. When the bulk of them have gone to their reward, the First Order can be quietly dropped. If, however, the beautiful but antiquated language of the old Prayer Book unexpectedly succeeds in winning more support from the rising generation than its contemporary rival, Cranmer's magnificent cadences may yet have a new lease on life. At least the Standing Liturgical Commission has been eminently fair and has provided conditions under which the worshippers themselves will be the ultimate judges.
The Third Order
One of the remarkable phenomena of our day is the way in which informal services have increased in settings outside Churches -- such things as "house churches", "kitchen Eucharist", and the avant-garde extravagances of the contemporary underground Church, including hippie Eucharists complete with psychedelic vestments, rock-and-roll music, and some rather odd lections read in lieu of the Epistle and Gospel. It would be easy, and in the view of many people justifiable, for the Institutional Church simply to ignore such vagaries in the hope that they will soon vanish. But our Standing Liturgical Commission takes a more positive approach, recommending that the Church recognize the phenomenon, accept the fact that these groups are going to continue their irregular liturgical experimentation, and charitably cast its mantle over them, and perhaps gently lead them in the paths of orthodoxy. The Third Order of Service, which is designed for use by any Church group -- a Vestry, the E.Y.C., a study group -- and not for the avant-garde only, permits startlingly wide latitude, practically to the writing of the service for a special occasion, provided that certain essentials are adhered to. These are set forth: Gather in the Lord's Name, Proclaim the Word of God, Respond to the Word of God, Pray for the World and the Church, Exchange the Peace, Offer Bread and Wine, and "Make Eucharist". The last-mentioned is spelled out as consisting of the following: Give thanks for the Creation of the world, Praise God for the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Remember the gift of His Body and Blood, and Pray for the Coming of His kingdom in power. Also, of course, to Break the Bread and Eat and Drink together in peace. In addition to a reading from the Gospel, the word may be proclaimed and responded to by means of other readings, song, talk, dance, and silence. A choice of Eucharistic prayers if offered. This freedom goes beyond anything I know of in a liturgical Church in times past. No one can say that the hippies, drop-outs, and otherwise disaffected youth have been forgotten or that they have moved beyond the all-embracing charity and concern of the Church -- not, that is, if the Standing Liturgical Commission has its way!