Episcopal Parishes are Evaluating Supplemental Liturgical Texts
Episcopal News Service. February 21, 1990 [90046]
Some 735 parishes and missions in 70 dioceses of the Episcopal Church are participating in the evaluation of the Supplemental Liturgical Texts (Prayer Book Studies 30) being developed by the Standing Liturgical Commission.
The texts are authorized for use, with permission of the diocesan bishop, through the General Convention next summer. The evaluation began in Advent of 1989 and will continue until Pentecost 1990 when the evaluation forms are due. The committee expects to receive a substantial response and share results in early September.
"The response by the church seems to indicate great interest in the texts," said Bishop Vincent Pettit, chair of the standing commission. "The dialogue happening throughout the church shows just how important it is for our prayers to reflect the stretching and growth in our lives."
Use of the texts has varied among dioceses, with some parishes using them during certain seasons, during weekday services, or during diocesan conventions. Some dioceses have held workshops or used the texts at clergy conferences.
Canon Lloyd Casson, convenor of the committee, said that the supplemental texts "are addressing issues raised by 'sexist' language but we are emphasizing something different also, offering biblical imagery for God to add to our range of relationships with God in prayer, rather than subtracting from that relationship."