"Traditional" Communion

Today is technically my day off, but I did go into the church for an hour or so. Good thing I did, as there were a few things for me to deal with. There are also a number of things happening tomorrow that require some preparation. Among them, my first "pure" Canadian BCP service! Sure, I've done the "1962 Rite" Eucharist more or less as it appears in the BAS literally hundreds of times. But the BAS re-ordered the rite to follow current scholarship about how the different pieces of the Eucharist were sequenced through most of Christian History. The 1962 Canadian BCP, on the other hand, is very much a product of the Reformation. Considering that I grew up with the American 1979 BCP (which also benefited from modern liturgical scholarship), it's understandable that I find the ordering of things in the Canadian BCP Communion downright weird. Putting the Gloria after Communion? Saying the Lord's Prayer at the beginning of the service? How about that Exhortation?

Anyway, I'm aware that most of the churches that claim to be doing a "Traditional BCP Communion" service are actually varying from the BCP rubrics to one degree or another. So I could do the same thing without much difficulty at COTM, but I think I need to let these reforms be driven to the congregation rather than my own prejudices. I suppose that means that I'm approaching this service with a pastoral point of view, rather than an evangelistic or theological point of view. That is, it's clearly about providing a meaningful experience of worship to a small community of faithful people already part of our community rather than witnessing to a larger community outside our doors. Nor is it aligned with contemporary Anglican theological understandings about worship, the human person, or other things. The BAS version of the Rite "fixes" many of these problems, but as I said, this is about the needs of the people who come every month, not about growing the church or being "correct." So I'm happy to give them whatever they want--they deserve to be able to pray the way that makes them happy.

I've got other fish to fry. There is a lot to decide at the Corporation meeting tomorrow night. Can't really say much here about what that list includes, but I can say that they are the sorts of changes that have been waiting for my arrival. It will be interesting to see how much people think I'm responsible for these changes and how much they see that these are really decisions that were made long before my arrival. I'm just the occasion for action to finally be taken.

Mowed the lawn today. Also made a trip to Home Depot. Fixed dinner and did some stuff around the house. Much more to do before tomorrow. Right now I'm watching football.

-t