Bigbulkyanglican

Forgive and forget?

Forgiveness is a really tough matter, because all too often it is packaged with a explicit/implicit requirement that we also "forget".

I guess lots of other subscribers to the Daily Reflections from Henri Nouwen's Foundation will have been struck by today's contribution:

"Forgiving does not mean forgetting. When we forgive a
person, the memory of the wound might stay with us for a
long time, even throughout our lives. Sometimes we carry the
memory in our bodies as a visible sign. But forgiveness
changes the way we remember. It converts the curse into a
blessing. When we forgive our parents for their divorce, our
children for their lack of attention, our friends for their
unfaithfulness in crisis, our doctors for their ill advice,
we no longer have to experience ourselves as the victims of
events we had no control over.

Forgiveness allows us to claim our own power and not let

these events destroy us; it enables them to become events

that deepen the wisdom of our hearts. Forgiveness indeed

heals memories."

Sacramental theology and the Eucharist

A focus for conversations this week has been about the nature of the Eucharist - so I found this post  on what makes Eucharistic theology " high" particularly interesting.

It ends with this quote:

This is not to say that the Eucharist is not the “sacrament of sacraments”, only that it can never be considered in isolation, and that our theologies of Eucharistic presence do not establish our sacramental theologies as “high” or “low”.  Only a full-orbed understanding of the sacramental practices of the church presented in their wholeness and intimate inner-connection can give an adequate picture of what constitutes a truly high sacramental theology.

HT to Halden

Transcendence @ York Minster

I took the opportunity in Sunday evening to travel to York Minster where Visions the long standing Church 'for people who don't like Church' and York Minster have formed a partnership to offer

Transcendence
a monthly multi-visual Eucharist which unites the traditional with the future and advertises itself as an "Anglo Catholic fresh expression of Church"

It is the brainchild as I understand it, of Sue Wallace of the Visions and Jeremy Fletcher Canon Precentor of the Minster 

Located in the East Crypt (a stunning location within an all together remarkable building which was made all the more evocative because of the late night and contrasting quietness of the building) I thought it a remarkably celebration of the Eucharist.

Unashamedly liturgical, based wholly on the Anglican Common Worship Eucharist it made no concessions to the newcomer or the curious visitor who might be unfamiliar with the words or format - but then any such participant could not have failed to have been drawn into the beauty of the music and visuals.

It succeeded precisely because it was uncluttered with superfluous introduction or explanation - the quality of the music and visuals and the familiarity of the majority of the congregation ensured that all who wished could readily participate.

The high point of the music was the contribution of 4 male voices from the Minster choir - whose supreme 4 part skill and effective use of the acoustics of the building translated well into the setting, making pre-recorded Gregorian chant beloved of alt worship groups seem thin. But the contemporary music and singing worked well too - "be thou my vision" sung congregationally to a dance beat etc.

Two fairly major hiccups need sorting for next time ( both alt worship classics which I have fallen foul of in other situations).

Firstly there was no indication at all outside the public face of the Minster as to how to get into the building - access was through a poorly lit door in the Minster car-park which hardly seemed like public space - two car loads of participants from Leeds never found the way in and returned home disgruntled.

Secondly the stretched but crinkled sheets used for display were fine for visuals but rendered words virtually unreadable. Neither were conducive to welcoming the newcomer and gave the hint of an "insider" feel - well anyone we would expect to come would know where the door is and what the words are.

While I am sure that the intention is for this to develop as a local initiative - its venue and ethos offers a wider significance.

Firstly the resources available from the two contributing churches ( the location and liturgical experience being matched by the superb technical expertise of Vision's resident DJs and VJ) mean that it could be an "exemplary event" which could stimulate other developments elsewhere.

Secondly The Anglo-Catholic end of the Church has been slow to respond to the cultural links which its rich tradition of ritual offer - too many Anglo-Catholics preferring to simply be snotty about alt worship groups adopting the likes of incense etc . . surely here is something which could inspire the A-C networks and places such as Walsingham to offer something which values the ritual but connects culturally with the young adult age group

Thirdly the location also says something about the value that "mainstream" Church represented by the Minister places upon new patterns of worship and Church - here is a Minster/Cathedral effectively performing one of it key roles to be a centre of excellence in worship.

So it was a delight - evocative and deeply worshipful . . . .

For those who might be interested the next Transcendence
is on the first Sunday 4th of November at 8pm.

The Eucharist . . .

In response to Greenbelt discussion on Saturday evening here is the full quote

Was ever another command so obeyed? For century after century, spreading slowly to every continent and country and among every race on earth, this action has been done, in every conceivable human circumstance, for every conceivable human need from infancy and before it to extreme old age and after it, from the pinnacles of earthly greatness to the refuges of fugitives in caves and the dens of the earth.

Men have found no better thing than this to do for kings at their crowning and for criminals going to the scaffold; for armies in triumph or for a bride and bridegroom in a little country church; for the proclamation of a dogma or for a good crop of wheat; for the wisdom of the Parliament of a mighty nation or for a sick old woman afraid to die; for a schoolboy sitting an examination or for Columbus setting out to discover America; for the famine of whole provinces or for the soul of a dead lover; in thankfulness because my father did not die of pneumonia; for a village headman much tempted to return to fetish because the yams have failed; because the Turk was at the gates of Vienna; for the repentance of Margaret; for the settlement of a strike; for a son for a barren woman; for Captain so-and-so, wounded and prisoner of war; while the lions roared in the nearby amphitheatre; on the beach at Dunkirk; while the hiss of scythes in the think June grass came faintly through the windows of the church; tremulously, by an old monk on the fiftieth anniversary of his vows; furtively, by an exiled bishop who had hewn timber all day in a prison camp near Murmansk; gorgeously, for the canonisation of S. Joan of Arc – one could fill many pages with the reasons why men have done this, and not tell a hundred part of them.

And best of all, week by week and month by month, on a hundred thousand successive Sundays, faithfully, unfailingly, across all the parishes of Christendom, the pastors have done this just to make the plebs sancta Dei – the holy common people of God.

The Shape of the Liturgy, (London 1945) Dom Gregory Dix,, p74.

"A warm welcome for all"

I had the strange experience (for me!) of being an anonymous visitor to a Church service recently. I was intrigued by the warm welcome which had been promised prominently outside the Church building.

The chatty questions which formed part of the post service welcome screamed the priorities and interests of the Church and included in the first ten minutes

- was I married and did I have children? (someone had spotted the wedding ring)

- was I musical ? (someone had noticed I knew the hymns and songs)

- was I already a Christian and looking for a new Church? ( perhaps my familiarity with the worship had given me away)

It was only after that the Vicar (bless her) actually asked me my name. 

But the congregational focus was clearly on recruitment - and I can only but wonder why it is not obvious to them that they are so blatant about it.

The mindset is not "who is the person and what can we offer him" but "who is the person and what can he offer to us".

Perhaps I have now added to their disappointment in being another "who came once but did not come again". 

(After the content of the Lay Readers sermon on "biblical standards in sexuality" and the earnest encouragement in the Parish magazine that the Church needed to be friendly to gay people even though we know that they are sinners - I have been tempted to return with an "acting male partner" to see what welcome I get.)

The Pope and the real Church

The formal announcement has been made of the Roman Catholic Church position in relation to other Churches - in effect only the Roman Catholic Church is the "real Church".

No doubt many people will spend a considerable amount of time and words interpreting the ecumenical implications of this. Others have already suggested that this marks a considerable step back to a more conservative position.

I am inclined to several much more personal reflections:

1. Can I sum up the curial position by saying " well he would say that wouldn't he". I am not sure that I expected anything different when one views the inclinations of the current Pope and the place that the curial thinking is.

2. More important is what is happening at a local level. Here in England I experience a much more liberal view. In essence what I experience is that Roman Catholics view themselves in practice as "one part of The Church" - some may see themselves as being the "true" part of the Church but they do intrinsically recognise that there are other parts. So on a day-to-day basis lay Catholics regard me as a priest in exactly the same way they might there parish priest. In the context of closer relationships priests simply ignore curial rulings and niceties.

3. I would offer my personal experience as a priest - over the years my role/status with Catholic contexts has developed as follows:

not receiving at The  Public/Community Mass and not receiving at the Retreat Mass

receiving at the Retreat Mass

receiving at the Public Community Mass

Distributing at the Retreat Mass ( a Deacons role formally)

Assisting at the Retreat Mass

Preaching at a Public Community mass as an ecumenical guest

Preaching at a Public/Community Mass with no explanation and processing as a priest

Assisting as a Public/Community Mass

Concelebrating at the Retreat Mass

Hearing confessions during a Retreat

Presiding at The Mass on a retreat-day with three catholic priests and several lay Catholics present - they all recieved and regarded the celebration as "the full works".

4. So do the priests that are extending these invitations feel they are "pushing the boat out". The response from one that I spoke to this morning was that he did not see anything particular radical about it " its just a natural development which is accepted by me and mine on the journey of faith we are on together"

5. What is interesting is that my instinct is not to say where and when - because there is still the potential for causing problems for my Catholic priestly colleagues - a change of Bishop in particular can change the tone of a Diocese - and repercussions can develop years after the event.

6. This is a hallmark of real ecumenical relations between an Anglican-Catholic Priest (who would for example believe that there will be a Pope role within the united Church of Christ) and Roman Catholic priests. The differences between us are largely matters of institution or order, and the theological differences which do exist are (in a very Anglican sense) comfortably containable within a single Church. I recognised that this would not be true for all non-Catholics - but suggests that the boundaries are not denominational ones but theological ones.

7. So the above may possibly be "unusual" but it is "possible". The absolute key to developing such relationships is never ever pushing the boundaries of priestly colleagues, and accepting with complete grace the decisions which call for tighter/traditional boundaries. Friendship and mutual recognition must never be forced. Effective progressive movement has to emerge from a genuine invitation, rather than from any sense of obligation. Non-parochial settings ( retreats and teaching conferences are the most appropriate testing grounds for lay support and understanding. Most Bishops choose (very positively) to be deaf and blind to such developments.

Will the latest declaration from the Pope change the situation - we will see but I very much doubt it.

Eucharist + Car boot sales

Amid the thinking about approaches to the Eucharist I am considering the development of "Parish Eucharists" on a Sunday, and have been considering the trends in patterns of timing (almost always becoming later in the morning).

One intriguing contrast of recent decades is the cultural development of car boot sales - does anyone know how the pattern of early starts for car boot sales developed - or can they point me to research on the development? For example see the timing of these local car boots in the Yorkshire area.

Does the timing originate, as has been suggested to me by two car boot regulars, in the initial illegality of the events? 

Eucharistic practice, understanding and resources

Could you help me with ideas and resources?

I am begining to pull together some of the ideas and resources on The (Missional) Eucharist which I have gathered over the past two years.

I would be grateful for links on the web about Eucharistic ( The Lord's Supper, The Mass, Communion call it what you will) understanding and practice.

In particular could you point me towards contemporary Eucharistic understanding within the Free Church denominations and within missional communities. 

I have all the formal published liturgical material from the formal denominations, and much other published material and papers, and access to libraries for other resources.

What I am looking for particularly is thinking and practice which is leading to a missional understanding of The Eucharist - articles about The Eucharist, "orders of service", descriptions of its place and function within Christian churches/communities would be great

Could you offer me links to material which have inspired or challenged you?

Could you email as attachments material and ideas which you have?

Could you post a link to this post on your blog/website so that your readers might be able to offer further links?

Feel free to use comments - or email me with attachments if there is provisional material which you would not want in the public domain as such.

"Take this and eat. This is my body which is given for you do this in memory of me."

"This is cup is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. It is the New Covenant sealed by my blood. Whenever you drink it do this to remember me"

Thanks

Tom