BCP
Revision
If
you've been following the proceedings at General Convention in Austin
these past several days, you will know that one of the big issues
being discussed and debated is prayer book revision. If you haven't
been following the proceedings at General Convention, let me be the
first to tell you that one of the big issues being discussed and
debated is prayer book revision.
Prayer
book revision is always a touchy and sometimes heart-wrenching topic
among Episcopalians. That is to be expected because, although we are
a “bible-believing church,” it is the Prayer Book that shapes our
liturgy, our prayers, our theology, and hopefully our life. From
Morning Prayer, Noonday Prayer, Evening Prayer, and Compline during
the days, to Holy Eucharist on Sundays and Wednesdays, to Baptism,
Confirmation, Marriage, and Burial, we Episcopalians live the Prayer
Book. So revising it is always filled with hope and fear and joy and
anger and a whole host of other emotions.
In
the early stages of this debate, I have already heard people proclaim
that if the BCP is revised they will leave the church. I've heard
people proclaim that we need a new BCP to reflect concerns of
inclusive language. I've heard fears that it will become not a Book
of Common Prayer, but a book of รก
la carte liturgies that would make the Episcopal church
unrecognizable as a body. I've heard anticipated joy of seeing a
fully inclusive book. There have been concerns that women are not
equally represented on the revision committee. There have been
concerns that non-English speakers are not fully represented on that
committee. And there have been many other sentiments expressed.
So
yes, revising the Book of Common Prayer is a theological, liturgical,
rubrical, and grammatical minefield.
As
I write this, the House of Deputies voted to begin the process of
revision. The House of Bishops has yet to vote. If they approve,
the process will begin. If they don't, it won't.
But
this won't happen overnight. If the House of Bishops approves
revision this week, you won't find new BCP's in the pew next Sunday.
Or the Sunday after that. Or even by Christmas. This is still a
long process. My first memory of the BCP was the Green Book. Then
the Zebra Book. Then the Proposed Book. And finally the authorized
Book of Common Prayer. The proposed timeline would give us a new BCP
in 2030.
I
don't think we need to go all apoplectic. I don't think we need to
start crying that the sky is falling. I don't think a new BCP will
do away with Trinitarian language/theology. Nor do I think it will
be, as someone said, “A New Age Unitarian mess.” So in the words
of the Philadelphia 76ers, I will trust the process.
And
in the meantime, I will continue to tape and glue my BCP together;
and I will continue to worship God in the best way possible – with
the Sacraments, Rites, and Ceremonies of this Church.
Blessings,
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