The Book of Common Prayer

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I spent a few minutes this morning reading an introduction to the 1662 Book of Common Prayer written by Diarmaid MacCulloch. He made a comment that Kris has made before and seems to me to be very important for us who use the BOCP in services and daily devotion. First let me set the stage with quote one:

"The Book of Common Prayer, pivotal to all these minor and comfortable intersections between the sacred and the everyday, was intended as an approach to the divine."

A daily approach and one for everyone. The two major contributions that Cranmer wanted to see accomplished in his lifetime was an English Bible and English church services. He was able to experience it for a few years under Edward and then was burned at the stake by Queen Mary. He wanted it written eloquently enough and historically enough that the Cambridge dons wouldn't snub their nose, yet understandable and sayable by the common people.

But MacCulloch continues ...

"Perhaps the Prayer Book text is now most often experienced in the setting of choral evensong in the cathedral tradition: something of an irony because Thomas Cranmer had little affection for either cathedrals or their choirs."

This is an irony we are all aware of. The moves of Cranmer to make an intersection between the sacred and the everyday, to invite all to approach God ... is most often known as high church for the wealthy and literate. This is a good articulation of a major project within the liturgical streams in America. I do not think there is a simple solution, though. I think being American in the last 50 years when we consider the common man we can't help but think of opinion poles and the "average man or woman."

I guess I need to re-read and consider some posts on contextualization ...

Comments

Cameron said…
This post raises some interesting questions for me. One: I question whether "high church" means exclusively the type of worship meant for the "wealthy and literate," though we have certainly seen that plenty enough to know there's some truth in it. But maybe you're not saying that it (high church liturgy) is exclusively that.

Is it possible for "high church" to be contextualized and accessible to the masses, educated or not? Looking at history I'd tend to say it is possible, and that using the vernacular doesn't have to mean doing away with choirs or evensong or vestments or the like.

But I would love to hear more of your thoughts on this topic, and especially more about what the "major project" is to which you refer.
May 7, 2009 at 7:49 AM
jaypercival said…
Yep. I wasn't implying it had to be, just that on a popular level it already is. Right now most people associate high church with intellectuals and wealthy ... as they do with American cathedrals.

But I do think contextualization and some form of re-contextualization, without dumbing things down is the key.
May 7, 2009 at 10:51 AM
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