The Protestant tradition, evolving out of the Western Catholic Church as
a result of the Reformation of the 16th century, saw itself as a corrective
to sacrament-centered Catholicism and focused on the preached word, with
the
Bible as central.
Since the worship renewal of both Catholic and Protestant churches which
began with Vatican II in the 1960s, there has been a growing emphasis in
the mainline churches generally on a healthy balance of verbal proclamation
with the ritual expressions of Baptism and the Lords Supper.
If we wish to see our worship renewed at St. Davids, much thought needs
to be given to how Word and Sacraments (word and action) have expressed
themselves in our inherited Methodist and Calvinist traditions; how that
has developed during the 75 years of United Church history to the present;
and how this church will continue to express itself with liturgical and
ecumenical awareness into the future.
The Word: The Reformation teaching of the Word refers to Jesus Christ.
The Word, said Luther, is everything. The sacraments do not exist without
Christ being present.
In the sacraments, the physical and the spiritual unite. There is tremendous
power in drama and symbolic rite. Some Christians call sacraments the means
of Gods grace; others, a remembrance of Christ; others, an event in Christian
community when people encounter God and, by faith, receive grace and renewal.
Baptism: a focus on grace, covenant, belonging, a rite
of passage.
Baptism in the United Church is recognized as valid by the member churches
of the World Council of Churches and the Roman Catholic Church. Baptisms
by these churches are all recognized by the United Church.
Baptism is traditionally marked by the sign of the cross in the name of
the triune God (reflect on issues and concerns relating to the sign of
the cross and the traditional use of the terms: Father, Son, Holy Spirit).
Baptism is the primary initiation rite for ministry (witness and service)
within the Christian Church. In addition, note the significance of baptismal
affirmation at various stages of life.
Communion: Basic Principles
- Unity of word and sacrament.
- Communion prayer includes thanksgiving for creation, for our lives and
for the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
- Actions follow the pattern established by Jesus with the elements when
he: took, blessed, broke/poured, and gave.
- While some churches emphasise the transformation of the elements (eg. bread/wine
into body/blood) The United Church emphasises
the transformation of the community as the gathered faithful share bread and wine in the name and presence of Christ.
Communion: Basic Theologies
- Remembrance
- Celebration
- Covenant
- Source of Renewal and Spiritual Strength
- Atonement: The death of Christ reconciles humanity with God
- Pledge of the messianic banquet, a foretaste of the feast to come.
- Community
- Political act
It is important to reflect on the meaning people give to sacramental participation,
as well as to the inherited teaching of the church. (Note the meanings
reported by participants in sacramental celebration, pp. 35-6). Unlike
some churches that attempt to focus sacramental attention on one meaning,
the United Church respects a number of formal theological understandings,
as well a variety of individual interpretations.
Early in United Church history, the importance of ordered ministry presence
at the sacrament was emphasised. Today, permission is also given to certain
non-ordained sacramental leaders for the sake of faithful proclamation
and celebration.
Frequency of Communion: The Reformed tradition emphasised the importance of awe and contrite preparation for the proper receiving of communion. As a result, communion services were closed, and rare, held perhaps four times a year.
The Methodist tradition saw communion as a converting ordinance. It is
possible to experience the reality of God through participation, and thus,
this spiritual nurturing was to be celebrated frequently by the faith community.
There are different values inherent to open versus closed communion. Note
how the United Church has developed a stance of radically open communion.
We say it is the Lords Table, not our own. This has led, over the years,
to a general invitation for all to participate, children as well as adults;
non Christian as well as Christian (reflect on the pros and cons of radical
communion openness).
It is the commendation of the National Committee on Liturgy (UCC) that:
We should be part of the ecumenical church that aims for weekly communion
and suggests that word and sacrament should always be together in one whole
event. It is important that worship leaders at St.David's understand this
commendation (not directive) and that reflection be given to the availability
of communion for St.David's members.
Caron hopes that as congregations grow in their understanding of the sacraments,
we will continue to create liturgies that point to community, new life,
hope and liberation in our broken world.
THE
BIBLE
The Bible is foundational for Christian life and worship, but Christians
differ on the meaning and use of the Bible in the church.
Note the convictions about scripture accepted at the UCCs 34th General
Council (p. 69).
Current approaches to scripture include a liberationist (interpreting it
in a cultural context) and christological (interpreted through the figure
of Christ) hermeneutic.
The United church offers three evaluative statements for any claim to authority
arising in scripture and in communities of faith:
-
Gods historical self-revelation in Jesus Christ is crucial to establishing
what has legitimate authority in Christian community
-
Legitimate authority, in every case, enhances community of the whole
created earth
-
the Word of God, in every case, is larger than the text of the Bible
This means we need to live with as much knowledge of the Bible, theology,
faith, and the world as possible in order to discern Gods purposes in our
lives. We need to use the wide range of modern critical skills that are
available to us to study the Bible... We need to get hold of the text,
to let it take us out of ourselves, to try to place it in the culture from
which it came, to understand why it was written, how it could be heard,
and what editors and translators have done to it... Our task is to make
the connections and the interpretations based on our reading, experiencing,
and prayerful engagement with the text.
The Lectionary
The lectionary is a helpful way by which preachers and interpreters are
led through major sections of the Bible, over selected periods of time.
This helps us to become familiar with the Bibles ongoing story as a whole,
not piecemeal.
The Psalms
The hymnal of the Judeo-Christian tradition; serves as a model and words
for prayers.
Language
Many versions of scripture continue to bear a patriarchal stamp. We become
so used to this that it is often hard to discern the true meaning of the
biblical texts outside a paternalistic lens. We need to be attentive to
what we hear and how the words may, or may not, reflect the true spirit
they were intended to convey.
The public reading of scripture is important and should be treated as such.
It is a significant part of the living word in our midst. We need to read
the scriptures once again as though they were back within the oral tradition
from within which they arose.
Let the scriptures speak for themselves! Let our own life situations be
brought to bear upon what the scriptures are saying!
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