Writing about Universalist Christianity and improving how churches work
Following some fan mail yesterday, I think I’m going to continue this thread of prayer resources for a couple of days more at least. These days, I rarely write my own prayers. There are so many established prayers with deep and sensitive wordings, and written in the rhythm of human speech, that it makes sense …
Continue reading “Another prayer collection for your reference”
From time to time, I consult Percy Dearmer‘s The Parson’s Handbook to test the standards of liturgical norms. I don’t always agree with him — little wonder as we come from very different places within Christianity — but you can’t fault him for his thoroughness and style. (To tell you the truth, I read it …
I was a little surprised to see Percy Dearmer — known for his landmark work in The English Hymnal — suggest in The Parson’s Handbook that parish choirs be smaller than the custom then and now, and that they might well be put in a west gallery if the church has one. The chancel — …
Continue reading “Parson's Handbook: placing organ and choir”
I’ve made it to page 43 — but still in the Introduction — in The Parson’s Handbook, with much of the intervening text more concerning with period controversy about the licit use of ancient ceremonial which, however interesting and useful it might be to Anglican liturgists, is of limited utility here. Then Dearmer writes about …
Continue reading “Parson's Handbook: standards of manners can be liberating”
Dearmer, in his introduction, reviews the poor esteem his Church then held for the arts: how commercial purchase has replaced patronage for its decorations and furnishings. Little wonder — it follows — how little concern artists have for the Church. In case the Unitarian Universalists out there have glazed-over eyes, I should point out it …
Later. This was post #2000. From the fourth edition of The Parson’s Handbook, pages iii and iv: It is indeed essential to remember that, important though the artistic side of public worship must be, the ceremonial question is primarily a moral one. We have to be honest and straightforward in obeying the rules we are …
Continue reading “Parson's Handbook: the moral dimension of well-ordered worship”
For a Broad Churchman (with more than a passing antipathy for the Anglican Communion), I have a remarkable admiration for Percy Dearmer and his magnum opus, The Parson’s Handbook. (Wikipedia) I can think of no work that has been more influential in shaping Anglican worship, taking the High Church standards and making them the norm. …
PeaceBang has been promoting the alb as a solution for heat-stroke in the pulpit, but I can’t agree so I’m back to opining what ministers ought to wear.
I mentioned a while back that on one of the Confidential Mailing Lists I’m On the question of clericals and vestments came up. I offered this. Practical points The “coverall”/uniform effect shouldn’t be overlooked. It puts the minister in a state of dignified neutrality. As in “this is appropriate to wear for your funeral whether …
I love reading and learning about liturgy. There is the multidisciplinary piece that makes academic liturgics an ideal way to form a liberal education (librarianship is another) and there is a practical piece, too. A liturgical education helps form better worship. Win-win, I say, and a lot less creepy, say, than an armchair survey of …