Whilst those who know me well will admit that there is no more a traditionalist than I, Jean Healey's "Vintage Wine" in the last Parish Link prompts further comment.
Archbishop Cranmer's English of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer is beautiful. There is no doubt of that. It is, however, very dated and written in an English style with which few people, these days, are familiar.
We must look forwards, not backwards. We need to present the church and its liturgy in a language that people can understand whilst, at the same time, neither losing the spirit of mission nor denying those good and right things which have been handed down to us and which we hold dear. A difficult task indeed!
Rite A, which is in current usage, contains within it some of the oldest and, it has been said, some of the most beautiful Eucharistic prayers in Christendom. It also has flexibility and adaptability. Rite A of the Church of England is almost identical to the present rite for the Roman Catholic Mass and is very similar to the Methodist Service of Holy Communion. For those of us who move about the various denominations, it enables us to feel "at home" wherever the Eucharist is celebrated. Furthermore, it is vital that the various denominations present a united welcome and Invitation (with a capital I) to people outside the church, remembering that it is those things which unite us, rather than divide us, that are important.
Celia Kinnersley