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Common
Worship
A change for the better
It's hard to believe but the Alternative Service Book is 20 years old.
Over the past two decades the world has changed considerably, and our
understanding of God is always developing. The Church of England therefore
began to revise the A.S.B. so that we could continue to worship God in
both modern and traditional services.
What
are the implications for St. Boniface?
- The
Church of England has decided to switch to "Common Worship" from Advent,
2000. Services taken or derived from the Alternative Service Book are
not authorised from the end of the year.
- There
is no option. We have to alter the liturgy we rely on for our 9.30 a.m.
Family Worship, 10.00 a.m. Family Communion and 11.00 a.m. Eucharist
Services.
- "Common
Worship" is designed to provide flexibility with both modern and traditional
services represented within an approved framework. The Book of Common
prayer is authorised permanently and is not affected by this revision
process.
- A
team led by Tom Crotty on behalf of the P.C.C. has developed a liturgy
that we will use during 2001 for the three main morning services at
St. Boniface. This has some common elements acknowledging our unity
while reflecting the diversity of Christian traditions held by those
who worship at these services.
- Replacing
St. Boniface's current stock of service books with "Common Worship"
would be prohibitively expensive; therefore the P.C.C. has decided that
we will use service cards. (The green book will still be used for B.C.P.
services.) This is cheaper and provides greater flexibility. For instance,
we can tailor services to help people worship God in a style which they
feel is appropriate, as well as adjusting it for different seasons and
special occasions.
- The
introduction of "Common Worship" provides an opportunity to take a step
forward in our faith. "Common Worship" re-introduces the richness of
language found in the Book of Common Prayer, while expressing it in
a style that is in keeping with the modern idiom.
In
summary, we hope that "Common Worship" will bring us closer to God. It
should also help us develop our understanding of God and so strengthen
our faith as we worship together.
Simon
de Bell and Andrew Dean
And
the implication for St. Jude's? See our December issue.
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