New Patterns for Worship (paperback) (Common Worship: Services and Prayers for the Church of England)

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The rubrics have been phrased to allow a hymn or songs either to replace or to follow the ‘Blessed is the Lord …’ responses. Let us call to mind our sin, our failure to value the love of others and our failure to love as Christ has loved us. The authorized form of the Athanasian Creed is that contained in The Book of Common Prayer. ¶ Authorized Affirmations of Faith

DO discover the main theme of the service: is it based on the readings, the season or day? Ask the preacher if there is something specific to pray for if the prayers follow the preaching. Whenever the Lord’s Prayer is introduced it needs to be clear to the congregation which version is to be used. A full printed text is one way to make this clear. In Common Worship, the modified traditional and modern forms each have a distinctive introduction, to help the congregation to know which one to expect, as follows: The minister introduces a time of silent prayer, which concludes with the Collect. The Ten Commandments

Kyrie Confessions

This responsory may be used, and/or a hymn or song of praise may be sung (if a hymn has not preceded the Greeting) Today, St Ann’s are using A Service of the Word with a Celebration of Holy Communion. They have seen that the rubric in the service shows that they can use the Collect as a summing up prayer which draws together the intercessions and thanksgivings before the service moves on into the Holy Communion. This means that it need not be particularly linked with the readings or the Liturgy of the Word. They have recently been printing it on the notice sheet, so that members of the church can use it at home during the week.

This public ministry of prayer may be accompanied by laying on of hands, and may also be accompanied by anointing with oil. It may be helpful to make clear in advance the form of ministry that is intended. There are a number of possibilities, such as prayer for individuals who do not explain their particular need; prayer following a brief explanation to those who will pray with them of a person’s need or concern; or prayer following an explanation to the whole congregation of a person’s need or concern. (The Laying on of Hands may be received on behalf of a third person who is not present.) The Israelites groaned under their slavery, and cried out. Out of the slavery their cry for help rose up to God. God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God looked upon the Israelites, and God took notice of them.The introductions which follow here may be used with any form of the Lord’s Prayer. If they are used without a full printed text, care should be taken to ensure that the congregation is clear about which form of the Lord’s Prayer is to follow. A blessing, the Grace or the sharing of the Peace may conclude the service, or these responses may be used Let us pray to God, that he will bring to fruition … The Lord’s Prayer Song or Hymn Blessing or Dismissal In addition to the giving of gifts of flowers (or other gifts) to mothers in the congregation, it may be appropriate to place flowers near a statue of Mary, the mother of our Lord.

asking a pregnant woman to talk about the frustration and excitement of waiting for a baby to be born, or a new mother to describe the difference being a mother has made to her life and her faith; Compare this service with other services in the month. An occasional completely new form of worship may stimulate people to discover new dimensions to their ordinary worship, but a new pattern each week may be confusing and unsettling, particularly to children. If people are familiar with both structure and content of the service, they feel more secure and can take part more easily. For an all-age service, for instance, it may be better to have a standard structure, with ‘windows’ or ‘slots’ which can be changed from week to week. The service moves towards a climax at the Peace. This needs careful introduction, perhaps focusing on that unity in Christian fellowship, because of what Christ has done for us, of which St Paul speaks in the introductory words. People should also be encouraged to greet one another in whatever way is most natural and comfortable for them – and for those they are greeting! The more adventurous worship planners might want to provide some symbol – coloured paper hearts, or flowers, for example, which members of the congregation might give to one another as reminders of the love and generosity of God. If this prayer is used as a meditation or Holy Week intercession, the silence comes best after the first line in each section, as here; if it is used as a Sunday intercession, it may come better before ‘Lord, hear us’, where particular requests may be inserted. This is an example of a set of intercessions which would be suitable for two people with contrasting voices: one to read the first part of each bidding and the other to lead the part after the silence. Note 16 in Common Worship Holy Communion provides for the Peace to be used at other points than the one provided. It can be used as the opening greeting, or as part of the Communion rite before the breaking of bread or the Dismissal. The Peace may be introduced with a suitable sentence; some are provided in the seasonal provisions, and more here. The pattern is easy to copy, for instance to provide words for special occasions or to echo some particular teaching in the sermon. The introductory words should not normally be a prayer but an encouragement, based on Scripture, to minister peace to one another. The second sentence, ‘The peace of the Lord be always with you’, is best kept as a standard introduction to the response, but may be seasonally varied, as for example, ‘The peace of the risen Lord be always with you.’ Introductory words to the PeaceLoving God, we thank you for the family of the Church. We pray that all may find in her their true home; that the lonely, the marginalized, the rejected may be welcomed and loved in the name of Jesus. The St Dodo’s Praise Service has no apparent structure at all – and so, one or two people say, must be led by the Spirit. There is little content, with only one of the lectionary readings (irrelevant to the theme of praise) and the sermon is replaced by long introductions by four different people to four of the hymns. People in the congregation are encouraged to suggest items to give thanks for or to sing (sometimes without the congregation having the words because it is assumed everyone knows them), with the inevitable result that there is no development in the service and no one quite knows when it should come to an end. But a liturgical structure used without preparation can produce equally bad results. Last week the president got a bit lost in Eucharistic Prayer E, used a Short Preface rather than an extended one, with the result that no one knew when to come in with ‘Holy, holy …’ Notes to the resources Acclamations and praise responses This may include a sermon or talk, discussion, and activities for different age groups. It continues with the Affirmation of Faith and the Prayers. Affirmation of Faith

At St Ann’s the Peace is the climax to which the first half of the service moves. Today the president uses a versicle and response echoing the theme of the service. This is used for a month or more during the same teaching theme or season of the Church’s year and is printed on the notice sheet. Members of the congregation are encouraged to greet one another with it outside the church – or even over the telephone! The response ‘and also with you’ is the signal for a lot of movement in the church as people shake hands, hug or greet one another in other ways. There is some sensitivity to people who want to remain on their own, though the PCC recently rejected a suggestion that one corner of the church be set aside as a peace-free zone. It is good to see people using the time to share with others something of what God has said to them through the preaching, and to discover what the younger members of the church have been doing in their groups. People have been taught what the Peace is for and how to use it (see here). At present they are experimenting with the Peace lasting for fifteen to twenty minutes, with refreshments being served, after which some who are not yet communicants leave. This has helped to encourage enquirers and those seeking baptism for their children, for instance, to experience a freer style of service which is shorter and does not commit them to receiving communion. Some, however, say that communion feels like an afterthought rather than the climax of the service. The service begins again with some gentle music and chorus singing, during which people take their seats as they prepare for the Thanksgiving. A dismissal, ending or blessing should be the last item in any service, and should not normally be followed by a hymn or more prayers. Notes to the resourcesAt St Ann’s one of the church leaders comes forward to lead the intercessions, and asks the congregation to mention things to pray for. A series of people say ‘Can we pray for …’, usually mentioning things of a fairly personal and practical nature. The leader fits this list of requests into the litany prepared before the service. From the intercession that follows, it is clear that the leader has been awake during the notices and sermon. Both the sermon and the Bible reading on which it was based are clearly reflected in the prayers. St Ann’s have tried other variations for the intercessions, and at the all-age service these are sometimes led by a family together (using the microphone for all of them). Once or twice for a special occasion they have used visuals – photographs, video clips and drawings (but with few words) on the data projector – inviting people to have their eyes open as they pray. Occasionally they pray in small groups, which they find a good way of including children in the intercessions. Some have suggested using extempore prayer with the whole congregation free to join in, but the severe difficulties with audibility have ruled this out. These may be used on their own to conclude the act of worship, or they may precede or follow a blessing. If one of these is used with a dismissal, the dismissal should come at the very end. These are dealt with in the paragraphs headed ‘Preparation’ and ‘Conclusion’ in the authorized Introduction to A Service of the Word ( here), together with Notes 1, 2 and 9 ( here). No responses have been printed after the readings. This would not necessarily mean that they could not be used.