"'Contemporary worship' and 'traditional worship' have become common shorthand to differentiate worship styles in many parishes and denominations. For some Anglicans, these categories seem to be displacing 'high' and 'low, 'catholic' and 'evangelical' as the tidiest way to encapsulate the style of a particular liturgy of parish. What's more, tensions about liturgy seem increasingly to gravitate around these poles." This book is festschrift in honour of Robert Webber, raised as a Baptist who eventually became an Episcopalian. "One of Webber's tag lines, according to the preface of this volume, is `ancient-future faith' .... the idea of `blended worship' which seeks to capitalize on the synergies between post-modern culture and the ancient and classical way of understanding scripture and worshipping. The 13 essays in this volume mine this perspective richly and comprehensively, and defy pithy summary in this brief review. .... The articles are scholarly and well-written, but also accessible and engaging".
The editor discusses two homes in which he lived recently, one "large" and the other "small". "Both houses, which had become our homes, shaped us. They shaped our family rituals -- how we ate, how we offered hospitality, how we worked, how we played, how we interacted, how we moved. In the same way, our houses of worship shape our liturgical life. In this issue of `Liturgy Canada', we explore the ways in which architecture shapes liturgy, and how liturgy, if it is freed from the constraints of inherited architecture, can fashion fresh approaches to liturgical space".
"Of all the liturgical developments within Anglicanism over the past thirty years, perhaps none has made more of a visible impact on the ethos of Anglican liturgy, and been so fraught with controversy and differing views strongly held, as the practice of exchanging the Peace with gestures" (p. 13). "Difficulties aside, the restoration of the exchange of the Peace represents a significant development not only in terms of the theological and pastoral emphasis of Anglican eucharistic rites, but also in terms of their ethos. With some further attention and creativity, Peace may yet come to live up to its full potential as a sacramental sign of God's reconciliation (p. 15)".
Reviewer describes this book as a "gem -- a single volume which offers intercessory prayers for each Sunday of the three-year lectionary, along with selected Holy Days. Although not a new resource, it is a helpful one for those who, while grateful for the litanies provided by the BAS ... tire of their repeated use, particularly during longer seasons such as Lent and Christmas/Incarnation".
"[I]n Common Praise 1998, is a compendium of liturgical music for the use of parishes which attempts to draw together a representative sample of resources, some new and some familiar."
"The real `value-added', if you will, of this book is in the material it provides to foster `liturgical spirituality', the deepest articulated purpose of this volume. For each Sunday and Holy Day, there are brief questions, based on the Gospel of the day, for discussion by `assembly and faith-sharing groups'. Presiders, deacons, ministers of hospitality, music ministers, altar ministers, lectors and eucharistic ministers are challenged with questions which relate to their particular ministry. (For example, on the Feast of the Epiphany, presiders are asked to consider this question: `The adage is "actions speak louder than words". In what ways is your daily life an epiphany of Christ ?' Lectors are invited to ponder this: `To what extent does your preparation with the word go beyond the mechanics of proclamation to an encounter with the newborn King ?') Questions, challenges and helpful information are also addressed to cantor, choir, music director and `liturgy committee'."
"It is the contention of the authors that the time has come for one book, not two. We cannot sustain the Anglican tradition of liturgical unity while the present situation continues. Having two different rites with two different calendars and two different lectionaries is contrary to the tradition of both Eastern and Western Christianity."
Contents divided into four main sections: Preparatory Documents -- Study Documents -- Implications across the Communion -- The Dublin Documents.
Contents: Introduction / David R. Holeton, Chair -- The Dublin Lecture: Issues concerning the Anglican Eucharist in the Twenty-First Century / Louis Weil -- Eucharistic Theology and Anglican Eucharistic Revision / William R. Crockett -- "Ubi eucharistia, ibi ecclesia" : Ecclesiological Reflections on Ministry, Order, and the Eucharist / Paul F. Bradshaw -- Towards Renewing the Shape of Anglican Eucharistic Liturgy / David R. Holeton -- One Bread, One Body : Ritual, Language, and Symbolism in the Eucharist / Ruth A. Meyers -- Whose Prayer will Make the Difference ? : Eucharistic Renewal and Liturgical Education / Elizabeth J. Smith -- Eucharist, Sacrifice, and Atonement : the "Clarifications" of ARCIC / Charles Sherlock -- Is Eucharistic Sacrifice a Culturally Relative Issue ? / Kenneth W. Stevenson -- Sacrifice in African Traditional Religion as a Means of Understanding Eucharistic Theology / Solomon Amusan -- Scripture and Eucharist / Michael Vasey -- Music and 'Renewing the Anglican Eucharist' / David Harrison -- Anglican Church Plans : a Brief History / David H. Smart -- A Study Guide to the Dublin Principles and Recommendations / Ruth A. Meyers -- Implications across the Communion : Australia / Gillian Varcoe -- Canada / John St. H. Gibaut -- Central Africa / Elson Jakazi -- Cuba / Juan Quevedo-Bosch -- England / David Kennedy and Philip Tovey -- Ireland / John Paterson -- New Zealand / George Connor -- Scotland / Ian Paton -- United States / J. Neil Alexander -- West Indies / Anthony Balgrove Aarons -- The Dublin Documents: Principles and Recommendations -- Working Group Papers -- I: Eucharistic Theology -- II: Ministry, Order, and the Eucharist -- III: The Structure of the Eucharist -- IV: Eucharist: Ritual, Language, and Symbolism -- V: Liturgical and Eucharistic Renewal -- A Study Guide to the Dublin Principles and Recommendations / Ruth A. Meyers.