The congregation led by the Diocese of Northern Michigan’s bishop-elect often uses locally written eucharistic rites rather than those of the Book of Common Prayer or the supplemental liturgical texts authorized by General Convention.
St. Paul’s Church, Marquette, also regularly uses The Inclusive Hebrew Scriptures and The Inclusive New Testament, which are published by a liberal Roman Catholic organization, Priests for Equality.
Those lectionary texts are not among the several Bibles authorized by Title II, Canon 2, including the gender-inclusive New Revised Standard Version. That canon allows for “other versions of the Bible, including those in languages other than English, which shall be authorized by diocesan bishops for specific use in congregations or ministries within their dioceses.”
The Rev. Kevin Thew Forrester, interim ministry developer and rector of St. Paul’s, was the sole candidate on the ballot for the special electing convention on Feb. 21. He received 88 percent of delegate votes.
Fr. Thew Forrester’s parish draws some of its prayers from Enriching Our Worship, which is authorized by General Convention. Many of the eucharistic texts gathered from the congregation’s website were composed or adapted by the bishop-elect or by his wife, the Rev. Rise Thew Forrester.
“No one need go hungry if they eat this bread. No child, no adult, no elder. This bread, broken, is bread for all people,” read a eucharistic prayer for a youth service during Lent 2008. “Jesus broke this bread to remind us that God comes to us in those places where we are broken inside. Where we are lonely, frightened, sick and in sorrow. And God also comes to us in those places where we are joyful, playful and free.”
The same service omitted the Nicene Creed, instead using “An Affirmation of Faith” from A New Zealand Prayer Book.
A eucharistic prayer that the bishop-elect wrote for Easter season 2008 says this: “In the ancient days, at the dawn of time, You leaned over creation[,] scooped it to your breast and breathed the moist breath of life. ... The fire of your Spirit kindled a love between Mary and Joseph; a fire that became the roaring flame of eternal compassion—the heart of Jesus.”
The lectionary texts are notable for their exclusion of male pronouns, even when the subject of the sentence is a man. A reading from Genesis 2 refers to Adam as “the earth creature” and “it.” Readings from the gospels of John and Mark refer to Jesus as “the Chosen One,” “the Only Begotten One,” “my Beloved, my Own” and “this One.”
The Rev. Canon Ralph McMichael, canon for ministry formation in the Diocese of Missouri, expressed concern about the texts.
“We are stewards of the church’s liturgy,” he said. “Liturgy does not exist for our self-expression, whatever form it might take.”
Eucharistic prayer describes both visible and invisible reality, and “the way you move into that reality is by offering the self, rather than by self-expression,” Canon McMichael said. “It’s not as though there’s no creativity or new life, but it’s not of our own making.”
Canon McMichael believes it’s appropriate for bishops to consider these texts as they decide, along with standing committees, whether to confirm Northern Michigan’s choice of Fr. Thew Forrester.
“Bishops are to guard the faith. They are stewards, chief stewards,” he said. “They need to struggle with the church. You don’t wander around doing your own thing.”
Neither the bishop-elect nor three of the diocese’s media contacts granted interviews requested by TLC.
Douglas LeBlanc
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2 Comments
Concerning this extract, which I assume is from the Consecration of the Bread: "No one need go hungry if they eat this bread. No child, no adult, no elder. This bread, broken, is bread for all people...Jesus broke this bread to remind us that God comes to us in those places where we are broken inside. Where we are lonely, frightened, sick and in sorrow. And God also comes to us in those places where we are joyful, playful and free." It's nice, I like it, but it has no place in the liturgy of the Eucharist. It would be very appropriate in a homily which focuses on what the Eucharist is about -- but not the liturgy itself. Liturgy is not the place to be "trendy" without deep prayer, discernment, thought and careful vetting with theologically knowledgeable peers.
I find the Eucharistic prayer extract to be most troubling. I am assuming this is the lead in to the prayer of consecration: "In the ancient days, at the dawn of time, You leaned over creation[,] scooped it to your breast and breathed the moist breath of life. ... The fire of your Spirit kindled a love between Mary and Joseph; a fire that became the roaring flame of eternal compassion—the heart of Jesus." The first bit is okay, though a bit flowery (I suspect even for my priestly wife). The second sentence about Mary and Joseph more than hints at non-Credal heresy. I read it as more than implying that Joseph -- not God the Father -- is Jesus' Dad. This suggestion strikes at the Credal teaching of the Virgin birth and perhaps even at the divinity of Jesus himself as the Son of the Living God. I worry about a bishop, in his role as shepherd, who harbors such beliefs.
Finally, this leads to the 'gender neutral' question. Jesus was a man as in male. I do not mind the occasional use of "the Chosen One" and the like, but we must always remember that Jesus is the Son of God. Even the Centurion at the foot of the cross knew this! Adam has always been represented as a man -- and while it can mean ground or earth, it also means mankind. Adam being called "the earth creature" is almost comic - more akin to a 1950s-era B science fiction movie ("Fall of the Earth Creature?"). I am no fundamentalist, but I do fear we are running roughshod over the basics - to our peril as a church.
Michael A. Foughty
St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Alexandria VA
Our Episcopal Church has just initiated what is referred to as an "Inclusive" Eucharist Service in addition to the two traditional Eucharist Services. It is to begin in two weeks so I have not seen what they plan for the Creed, scriptural readings, prayers, liturgy. It has not been fully explained to date other than to say it will "probably be inclusive language, meaning that the language of the liturgy and hymns will try to avoid discrimination and limitation based on cultural stereotypes." I was not aware that our liturgy and present services were discriminatory and stereotypical. I thought all services and the church I have belonged to for 46 years were inclusive of all. I agree with Michael Foughty. We are dealing with basic and sacred truths expressed in soaringly inspirational text. Take Care!
Carole Creal
Virginia Beach, VA