Volume 07, Number 02 Nov 1977

Children in Worship with Special Reference to Holy Communion

James L Weatherhead

Any understanding of this subject must begin with Baptism. The matter is developed against the acceptance of the centrality of Holy Communion, which involved faith and understanding. The practice of catechising, seeming to emphasize knowledge, left understanding out. Hearing the Word is not exclusively an intellectual exercise; Communion is a means of grace not an educational instrument. Church requires a profession of faith and knowledge of doctrines and ordinances, but should this be identified with the point of admission to Communion for the first time? No defence of infant Baptism based on the assumption that faith is irrelevant to it, but this is the faith of the Church and of the parents; this should be applied to Communion also. The article concludes that children have a legitimate place in Communion.

The Ordering of Eucharistic Worship

A Stewart Todd

The article is dedicated to Nevile Davidson Kelly. It constitutes a review of the work of the Committee on Public Worship and Aids to Devotion 1963-77 and of the Church Hymnary Revision Committee 1963-73 (of both of which he was Secretary). The work of the period is examined - work on Baptism, Confirmation, on the purpose and principles of public worship, on Marriage, the Communion order in ‘The Divine Service’, two discussion pamphlets on weekly communion and learning about worship. Some discussion of the sources which the Committee studied in preparing the new ‘;Book of Common Order’ are outlined and an explanation is given of the different intentions behind the orders for Communion. There is discussion of the reasons for making Communion the norm and setting out the morning service in relation to that. The liturgical shape of the new Church Hymnary (third edition) is outlined.

Liturgical Reform by Lay People

Ronald Johnson

The history of St. Columba’s Episcopal Church is outlined, and the origins of its liturgical practice. The uniqueness of the Scottish Episcopal Church, and of the second order of 1973 is noted. The article offers a full account of the ways by which members of this local congregation took their part in the review of and the revision of the Scottish Liturgy. The writer, Sir Ronald Johnson, had been the organist of St. Columba’s since 1952.

Holy Communion in the Church of Scotland

William Lillie

This is the transcript of a talk given to a group of Anglicans and Presbyterians. It first tackles the matter of the way in which Christ is present to the partaker at Communion, noting that ‘presence to faith’ (as in the Westminster Confession etc.) does not mean conjuring up the divine presence. Presbyterian observance has underlined: a) the place given to the Word, b) the communion of believers, c) publicly setting forth Christ, d) open invitation to members of any branch of the Christian Church. Differences: a) an overly subjective approach, b) an ignoring of the element of sacrifice, c) an underplaying of the element of consecration, d) infrequency of celebration, e) the use of Communion to prepare congregational rolls.

On Public Prayer Today

J Kellett

Public prayers are harder to prepare than they used to be. Fresh analogies and images are needed. People are also more ignorant of what is in the Bible. Other aspects of life in society today are also surveyed. Nevertheless, public prayer is a point of opportunity. A number of prayers follow: morning service including Baptism, evening service with young adults present, intercessory prayer for evening, concluding prayer and benediction, a Christmas blessing, grace for a public occasion, a Remembrance Day prayer for use in secondary schools, and a commemoration.

Book Reviews

Various Contributors

Colin Buchanan, Inflation Deployment and the Job Prospects of the Clergy (Grove Books) reviewed by Robin Hill, New College, Edinburgh.

Peter J Jagger, Bishop Henry de Candole – His Life and Times, 1895-1971 (Faith Press, 1975) reviewed by Frank Weston, Edinburgh.

Church Service Society Notes

No Author Specified

These encompass the Annual Meeting where the address was given by Dr. Gianfranco Tellini on ‘Worship: Evangelism, Praise or Encounter with God’. News was shared of sister societies overseas, in New Zealand and Canada. It was reported that the cataloguing of the Society’s library in Greyfriars was complete.