Words of Prayer and Praise Are Dumbed Down;
TEC Promotes Radical “Emergent Church”

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By Jan Mahood

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The 1928 Book of Common Prayer (BCP) is central to our worship. The first BCP, much the same as today’s 1928 BCP, was compiled by churchmen who were learned, literate, and devout. The liturgy contained in our BCP has served the Church virtually unchanged for almost five centuries – half a thousand years. It is based on words that have come to us over two millennia and more.

In the 1960s, TEC took it upon itself to dumb down this towering work – a mainstay of faith and cornerstone of English literature — and the much-diminished result was the 1979 Prayer Book. TEC called it “Book of Common Prayer,” just like the texts that preceded it, but it is nothing of the sort. “Common Prayer” implies worship in common — words that join people worldwide in faith. The 1979 book put an end to Common Prayer. It separated Episcopalian from Episcopalian inside the borders of the United States and divorced ECUSA — recently renamed TEC (a name change for an “emergent church?) –  from the commonality of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Divide and conquer.

Although this watered-down jumble of mix-and-match options was approved as the official liturgy of TEC by the 1979 General Convention of the Church, at the same time the 1928 BCP was authorized for continuing use. In 2000, General Convention reaffirmed the “Denver Resolution” of 1979, making clear that the 1928 BCP is authorized for use in our Church.

The 1928 BCP continues to be widely used by Episcopalians who believe in the Holy Trinity, the sanctity of marriage, the meaning of baptism, and other tenets based on holy scripture and defined in the 39 Articles of Religion, which begin on page  601 of the 1928 BCP.

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Secret Meetings, Dreary Prospect

The Episcopal Church’s 76th General Convention will take place in July. Over the past three years since the last triennial convocation of TEC, the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music (SCLM) has been hard at work on more liturgical alterations. Yet more changes to the liturgy and music of the Church are being made behind closed doors. The SCLM has met several times at comfortable retreats, but no minutes of those meetings are available to Episcopalians on TEC’s website or anyplace else.

One might ask why, since the 1979 dumbed-down prayer book was so recently made the church standard, does TEC now see fit to undo all their hard work and to replace so soon the prayer book they had championed so intensely. Could it be that the 1979 is a patently inferior version of our liturgy? Apparently, TEC has come to agree with ETF that the 1979 leaves a lot to be desired. Of course, the agreement is for vastly different reasons, for SCLM  seems intent on uncoupling TEC from Christianity and transforming the Church Militant (The Church on Earth) into a dreary agency for leftist sociopolitical change.

SCLM’s latest revisions support TEC’s idea of a new “emergent church” as they call it.  Soon the slapdash 1979 prayer book, which has turned out to be just one step in the direction of totally destroying our liturgy, will be relegated to the remotest, dustiest shelf of the church library. Replacing it will be the Revised Common Lectionary, a hodgepodge of Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist, Baptist, and other readings; booklet after booklet; sheet after sheet; and print-out after print-out of “peace-and-justice” liberation theology propaganda.

The words of prayer and praise shape our belief. The Church as we knew it has gone in a dangerous direction, and it all started with a few small changes to the liturgy, the words with which we worship.

Words indeed have meaning, as the revisionists well know. The presiding bishop herself reportedly is writing prayers to add to the mix. She recently stated that the way we pray determines what we believe. This concept has been introduced easily into our Sunday services: The recently-penned “baptismal covenant” equals “social justice.” Weekly, our priests demand that we stand and “reaffirm our baptismal covenant,” never mind that the few aging Episcopalians still in the pews never made a “baptismal covenant” in the first place.

It has been said that if a lie is repeated often enough, it is accepted as the truth.

SCML, with its uninspired, loveless, dumbed-down prose,  gives a new meaning to adultery. To adulterate is to weaken, to water down. The destroyers of the liturgy, and, by extension, the faith, have done just that. This tin-eared division of TEC has been busy over the past three years and more, hammering out “rites” more suitable to the schoolyard, the back alley, and the No-Tell Motel than to a once-mighty Church.

The latest changes include some of the most ridiculous, infantile, anti-Christian garbage we’ve seen yet. This might be hard to believe, but see for yourself. For some examples of the latest adulterations to the Prayer Book, see the section below. For more, go to TEC’s own website, www.episcopalchurch.org and follow links to “Liturgy and Music, Standing Commission on,” and a link to another site called Worship Well.

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Help Preserve Your Traditional Prayer Book

Who is funding this folly? Why, you are, dear readers, if you are continuing your pledges and collection-plate donations. If, after reading some of the trash that soon will litter the pews in your churches, you’d rather contribute to an organization within TEC that is making every effort to keep in our Church the holy Word of God as embodied in the 1928 Book of Common Prayer for us and for generations to come, please make a donation to ETF or mail your donation to the address below.

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Revisionist Rites for Mundane Matters
Lower the Bar on Personal Achievement

These are some examples of what we can expect to hear in our churches, courtesy of TEC’s Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music. (From TEC website, www.episcopalchurch.org.)

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Earning a Driver’s License or Permit

Gracious God, our brother, N., has come to an occasion of great privilege and responsibility. In the new freedoms which driving affords him, help N. to remember all of us who love him and are trusting him to drive safely, wisely, and kindly. In all the journeys of his life, go with him and bear him up with your sheltering love. And may this adventure be only one of thousands in which your gifts of freedom and care go hand-in-hand to bless him; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

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For Godly Expression of One’s Sexuality

O God, you have made us in your image and called us to the joys of human love. That love, the sign and seal of your own love for each of us, is shown through companionship and caring, and, powerfully and mysteriously, through the mystery of godly sexual expression shared with each other. This young person, N., is opening his heart to learn the wideness of love. As he strives to discover who he is, whose he is, and the person he is given to love, may he be guided, protected, and encouraged by you, O Love Incarnate. Give him wisdom in choosing, courage in loving, and patience in waiting for the marvelous truth of his life to unfold in your grace, most holy and undivided Trinity, alive through all the ages. Amen.

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Earning a GED (General Equivalency Diploma) or Other Diploma

Gracious God, you are always calling us to stretch our hearts in love and stretch our minds in learning. Through patience and perseverance, our brother, N. has earned his GED. We thank you for your gifts of courage, determination, and the discipline which have kept him committed to his goal, and brought him to this proud day. As he faces life’s next challenge, renew him in your love, and strengthen him to do your will; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Release from Prison

Liberating God, we lose our true freedom when we wander from your love, but when we come home to you, we receive fullness of joy. Our sister, N.,ends her prison/jail sentence and returns to a world that waits for her. Calm her fears and guard her from stumbling; surround her with friendship, and fill her with hope, reassured by your love and ours; through Jesus your Christ, our Redeemer and Liberator. Amen.

Aren’t these ersatz rites setting the bar a bit low? Shouldn’t the Church challenge us to a higher level of achievement than a learner’s permit or a substitute for a high school diploma? How about inspiring our youth the stay out of prison in the first place by teaching The Ten Commandments and other guides to good behavior?  At what age and under what circumstances will a young person undergo this sexual rite of passage? Fifteen? Five? How about a rite about saving our eternal souls? Wait! That kind of challenge and inspiration is here, right under our noses, in the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.

If you’ve had just about enough of this misuse of your money and all your good intentions and actions, don’t just sit there and suffer these assaults on your faith or give up and walk out. Let your fellow Episcopalians, your priest, your bishop, and the world know what you think and what you intend to do about it. Don’t let conservative priests and bishops down. Let them know they have your support. Let your voice be heard. To quote a line from the movie Network, tell TEC bishops and priests, “I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!” Tell your friends. Go online and let the world know what you think. Post your comments on this website’s Discussion page.
And invest your talents and treasure in change you can believe in.

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Prayer Book Revisions Burn Cash –
Your Stewardship Dollars at Work

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From The Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music:

Budget Report

Meeting Expenses for the SCLM 2006-2009
The Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music will meet approximately six times during the next triennium (2006-2009). This will require $35,000 for 2007, $50,000 for 2008, and $15,000 for 2009 for a total of $100,000 for the triennium.

Project Expenses for the work of the SCLM
The work projected by this report will require an implementation budget of $315,000.00 to be distributed among these projects. These monies are included in the appropriate resolutions.

•   Revision of Lesser Feasts and Fasts  $5,000.00

•   Revision of the catechumenal materials in The Book of Occasional Services  $20,000.00

•   Preparation of revised Book of Occasional Services text for distribution to General Convention $5,000.00

•   Development of Resources for Multi-sensory Worship $60,000.00

•   Continue the development of the Enriching our Worship Series

Daily Office $20,000.00

Eucharistic Prayers $20,000.00

Rites in the Context of Adoption $20,000.00

Burial/Reconciliation Rites $20,000.00

•   Continued work on New Music

Praise and World Music $25,000.00

Ethnic Music $35,000.00

From the 2006 General Convention Report of SCLM to TEC. To read this and more about the SCLM’s destruction of the liturgy, go to www.episcopalarchives.org/e-archives/bluebook/16.html