Inclusive, expansive language in our July and August 2024 services
Dear Emmanuel family,
During the Sundays in July, we will be using a Eucharistic liturgy from the approved Enriching Our Worship resource. We will also be using inclusive and expansive language for God and ourselves in familiar prayers and responses in these services.
As I’ve mentioned, the Book of Common Prayer is currently being updated and Bp. Deon is on the committee working on this. Our beloved Episcopal Church follows in the footsteps of our forebears in the faith by reforming itself continually in order to bring down barriers we humans have placed on a group or person’s ability to encounter and be changed (reformed) by God in order to serve God and God’s people faithfully through the Church.
In fact, reform has been happening in the church since the days of Sts. Peter and Paul when Paul’s perspective that Gentiles should be allowed “in” as Gentiles won the day. The original form of our Eucharistic service in our first Book of Common Prayer, published in 1549 (which itself was a reform from Roman Catholic tradition), is radically different from what we practice today. I have a copy of this prayer book in my office if anyone is interested in seeing it. The reform of our Baptismal theology represented by the 1979 BCP is significant and is something I teach in our Episcopal 101. Without it, Emmanuel wouldn’t have me – a woman - as Priest in Charge, nor would we have our current bishop serving as our chief pastor.
The Elizabethan language of Rite I offers solely male-gendered language about God (Father, He) and Christians (men). This is unfaithful to the language used in the original texts of our Scripture and is what “wounds my soul” as I mentioned a few weeks ago in the announcements. My heart is strong enough to let the human insult pass, but it is the Church’s intentional manipulation of God for exclusionary purposes, and the resultant and persistent prioritizing of males in the life and leadership of the church that wounds me.
Whether or not this is the theology you or anyone else in the Church continues to hold, the consequences of the use of the Rite I, male-centered language are that children of God continue to be excluded and diminished by the church, in the church, and in their own hearts and souls. I count myself among them.
The prayer book reform currently underway now hopes to remedy that by including the excluded through the language of our prayers. Lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi: the law of what is prayed is what is believed is what is lived (Latin). It has the added benefit of setting God free to be gender-full, not male-gendered, in our experience as God’s children.
Our services in July are a sampling of how this reform might sound, I have received episcopal permission (that is, permission from our bishop) to use this expansive, inclusive language. My prayer is that everyone finds Emmanuel to be a place they can encounter God in the Eucharist and in ministry.
As always, I welcome your feedback on this liturgical experience.
En la paz de Cristo (In the peace of Christ),
Valori†
During the Sundays in July, we will be using a Eucharistic liturgy from the approved Enriching Our Worship resource. We will also be using inclusive and expansive language for God and ourselves in familiar prayers and responses in these services.
As I’ve mentioned, the Book of Common Prayer is currently being updated and Bp. Deon is on the committee working on this. Our beloved Episcopal Church follows in the footsteps of our forebears in the faith by reforming itself continually in order to bring down barriers we humans have placed on a group or person’s ability to encounter and be changed (reformed) by God in order to serve God and God’s people faithfully through the Church.
In fact, reform has been happening in the church since the days of Sts. Peter and Paul when Paul’s perspective that Gentiles should be allowed “in” as Gentiles won the day. The original form of our Eucharistic service in our first Book of Common Prayer, published in 1549 (which itself was a reform from Roman Catholic tradition), is radically different from what we practice today. I have a copy of this prayer book in my office if anyone is interested in seeing it. The reform of our Baptismal theology represented by the 1979 BCP is significant and is something I teach in our Episcopal 101. Without it, Emmanuel wouldn’t have me – a woman - as Priest in Charge, nor would we have our current bishop serving as our chief pastor.
The Elizabethan language of Rite I offers solely male-gendered language about God (Father, He) and Christians (men). This is unfaithful to the language used in the original texts of our Scripture and is what “wounds my soul” as I mentioned a few weeks ago in the announcements. My heart is strong enough to let the human insult pass, but it is the Church’s intentional manipulation of God for exclusionary purposes, and the resultant and persistent prioritizing of males in the life and leadership of the church that wounds me.
Whether or not this is the theology you or anyone else in the Church continues to hold, the consequences of the use of the Rite I, male-centered language are that children of God continue to be excluded and diminished by the church, in the church, and in their own hearts and souls. I count myself among them.
The prayer book reform currently underway now hopes to remedy that by including the excluded through the language of our prayers. Lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi: the law of what is prayed is what is believed is what is lived (Latin). It has the added benefit of setting God free to be gender-full, not male-gendered, in our experience as God’s children.
Our services in July are a sampling of how this reform might sound, I have received episcopal permission (that is, permission from our bishop) to use this expansive, inclusive language. My prayer is that everyone finds Emmanuel to be a place they can encounter God in the Eucharist and in ministry.
As always, I welcome your feedback on this liturgical experience.
En la paz de Cristo (In the peace of Christ),
Valori†
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We offer a variety of worship options that enable people to choose a worship experience that is meaningful and comfortable. Join us in person or online. Our worship services are live streamed on our YouTube channel.
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Sundays at 8:00 a.m.
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Sundays at 9:30 a.m.
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In-person in the church. This service is said (no music) and uses traditional language (Elizabethan English). It is quiet, and the ancient language connects us to our faith history. Masks are available but not required.
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In-person in the church and live-streamed on Youtube. This service includes hymns and a choir anthem accompanied by organ or piano, and uses contemporary language. Masks are available but not required.
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Wednesdays at 6:45 p.m.
Taizé service
In-person in the sanctuary following the Wednesday Night Fellowship Supper September through May each year. This quiet, meditative service, based on the services of the Taizé community in France, employs periods of silence, contemplative prayer, and simple chanted hymns.
WHO MAY RECEIVE COMMUNION?
To quote our bishop, The Rt. Rev. Deon K. Johnson, this is our invitation to Holy Communion:
"So come you have been here often and you have not been here in a long time.
You who are full of faith or full of doubt.
You who have tried to follow Jesus and you who have failed.
Come, it is Christ who invites us to meet him here."
"So come you have been here often and you have not been here in a long time.
You who are full of faith or full of doubt.
You who have tried to follow Jesus and you who have failed.
Come, it is Christ who invites us to meet him here."
(Taken from Bishop Deon Johnson's consecration service)
Prayer & Worship Resources
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