Holy Things for Holy People

We're a prayer book parish. We use the Book of Common Prayer (1979) for the words we say, of course. But at St. Paul's, we also use the literal book itself—as opposed to printing the order of worship in new leaflets each week.

This weekend, though, we're doing something different. The Eucharistic prayer will be printed in the leaflets because it's not in the prayer book. In fact, it's not in any book.

Because I made it up.

At General Convention in 2018, we agreed as a church to begin using liturgical resources beyond the few that were previously authorized. It's actually church law that the words we say during worship—and the songs we sing—must be authorized by our national church body, made up of representatives from every diocese. I can't just lead our community in a worship service invented wholecloth; our prayer book is part of the glue that binds our tradition together.

Still, it felt a bit limiting, so General Convention agreed to open things up for a period of liturgical exploration.

In the spirit of exploration and experimentation, I wrote "Eucharistic Prayer P" (P for St. Paul!) and dedicate it to the children and youth of our parish. Our bishops reviewed and approved it, so we can now use it during worship. We'll try Prayer P for the first time this Sunday, 10/29, at the 10:15 service. (I hope dearly that the children in attendance will be in Halloween costumes in case we document the occasion with photos.)

A photo from Halloween 2020

By the way, anyone can write a Eucharistic prayer. It's not a priest-only thing. But each Eucharistic prayer does require certain elements: retelling the story of salvation, the biblical words Jesus used to institute the Eucharist, etc.

If you're interested to learn more, I invite you to read Eucharistic Prayer P and its introduction, maybe even before Sunday. It has notes about where I got the language, as well as the purpose I hope it will serve. You may even notice a "Yay God" in there!

Once we try this prayer out, hopefully a few times, we can report back to the bishops about how it went. Did we find it edifying? Did it feel faithful, even though it was different than what we're used to? Would we recommend it to other communities, too, or is it something that's particular to us?

I'm looking forward to trying out this experiment with you and hearing your thoughts.

About the Bible?

Moses was taking care of the flock for his father-in-law Jethro, Midian’s priest. He led his flock out to the edge of the desert, and he came to God’s mountain called Horeb. The Lord’s messenger appeared to him in a flame of fire in the middle of a bush. Moses saw that the bush was in flames, but it didn’t burn up. Then Moses said to himself, Let me check out this amazing sight and find out why the bush isn’t burning up.

When the Lord saw that he was coming to look, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!”

Moses said, “I’m here.”

Then the Lord said, “Don’t come any closer! Take off your sandals, because you are standing on holy ground.” He continued, “I am the God of your father, Abraham’s God, Isaac’s God, and Jacob’s God.” Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.

-Exodus 3:1-15 (Common English Bible)

• Didn’t Moses grow up in Egypt? How does he end up in Midian?

• Why is Moses afraid to look at God?

• What are some other stories where God calls someone to do important work?

Do you ever read a Bible passage and wish you could know more about it?

One of the things I love about the Episcopal Church is that academic study of the Bible doesn’t threaten our faith—in fact, it can be a tool to deepen or strengthen it!

It can be difficult to find reputable sources on the scriptures that shape our tradition. Many websites have shallow or misleading information that doesn’t match our theology or our understanding of God’s expansive, all-encompassing love.

When I was in seminary, I worked on a project called Yale Bible Study. Using videos of Yale professors talking about Bible passages, YBS provides study guides, discussion questions, and other resources. Oh, and it’s all free!

Rylands Haggadah, 14th century, manuscript illumination

This week, I hope you’ll take a little time to look through Yale Bible Study’s resources. As a starting point: here’s the lesson on the Burning Bush passage from Exodus. (This reading is appointed for today, the Third Sunday in Lent, in our lectionary.

With my colleagues, I put together a lot of the Discussion Questions and Additional Resources sections on this website. I also wrote some of the Study Guides. It was really fun to find these resources, but the process underscored for me just how much incorrect information about the Bible is online.

If you have other reputable resources for online Bible information, please share them with me!

(And remember: I still do work for Yale Bible Study as the host and producer of the Chapter, Verse, and Season podcast, which is another resource for reliable information about the Bible.)

An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church

Did you know that the Episcopal Church has an online dictionary?

It’s a great guide to the many terms and concepts that mark our tradition. And a good way to find something out when you’re too embarrassed to ask (not that I’ve ever used it for this purpose)!

Here’s the entry for the Epiphany Season, which is the church season we just entered:

A season of four to nine weeks, from the Feast of the Epiphany (Jan. 6) through the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. The length of the season varies according to the date of Easter. The gospel stories of this season describe various events that manifest the divinity of Jesus. The coming of the Magi is celebrated on the Epiphany. The Baptism of our Lord is observed on the Sunday after Epiphany. The gospels for the other Sundays of the Epiphany season describe the wedding at Cana, the calling of the disciples, and various miracles and teachings of Jesus. The Last Sunday after the Epiphany is always devoted to the Transfiguration. Jesus' identity as the Son of God is dramatically revealed in the Transfiguration gospel, as well as the gospel of the baptism of Christ. We are called to respond to Christ in faith through the showings of his divinity recorded in the gospels of the Epiphany season.

I highly recommend clicking through the dictionary, or use the search feature on the Episcopal Church website to search the dictionary.

You can learn little facts about cool saints, like Macrina the Younger (c. 327 – c. 379), or find out what we think is happening during the Eucharist—and everything in between.