This Sunday, the Feast of Michaelmas, we will begin a few changes in our Sunday liturgy. And, additionally, we will have a few more musical changes in the months ahead. In what follows I want to give a brief forecast of those changes (with dates) as well as offer some explanation behind them —some answer to “why are we doing this?” As always what is posted here is in no way offered instead of conversation, but rather as a starting point for further questions and conversations. Please feel free to come to any of us on the lead team or pastoral team as questions arise.
Change 1 [starting 9/29] - Placement of Confession & Absolution
At All Saints we have been observing a form of service called “Penitential Rite” which means we do confession and absolution right at the beginning of the service. This has been incredibly fruitful and life-giving season for us. Now, however, for the sake of greater unity and commonality with Anglicans across the islands and our global communion we will be moving that to its “standard” position after the Prayers of the People. Among the several reasons for this is not only a desire for unity with our network churches but also a desire to allow for confession to be a part of our response to the sermon. It allows us to confess our sins after hearing the Word proclaimed and preached.
Change 2 [starting 9/29] - Deacon Role at Communion
With our expanded clergy team we’re going to recover a more formal role for the deacons during Holy Communion, chiefly you’ll notice their proximity to the celebrant and their assistance at the Table will increase. Most visible will be the deacon’s role during the invitation to the Table, when the Priest says “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb” the deacon will be the one lifting-up the chalice while the priest raises the plate. Just as they serve the chalice to the communicant during distribution so also they play a role in presenting the gifts of God to the people.
The double service embodies, “liturgizes”, what St. Paul means when he says “For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake” (2 Cor. 4:5).
Change 3 [starting 9/29] - Prayers of the People
During the Prayers of the People we’ve enjoyed chanting “Lord in your mercy / Hear our prayer.” It serves as a way of collecting, unifying, and gathering-up all the individual and discrete prayers whispered or prayed aloud into a unified voice of the people. God speaks with the voice of many waters, and so do we. Whereas we’ve done this chanted responsive various ways over the years, we will be moving to have that led by the deacons. The deacons will be serving us in that gathering-up work —in some sense that is what deacons do in the most basic sense.
Additionally, there’s a part of the Prayers of the People that we inherited when we planted out of CtF which also has served us well: the concluding section of prayers of thanksgiving and praise. But that’s actually not in the Book of Common Prayer. According to the Book of Common Prayer, the prayers conclude with thanksgivings for all those who have departed life in the hope of the resurrection. After those there is room for the prayer leader to invite other petitions and thanksgivings. This is what we will be doing too. We are a people of the Resurrection and in a world that wastes itself trying to cling-onto life and deny death and which falls into despair when faced with illness or old age we are going to return to the tradition of naming the glorious departed and giving thanks for them.
Change 4 [starting 12/1] - Musical settings for Trisagion & Sanctus
Lastly, we will be changing-up two of our musical settings, those for the Trisagion and the Sanctus.
Starting in Advent we will stop singing the Merbecke setting for the Kyrie (“Lord have mercy upon us”) after the Summary of the Law and instead will be singing the Trisagion (“Holy God, Holy and Mighty… &c”) using this delightful Appalachian take on an Orthodox melody by Stavros First. Listen to it here and begin practicing it for Advent!
Also starting in Advent we will be returning to a musical setting for the Sanctus (“Holy, Holy, Holy… &c”) we used when we first planted, one composed by Gregory Wilbur, lovingly dubbed the “Franklin Sanctus.” Listen to it here and begin practicing it too!
All of this is a part of a theme for the Fall at All Saints Honolulu: worship. In this new season we want to get the first thing in first place. We’re talking about it in Sunday School, we’re teaching on it at priories, we’re discipling towards it in our one-on-one meetings. It’s what we were made for. Mission exists where worship doesn’t but the goal remains the same: to love God and enjoy Him forever. And we want to make sure that as we grow and our capacities for ministry expand, that we do not lose the heart of worship which is the core of the Christian life: “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple” (Ps. 27:4).