I was passed on this video by a friend. It is a really well done lesson on on the ins and outs of Anglican Liturgy. It was made by The Rev. Eric Dudley who is an Anglican Priest in Florida. If you’ve ever had questions about why we wear vestments (robes)? Why we cross ourselves at different times? What do the different colors of the Christian seasons mean? then this video’s for you. It is an hour long, so set aside some time to watch it. I think you’ll find it very helpful.

Let me make one more comment. If you worship at St. George’s, or ever visit, you’ll find that there is a lot that Dudley talks about that we don’t do. Some of this is because we are new and small. Some of it is intentional as well. As he mentions at the end of the video, everything we do in our worship has meaning attached to it.

For example, he does a great job of explaining “the passing of the peace.” I really like what he has to say about it. However, we don’t do this at St. George’s. The reason why is that Anglicans did not reincorporate this practice until the Episcopal Church changed it Prayerbook in 1979.  Our liturgy is from the older and traditional 1662 Book of Common Prayer that does not include this practice.

There are other things such as “reserving the Sacrament” and “lifting the host.” I have really strong convictions about the 39 Articles of Religion and interpret them quite literally. In the 39 Articles it says that the Sacrament is not to be reserved and the host is not to be elevated. So at St. George’s we do neither of these. So why does he do these, you might ask?

The answer is that Anglicanism has a breadth to it that allows a freedom of expression. Almost from its start in the mid 1500’s, there has been 3 expressions of the liturgy. They are called the Low Church, the Broad Church, and the High Church. For the purpose of simplification, I have to generalize. Low Churches usually have less ritual and tend to be more protestant in their theology. High Churches have the most ritual and tend to be more catholic in their theology. Broad Churches historically have been in between, mixing in Low and High Church elements.

St. George’s falls in the Low Church end of the spectrum.  I would say that Dudley’s parish is in the Broad Church category of liturgical expression. Having said that, enjoy the video because there is a lot to learn here. And even if some of this we don’t directly apply, we can appreciate how other Anglican brothers and sisters worship.

Shane+

The Nuts and Bolts of Anglican Liturgy from St. Peter’s Anglican Church on Vimeo.