Musical Disconnect

Well, the chanting of the introit went well, and the solemn high mass according to the American Missal went well (for Christmas Eve). Other parts are chanted in Gregorian Chant as well, such as the collects, sursum corda, Lord's Prayer, etc. And in addition to chanting those parts - some of which were chanted to an organ accompaniment - we sang your standard Christmas hymns. Personally, though, I do not like the way Gregorian Chant sounds next to 18th century Anglican hymnody. They are both very beautiful in and of themselves, but together they do not quite mesh so well. If we sing the gorgeous hymns, then the rest of the liturgy should be spoken in my opinion. If we do not sing the hymns, and there are enough people, then the liturgy may as well be chanted. It is not a a question of tradition, or theology, though that does play a role in this, but more a question of taste and asthetics.

Chanting the Introit

Tonight at midnight solemn high mass I get to chant the introit from the American Missal, which is what we use for our liturgy. We do not have a choir, and the priest cannot chant so well, or at least is preoccupied, and asked me if I wanted to give it a try. The missal basically adds an extra "slice" on top of the liturgy. It includes the introit, gradual, offeratory, secret, and post-communion prayers. All of those can be chanted in Gregorian chant. The book that has the settings is called the "English Gradual" which may be found online or in used bookstores. Besides chanting the introit, I get to serve as subdeacon, which is always an honor. Traditionally, the subdeacon holds the priest's cope during the first censing of the altar, which is done at the introit - the choir tradiationally chants the introit during a solemn high mass. Because I am chanting the introit, we have to separate the two, which is no big deal, but not "correct", strictly speaking. One often has to make little changes like that, though, to get things done in a small Anglican parish. If changes like that must be made for a good reason, it is best to make them look completely dignified and "planned" so that the liturgy goes smoothly and reverently, which is fitting for the worship of Our Lord.

Seminary

I am often asked if my continuing church has a seminary, and the answer is no, even though we are one of the biggest ones out there. This is a problem in the small Anglican denominations known as the "continuum". The REC has three seminaries, but I do not know much about them. And strictly speaking, they predate the continuum. APCK has one, but I don't know if it is just a seminary on paper with a nice building out in Berkeley. There is not much information about it on the web. So yes, it is problem. How is one supposed to learn what he needs to learn to become a priest? I will explore this later on.

But suffice it to say that many churches do not have seminaries, such as those big black "denominations". They send their pastors wherever it is convenient for them to go. The large non-denominational megachurches do not have seminaries. The Episcopal Church has only two seminaries from a conservative perspective. The PCA/OPC have more seminaries than you can shake a stick at, but they are never good enough. Even Greg Bahsen suggested that a person study under a pastor like they did in the olden days instead of going through a formal seminary education. So you see that the whole question of seminary is very complex. It does not necessarily make a church or denomination, but it is still a problem not to have one.

Again, there will be more on this later.

Studying for Holy Orders

A friend was considering applying to the priesthood for the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, but his rector has dissuaded him, at least for the short term. I think that this is probably a good thing. Personally, I hope that he comes over to a continuing church. He is theologically orthodox and so will not have much of a place in this diocese, which is very liberal. But one of the other reasons why I would hope that he would consider us is that most continuing jurisdictions are very anglo-catholic, which is what he is. Most episcopal parishes here in Maryland are really low, so I don't know how much he would enjoy it if he were stuck at one that was very low and staffed by some metapausal old lady "priest" still harping about the 60's, Martin Luther King, and social justice. The discernment process here in Maryland involves attending a parish other than your own home parish in order to see what other parishes in the diocese are like, so he'd be told to go somewhere other than his parish during the process. The continuing churches offer lots of possibilities for people who want to serve the Lord. It may not always be financially lucrative, but that is not the point of going into fulltime ministry. And there is plenty of new work to be done - missions need to be started, older parishes need to be reinvigorated, and ecumenical work needs to be done. Yes indeed, there is still a lot of work out there for orthdox anglican clerics! Thanks be to God.

1940 Hymnal

At my parish we use the 1940 Hymnal of the Epsicopal Church. It is an absolutely magnificent work, full of beautiful hymns and chants. It has the famous "4th Communion Service", the Willan mass, and gorgeous hymns with obscure words that you have to look up when you go home. It follows the Church year, and then has a supplemental section of general hymns. And it has suggested hymns for all of the services of the year. I love the settings of the music that it has too. It contains the "Rockingham" tune of "When I Survery the Wonderous Cross.", and it still contains the "Amens" at the end of the hymns. For a hymnal to be truly good it has to contain the full message of the Christian faith. It has to have the bright happy stuff as well as the dark dreary stuff. It has to talk about the precious blood, and the history of salvation. This is one of the best hymnals I have ever seen.