Journals

The place of flowers and foliage is to enhance not obscure; especially at weddings the ecclesiastical and liturgical geography must be discernible. Regarding the lectern, why should the reading of the Word be two or three feet lower than the preaching of it. The prayer desk allows for the minister to be identified spacially for opening prayers; thus Approach, Word and Response each have their focal point). There is much to recommend the placing of the font at the west door, or it may have its own dedicated space. The table is not one where elders sit but should be left as a table (for all to gather round); no longer need for a larger 'presidential chair' (once the place for preaching). The difficulty of showing the relationship of pulpit and table is discussed.

New Art for Church Buildings, Church House Publishing, reviewed by Douglas Galbraith

An Outline of Christian Worship, Gordon Wakefield, T & T Clark 1998, reviewed by Colin G McAlister

Preaching is not the only way in which Scripture is interpreted in the course of worship. Both Cranmer and Knox sought a high place for the Bible but, the former distillation, the latter amplified quotation. The Alternative Service Book has been said to be not so much biblical as Biblicist, too many snippets torn from their contexts. The metaphors of salt and pepper (one dissolved, the other dispersing) are applied to Common Order (1994). Much of the peppering of Scripture does not make sense used out of context, other uses are pertinent. The author gives a detailed critical assessment of the first morning service and the first order for Holy Communion, the latter noting the absence of any 'fencing' component, the use of the warrant, and the merits or demerits of the three eucharistic prayers offered. The paper ends with the question as to what kind of 'rule' the Word of God is intended to be.

To Glorify God: Essays on Modern Reformed Liturgy, ed Bryan D Spinks and Iain R Torrance, reviewed by Douglas M Murray

The Christian Year: Calendar, Lectionary and Collects, Church House Publishing, 1997

It is frequently argued that television has reduced congregations' capacity to listen; this can be too simplistic but it is true that our audio-visual ly saturated environment cultivates particular habits of listening. That is, it has not undermined but changed how people listen. It has influenced expectations about length, expects a more colloquial and spontaneous style, and has transformed the style in which we expect to be addressed (the rhetoric not of battle but reconciliation). People do not come with their minds a clean slate but have a whole range of images already engaging their attention. Also, the preacher is not the only educated voice in town. The paper argues that this changed context offers new opportunities for preachers. It first develops the analogy of the multi-camera approach, then explores that idea that the sermon is a conversation between congregation and biblical text (from the more conversational style of discourse of the media). Then is discussed the response to an image-saturated culture (paraphrase of Barth – need Bible in one hand, newspaper in the other, and the television on in the background)  when the preacher needs to try to experience imaginatively the world of the biblical text. This may lead to more pictorial and multi-sensorial language.

This is a description of the (Greek Orthodox) Procession of the Holy Epitaph with some historical facts and commentary.

The proposal of a ‘choral square’ was not found convincing (Zwingli!). The focus in the C of S was not the Table; many are bi-cameral rather than uni-cameral. Why did Prof Reymond not consider Barth’s idea of a single focal point?