Journals

Spirituality is seen as a convenient category into fit diverse phenomena. Aidan Kavanagh: liturgy is not prayer, it is rite which embraces much more than prayer – credal assertions, proclamations, acclamations, gestures, sights, non-verbal sounds, smells. There is much in liturgy that is subliminal, which makes revision difficult and dangerous. Schemann would prefer 'the Christian life' for spirituality. Spirituality is what makes us tick. Much also is subliminal: my practice may be Catholic, or my creed liberal, but I may be controlled by a submerged evangelical, books etc or what mother taught me long ago.

Liturgy helps shape spirituality; no such thing as prayer outside the church. Our private devotion should be related to weekly worship. The daily office is one way, valuable when no words come to our lips and the surface of our hearts numb (Micklem). Kavanagh says liturgy takes precedence: private prayer may sometimes do more harm than good whereas in liturgy  all laid before Cross; liturgy restrains spirituality which can become self-indulgent. Yet people not finding in liturgy proper expression of their spirituality, therefore spontaneity, dance.

What is proper place of penitence in liturgy; should it be extraliturgical as in Catholic and Orthodox traditions? Something pathological about Cranmer's liturgies? Yet consulting rooms full of the guilty. Guilt not simply pathological. Also penitence not just grubbing about in sin but result of adoration (Gerontius, 'take me away!) Yet after Seraphim Isaiah cries 'Woe is me, I am undone'. So Cranmer. Also, there is 'felix culpa' when sin kindles divine wrath but unveils love in new light. Baptised, we know that salvation not depend on us but on finished work of Christ.

95% of liturgical formation is hidden within the liturgy itself and within life of Christian community. Liturgical formation about getting the liturgy inside people, so that they live and breathe it. For example, liturgy of Holy Week allows us to identify our own story with that Our Lord in his Passion, as also in ordinary time. The importance of the building which can be a denial of what we believe the Church to be. Stancliffe, 'texts take their colour from the way they are done', but what the liturgy is saying is often flatly contradicted by our surroundings. Formative also is the worshipping community. However, current emphasis on this brings attendant dangers and create fresh exaggerations. The exchange of the Peace is discussed in this context. One of the most powerful instruments of liturgical formation is the liturgical book. We should have a book but it should encourage us to be adventurous. Alternative Service Book discussed. Now books don't last more than a generation, a disadvantage in terms of the liturgy 'getting inside you'. Our private devotions can derive from our liturgical books. As well as leaders preparing, the people also need to prepare for worship. The shortness of biblical passages read and sermons preached is discussed. Signs, symbols and ceremonies discussed, and how far they should be explained. The monthly pattern of services is discussed, as is the area of children and their liturgical formation. The place of worship groups, possibly in the context of the church council, and the planning of worship together., although important of avoid a liturgical elite. Greatest obstacle is lack of expertise or confidence among the clergy.

This article responds to one by Professor Reid who is thought to be attacking the practice of standing for the Gospel in the context of Reformed worship. Reid had not only cited Reformed practice but added the findings of modern scholarship. Wright argues that the practice strikes a blow against passivity in worship and that the faith of the church should take priority over biblical criticism.

The editor reflects on the 'catholic tradition' in Church of Scotland worship and argues that the Book of Common Order should be in the hands, not just of all ministers, but all Sunday worshippers.

Paper given at an in-service course on 'New Forms of Worship and Praise' for ministers at Carberry Tower, 3rd May 1989. The image of the 'layers' of Scotch Broth given to suggest the rich variety of Scottish worship over the centuries. Some features are explored. There is the legal (quoting from Cox's Practice and Procedure), the status of the Book of Common Order. Then the different books, when the Westminster Directory and successive Common Orders are compared. Worship has always been 'evangelical' but in the sense of worship reflecting the evangel, making the Word more eloquent. Discussed is the Calendar, daily public worship, the importance of the Word in worship and sacrament and in prayer. Worship has also always been liturgical; Common Order and its status at the Reformation and after. Worship has also been always catholic; the relationship of the Reformed orders with classic liturgy; the real presence; the form of absolution; other examples given.

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