Hillside Parishes Magazine

Images, and Virtual Reality !

I was given a demonstration of a new computer. Not my favourite toy as I have no wish to be screen-bound. We used to understand and accept that the camera never lied. ‘Tis the case no more. Images ain’t what they seem. The picture you see has been tweaked. Yes, artists have often exercised licence, moving a tree over so that you get a full view of a house or landscape. But now the images may not be real at all. They’re out to create a mood or a statement. Most of it is to make advertising more convincing.

So the glass of beer you see advertised might be colour-enhanced and subtly shadowed, and its head stolen from Guinness. Tom Hanks in Forest Gump could hobnob with Nixon through computer enhancement of old film footage, contemporary to the occasion in the story. Young Button practises his race circuits and learns the course on a play station.

This is not a new trick. Many Bible stories do not get proven by archaeology, but through literary tradition are more about a truth than a reality. In fact story telling, from which tradition scripture is drawn, is about painting a picture in the mind’s eye to convey its point. History is doctored to teach a lesson and to be read from a certain perspective. The reverse side is an economy with the truth when it is not favourable. The French make little mention of Waterloo. Your film processor may doctor your images to enhance them, or to produce a more flattering passport photo. So compare Kings with Chronicles, in the Old Testament, where the latter sets out a particular perspective. The author concentrates on history and may have also had a hand in Deuteronomy where the code sets out what Israel is about.

We are faced with the Kingdom about which Jesus preached. It is futuristic. We need to have that image before and struggle to attain it, the basis of some of our hope, but we are faced with and live in a more awful reality. Because reality falls short always and often of the future (as it did indeed in the O.T., but God did not give up on us) many become disillusioned with the Church. Yet any parish always reaches a point beyond which it does not go in trying to achieve the ideal. It will never get there. When A masters some spiritual truth and moves on, B does not take up from where A reached but has to climb the same ladder. We’re not static because all our steps and understanding are different, being individuals.

In the Resurrection we have the ultimate image of our faith. It is beyond us. In fact, the image does not exist because Jesus has passed beyond and out of the reaches of this mortal and physical world. This is not a computer fudge. It is not a conjuring trick with bones (to echo David Jenkins). Rather it is God’s work in the emptiness of our hearts that he may speak to us, like the still small voice to Elijah. God fills us differently, but each and every one of those seemingly false starts in the life of the church, and of the parish, and of the individual, can be a passing experience of resurrection in our own lives.

Perhaps if we recognise some of the things we have resurrected in life, rather than doctored or painted over, we can better understand Jesus’ resurrection in our lives. We also need to think of spiritual truth as reality, not virtual reality, even though the Kingdom may seem miles away. May your faith take you beyond Easter.

Best Wishes

I have put together a revised service of H.C. to replace SII at Cowesby, SIII at Kirby Knowle and Felixkirk, and Rite B at Boltby and Leake. It has been tried out during Lent, and a joint P.C.C. meeting will have an opportunity to taste it and comment. Hopefully we can print a final version of our own choice along with Baptism and Confirmation. Baptism may contain a paragraph for unconfirmed supporters of an infant on whose behalf they might like to commit themselves to developing cultural and social skills, leaving Godparents to do the spiritual. T.H.

Services and Prayers for the Church of England - Common Worship

New Liturgy for the Church of England is coming soon.

1. Common Worship is a series of new services for the Church of England, replacing those in The Alternative Service Book 1980 (ASB) from 1 Jan.2001.

2. Why do we need new services?

Our world is constantly changing and our understanding of God is always developing. Our worship needs to reflect this. After 20 years of use, the weaknesses as well as the strengths of the ASB have become apparent. The Church therefore began to revise the ASB, so as to continue to draw on both modern and traditional services. The result is Common Worship - services which bring together the best of both ancient and modern, classic and contemporary.

3. What is in Common Worship?

It consists of a main service book containing the most frequently used services, supported by other books containing material for particular needs (e.g. funerals and marriages). The new services will also be published in booklets and service cards, on computer disk and, free, on the Internet. The main Common Worship service book will include Prayer Book services of Holy Communion and Morning and Evening Prayer as well as modern language services.

4. What are the new services like?

Some of the new services (Baptism, for instance) contain new material based on fresh thinking. Others (such as the H.C.) are gentle revisions of the ASB. They all provide strong and recognisable structures, whilst allowing for flexibility in local use. Much of the new material will feel familiar because it draws on words from the ASB and The Book of Common Prayer.

5. What happens to The Book of Common Prayer?

The BCP (sometimes known as "1662") is authorised permanently and is completely untouched by this revision process.

6. How will Common Worship affect us?

That depends on what sort of services you now have in your church. You may have noticed some changes already, e.g. the new Common Worship lectionary may be the basis for Bible readings. The new Baptism service is also in widespread use. Most of the remaining services will be published in Autumn 2000.

7. Can we continue using our existing services?

You can carry on using any services from The Book of Common Prayer. Services from the ASB will no longer be authorised, since they are superseded by the Common Worship services. If it proves impossible to complete the changeover in time, special permission may be sought from the bishop to continue with ASB services for a limited time.

8. Who will make the decisions about our services?

Decisions on which forms of service to use (other than for baptisms, marriages etc.) are taken by the incumbent and P.C.C. (or equivalent) together.

9. How much will it all cost?

That depends on the formats in which you choose to use the new services - books, booklets, service cards or locally-produced orders of service. We want to make sure that Common Worship in all its forms is both durable and of high quality, but the prices are being kept as low as possible to make sure the material is available to all churches.

In Hillside, £15 per copy. Bulk orders (in lots of 20 copies), £10. Our own edited copies may be approx. £1 each.

10. What happens next?

What matters most is the next step: churches using Common Worship in ways that fit the local situation, turning words into living worship. There will be decisions to be taken: clergy have been sent more information about the new services. Maybe some fresh ideas about worship in your church will result. The aim of it all is to glorify God and to connect our worship with the worship of every time and every place - and with the never-ending worship in Heaven.

From a leaflet produced by the Education and Communication Sub Group of the Liturgical Publishing Group, Church House, Great Smith Street, London (020 7898 1451).