Dear Friends,

As we were preparing the bulletin for this Sunday, Priscilla and I were discussing the terms we use in the bulletin to describe various participants in worship. I noted that although the Book of Common Prayer uses the term “celebrant” when referring to the actions of the priest, we are now using the term “presider.”  Why the change?  The choice of the word “celebrant” in the 1979 Prayer Book was an attempt to recover an ancient term used in worship, and replaced the words “priest” or “minister” used in the 1928 prayer book. However, in the years since the prayer book’s publication, there has been an increasing awareness of how essential it is to understand that all of us in worship are active participants in the service. Patrick Malloy, a liturgical scholar at General Seminary, puts it well in his book, Celebrating the Eucharist:

“Substituting “presider” for “celebrant” is not a semantic trifle. It bespeaks a mindset that affects how liturgy unfolds and what impact it can have in the life of a community. If the priest is understood to be the celebrant, then others in the assembly may perceive themselves to be observers, or at best, assistants to the one who is ‘up front’.”

In other words we are all celebrants. The full participation of each of us is essential to our worship of God. It is not a matter of some being active and some being passive.You may remember the story I told in a sermon of an out of town couple who were in New York City on an Easter Sunday. They went to Fifth Avenue, hoping to see the Easter parade. What they did not know is that it consists of nothing more than people in their Easter finery walking up and down the avenue.  Seeing no bands or floats, they finally asked a policeman, “Where is the parade?” He smiled looked at them and said simply, “You’re the parade!”  We are the parade. Where are the celebrants in worship? You and I are the celebrants, bringing all that we have and all that are in full adoration of God.

Faithfully,

Tom