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Doctrine, Prayer and Worship
The purpose of the Doctrine, Prayer and Worship Committee is:
a) to lead the Church in its continual study of theology, enabling it to reflect upon and
express the doctrines of the United Reformed Church;
b) to participate in and respond to ecumenical and inter-faith discussions on the doctrinal matters;
c) to advise the Assembly, its officers and committees on questions of doctrine;
d) to listen to the concerns of local churches, district councils and provincial synods about public
worship and personal devotion;
e) to develop programmes and material which will encourage the growth in faith and spiritual experience
of those involved in the life of the Church;
f) to encourage by such means as may be appropriate at national level the greater participation of all ages and both sexes in the worship, prayer and work of the Church as it serves the mission of God;
g) to respond to requests for national materials and consultations;
h) to share ideas for the prayer and worship life of local congregations with and from the national and
world Church and to develop ecumenical collaboration in the area of faith and order, and spirituality;
i) to publish regular and occasional worship materials for the use of the Church, including the Prayer
Handbook, Orders of Service for Public Worship and Hymnody;
j) to oversee the network for Silence and Retreats.
Committee Members
Convener: Revd Dr Colin Thompson Secretary: Revd Terry Hinks Staff Secretary: Revd John Waller, Revd Jean Black, Revd Stephen Brown, Mr Colin Ferguson, Revd John Hall, Revd Fleur Houston, Revd William Mahood, Revd Dr Donald Norwood, Revd Philip Nevard, Revd Michael Playdon, Ms Kirsty Thorpe and Revd Janet Tollington.
1 Introduction
The Committee held two residential meetings in the year: one in July at Damascus House, Mill Hill and one in January at Felden Lodge, Hemel Hempstead. At present much of the Committee’s work is in process, rather than soon to be completed.
2 Developing the way the Committee works
2.1 Group Work. There have been major developments this year in the way the Committee works. Given the variety and quantity of work before the Committee, it was thought useful at the January meeting to separate into two groups. One gave more detailed consideration of liturgical texts and the other discussed Church membership and eldership issues. This pattern is likely to be repeated at future meetings.
2.2 Advisory Group. Another development in the way the Committee will be working in the future is the formation of the Advisory Group on Faith and Order, a proposal agreed at Mission Council, with the full support of our Committee and the Ecumenical Committee. This is an advisory group to the Ecumenical Committee, but is also closely linked with the Doctrine, Prayer and Worship Committee. It will lessen some of the workload of our full Committee and allow a more effective and rapid response to the increasing number of ecumenical and international discussions and reports.
2.3 Representation. For some years the Committee has had a representative from the Methodist Church. We were glad to welcome Dr Peter Doble to our Committee in July 1998 to represent the Methodist Faith and Order Committee. The Committee also felt it important to have Anglican representation and was delighted that the Church of England Faith and Order Advisory Group responded positively to our invitation to send a representative to our meetings. We were pleased to welcome Joy Tetley as the Group’s representative and to receive her input into our discussions and reports of the Group’s work.
3 Theological discussions
3.1 Church Membership. The Committee continues to reflect on the nature of Church Membership, and has discussed a number of papers produced by committee members. Donald Norwood produced a short paper entitled ‘Ten positive Points on Church membership’ and John Hall wrote a paper on ‘Models of Church membership’. The 1998 Methodist discussion paper ‘What should Membership mean?’ offered a more radical approach and was found to be stimulating to our discussion. Underlining our discussion have been the convictions that membership involves baptism, a growing into faith and being part of the faith community. It has also been noted that the conciliar nature of our Church means that a concept of Church Membership is important in our view of the nature of the Church. A further paper is planned to gather together the work done by the committee on this subject.
3.2 Eldership. The Committee continues to explore the nature of the eldership and in particular the theological justification of the ordination of elders. A paper is being prepared drawing together our discussion of the arguments for and against the practice of ordination in relation to elders. The Committee has gathered material from a number of sources and discussed this issue in some detail.
3.3 Diaconate. The Committee has contributed to discussions on the nature of diaconal ministries, in response to correspondence from CCBI on this subject. It will also be contributing to an inter-committee working group to look further at the diaconate and local leadership.
3.4 Accountability of Ministries. Mission Council asked the Committee to explore the accountability and responsibilities of the various ministries of the United Reformed Church, including ordained and non ordained, stipendiary and non stipendiary, elders and lay preachers, forms of diaconal ministry and local leaders. A small working group has been set up to focus on the question of accountability. It has taken as its starting point the conviction that baptism and Christian commitment involves mutual accountability within the body of Christ.
3.5 Creeds in the United Reformed Church. During 1997 and 1998 the Committee considered the World Council of Churches report Confessing the One Faith, which encourages all the churches to explore again the Nicene Creed. As a result the Committee has continued to discuss the place of the Creeds within the life and worship of our Church. A discussion paper on this subject has been written and work continues to be done on this subject.
4 Resources for Worship
4.1 Isaac Watts 250th Anniversary. The Committee was pleased to note that the Anniversary of the death of Isaac Watts was marked in a variety of ways by local churches across the country. The Competition received a sizeable number of entries and we hope stimulated many in their hymn writing.
4.2 Prayer Handbook. The Prayer Handbook remains a valued resource for personal prayer and in corporate worship. As in the previous year, the 1998-99 book Gateways of Grace used the Revised Common Lectionary readings. The Handbook for 1999- 2000 is being prepared by a group of young writers and that for 2000-2001 is to be written by three people involved in Church and industry. The Committee records its thanks to Wendy Baskett who convened the Prayer Handbook Group for a number of years and its good wishes to Nicola Furley-Smith as she takes on this role.
4.3 Rededication Sunday. The 1997 Assembly asked local churches to observe the first Sunday in October (or other convenient date) each year as a rededication Sunday in the United Reformed Church. Following a similar pattern to last year the Committee has been preparing material for use in the churches this autumn. This year the material will relate to ‘Jesus 2000’,which reflects on the life of Jesus and renewing our faith.
5 New Service Book.
5.1 The Committee continues to make preparations for a new service book and has begun to consider drafts of the major services. Work has focussed in particular on the Eucharist or Lord’s Supper and a service of Baptism. There has also been some work done on non-eucharistic forms of worship. The Committee hopes to be able circulate drafts of some of the major services next year.
5.2 As well as the major services, the Committee has also had some discussion of more experimental worship and in particular mid-week or ‘Seeker’ services. It will be considering this element of the Church’s worship further in the coming year.
5.3 The Committee is grateful to all who have corresponded in relation to the new service book, its contents and format. All such correspondence has been collected and is being referred to in the preparation of the book. We continue to welcome such correspondence and input as the service book begins to take shape.
6 Ecumenical Issues
6.1 Theological Consultation with the Church of the Pfalz. The Theological Consultation with the Church of the Pfalz has been an established part of the Church’s life for many years. It now involves the joint support of the Doctrine, Prayer and Worship Committee and the Ecumenical Committee. Last year’s consultation took as its title ‘The Authority of the Bible’ and it is hoped that the consultation in this country in 2000 will develop on that theme.
6.2 Ecumenical Conversations. The Committee continues to be represented at discussions nationally and internationally. Revd Dr Donald Norwood is its representative on discussions arising from the Leunberg Fellowship of Churches. Revd Fleur Houston is its representative on conversations between the British and Irish Anglican and French Lutheran and Reformed Churches. It receives reports of a number of national discussions, in particular ‘Commitment to Mission and Unity’, ‘Towards the making of an ecumenical bishop in Wales’ and the Scottish Initiative for Union. It is represented on the Theology and Unity Group by Revd Dr Donald Norwood and on the Joint Liturgical group by Fleur Houston. Two representatives from the Committee also attended an ecumenical consultation at St George’s House, Windsor on ‘Church Leadership in ecumenical perspective: Episcope and Episcopacy’ which took place September 1998. A further consultation on this subject is planned for September 1999.
7 Spirituality
7.1 Silence and Retreats Group. The Silence and Retreats Group continues to be represented on the Committee by Michael Playdon. It has been good to hear of the continued progress in sustaining and developing the work of this Group.
7.2 Churches Together in England Spirituality Co-ordinating Group. Fiona Gow continues to be the Committee’s representative on the Group and sends regular reports to the Committee of the Group’s work. The Group has recently produced a leaflet entitled ‘Sharing our Spiritual Treasures’ which is a useful resource in discussions among Christians of varying traditions. The Group is also seeking to strengthen links with black Christians and to hear more about spirituality in the black-led churches.
8 Membership of the Committee
8.1 This year the Committee says farewell to Jean Black, Stephen Brown, Fleur Houston and Donald Norwood. The commitment and expertise they have brought has been invaluable. We thank them for their contribution to the work of our Committee and wish them well in their continued service of the Church.
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