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Doctrine,
Prayer and Worship
The purpose of the
Doctrine, Prayer and Worship Committee is:
•
to lead the Church in its continual study of theology, enabling it to
reflect upon and express the doctrines of the United Reformed Church;
•
to participate in and respond to ecumenical and inter-faith discussions on
the doctrinal matters;
•
to advise the Assembly, its officers and committees on questions of
doctrine;
•
to listen to the concerns of local churches, district councils and
provincial synods about public worship and personal devotion;
•
to develop programmes and material which will encourage the growth in
faith and spiritual experience of those involved in the life of the
Church;
•
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;
•
to respond to requests for national materials and consultations;
•
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;
•
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;
•
to oversee the network for Silence and Retreats.
Committee Members
Convener: Revd Dr Colin Thompson Secretary: Revd Terry Hinks Staff Secretary: Revd John Waller
Mr David Bowen, Revd Thelma Cole, Mr Colin Ferguson, Revd Hugh
Graham,
1
Introduction
1.1 The Committee held two
residential meetings in the year: one in July at Westminster College,
Cambridge and one in January at Heronbrook House, Solihull. Small
sub-groups have also met to carry forward specific pieces of work between
the main meetings.
2
Theological discussions
2.1 Baptism and Communion. The Committee responded to correspondence concerning the relationship between baptism and communion and in particular the question of un-baptised children receiving communion. The Committee produced a short paper outlining the variety of practice within the United Reformed Church and the theological challenges.
2.2 Eldership. The
Committee continues to gather resources concerning the theological basis
of the eldership and the practice of ordination of elders. A member of the
committee is preparing a paper which aims to provide a brief and clear
statement of the importance of the eldership within our tradition and its
doctrinal basis.
2.3 Diaconate. The
Committee is contributing to an inter-committee working group to look
further at the diaconate and local leadership.
2.4 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 continues to work on a paper
exploring
3 Prayer
Handbook
3.1 The Handbook for 1999-2000 Justice, Joy and Jubilee was prepared by a group of young writers and artists and used the Revised Common Lectionary (Year B) as the basis of its reflections. The Handbook for 2000-2001 has been prepared by three people involved in Church and Industry. After wide consultation, the Committee appointed Norman Hart as editor of the handbook for 2001 to 2004.
3.2 The Committee wishes to
commend the handbook to the churches both for use in personal devotions
and in corporate worship.
4 Links
with other committees
4.1 There are many areas of
church life where national committees share concerns and so cross
representation between the committees remains important. The Committee
welcomed David Bowen as the new representative of the Inter-Faith
Committee, following on from Bill Mahood. The Committee also has
representatives from the Youth and Children’s Work Committee, the
Ecumenical Committee and the Silence and Retreats Group as well as having
links with many other groups. Hugh Graham now represents the Committee on
the Ecumenical Committee.
5
Ecumenical Issues
5.1 Advisory Group on
Faith and Order. The Advisory Group on Faith and Order, which advises
the Ecumenical Committee but also has strong links with the Committee has
met this year. It has been able to consider the Roman Catholic document One
Bread, One Body and the WCC document The Nature and Purpose of the
Church and prepare responses to these documents.
5.2 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.
The consultation in June 2000 at Dunblane has as its theme ‘Approaches
to community, nation and world’.
5.3 Ecumenical
Conversations.The Committee continues to be represented at discussions
nationally and internationally. Nadim Nassar is now its representative on
discussions arising from the Leunberg Fellowship of Churches, following on
from the work of Donald Norwood. Revd Fleur Houston has been its
representative on conversations between the British and Irish Anglican and
French Lutheran and Reformed Churches and reported that the implications
of these conversations for Anglican-Reformed relations in this country
should be explored.
5.4 The Committee receives
reports of a number of national discussions, in particular ‘Commitment
to Mission and Unity’ and the Scottish Initiative for Union. It is
represented on the Theology and Unity Group by Thelma Cole and on the
Joint Liturgical group by Hugh Graham. Two representatives from the
Committee also attended a second ecumenical consultation at St George’s
House, Windsor on the theme of episcopacy and have reported the
conclusions of the two consultations to Mission Council.
6
Spirituality
6.1 Silence and Retreats
Group. The Silence and Retreats Group continues to be represented on
the Committee by Michael Playdon. The Committee has reaffirmed its support
for the work of this Group and continues to provide a financial
contribution towards its activities. 6.2 Churches Together in
England Spirituality Co-ordinating Group. Kirsty Thorpe is the
Committee’s representative on the Group following Fiona Gow’s work on
our behalf.
7
Membership of the Committee
7.1 This year Terry Hinks
completes his term as the Committee’s Secretary. We record our warm
thanks to Terry for his considerable
contribution to the work of our Committee.
Resolution 22 New
Service Book
General Assembly notes that
the Doctrine, Prayer and Worship Committee has begun work on producing a
new Service Book. It encourages use of and comment on the draft services
provided for Baptism and Holy Communion (in the period July 2000 to
February 2001), in order to assist with the process of drafting.
1.1 The Committee has
considered carefully the purpose and form of the new service book and has
concluded that the book should contain the core services of the church,
rather than be a resource book. It plans to produce new or revised orders
of the services contained in the existing book and add a small number of
additional orders of service and materials.
1.2 There are also plans
for an electronic form of the contents of the book and possible
opportunities for additional resources being made available from time to
time through this means.
1.3 The Committee is making
available draft orders of the two central services for experimental use in
a sample number of churches, as well as putting the drafts on the website.
Any responses are required by the end of February 2001.
1.4
Two sub groups have been formed to carry forward the work, recognising the
aim to produce a book by 2002. One group will focus on matters of
publication and production, the other on matters of drafting and
redrafting. Contributions from a
wide range of sources are being sought.
Resolution
23 Addition to Schedule A
General
Assembly accepts the addition to Schedule A of the Basis of Union outlined
in Version III, as follows:
(c) Addition
to Schedule A: Version III
(At
Baptism at an age of responsibility or at profession of faith for those
baptised as infants)
Q: Do you
believe and trust in one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, maker of heaven
and earth, giver of life, redeemer of the world?
A: I do.
Q: Do you
repent of your sins, turn away from evil, and turn to Christ? A: By
God’s grace, I do.
Q: Do you
confess Jesus Christ as your Saviour and Lord?
A: I do.
(At reception into the
full privileges and responsibilities of membership)
Q: From the beginning,
believers have continued in the worship and fellowship of the church: N,
do you commit yourself to this life?
A: I do, with God’s
help.
Q: Do you accept the gift
and the cost of following Christ in your daily life and work?
A: I do, with God’s
help.
Q: With the whole Church,
will you proclaim by word and action the good news of God in Christ?
A: I will, with God’s
help.
Resolution 24 Change
in Schedule A
General Assembly agrees to
delete from Schedule A of the Basis of Union
“Or: (c) in the forms
customarily used in the uniting churches before unification.”
and to add
“Or: (d) in a form which
includes the following elements:
- a Trinitarian confession
of faith
- repentance of sin
- a confession of faith in
Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord
- a promise to share in the
worship, fellowship and mission of the Church.”
1.1 In preparing the draft
service for Baptism the committee has come to the view that the questions
posed at the service of adult baptism should also be posed to those
baptised as infants on their profession of faith and reception into church
membership. It also believes that the questions in the new service book
should be included in Schedule A to the Basis of Union. Resolution 23
begins the constitutional process to make this possible. At the same time
the committee brings Resolution 24. It seems unhelpful to continue to
refer to forms customarily used before unification, which for some people
took place nearly thirty years ago. In place of that reference in the
Schedule, the committee proposes the basic elements which should be part
of any locally-devised profession of the Christian faith.
Resolution 25
Celebrating Church Membership
General Assembly receives
the discussion paper Celebrating Church Membership and encourages
local churches to discuss and respond to it.
United Reformed Church
‘Celebrating Church Membership’
A discussion paper for local churches
QUESTIONS
1.1 How would your
congregation respond to the following situations? • Louise has been part of
the Church fellowship for many years, attending worship regularly and
belonging to a number of church groups. Approached about church
membership, she says that she couldn’t give that kind of commitment.
• Gemma is nine. She
tells the minister that she likes being a friend of Jesus and asks if she
can be baptised and ‘join’ the church.
• Mark is in the church
youth group and takes part in drama at worship. He wants to make a
commitment to Jesus, but says he is put off by the institutional church.
• Geoff has been
attending the church for some years. He was confirmed as an Anglican.
Asked about ‘becoming a church member’ he says that he assumed that he
was a member of Christ’s Church.
• Teresa brings her child
to church for baptism. She hasn’t been baptised herself and wishes to be
baptised at the same time, but is unsure about church membership.
1.2 What relationship does
the Church membership roll of your congregation have to its actual life?
1.3 How is your church
encouraging people to profess their faith?
1.4 What nurture does your
church provide for all ages (e.g. Alpha, Emmaus, Developing Discipleship,
Bible study, local programmes)?
1.5 What importance is
placed on baptism as the sacrament of entry into the church?
1.6 What do you see as the
relationship between baptism, confirmation/reception into membership and
admission to communion?
1.7 Is membership of a
denomination seen as important?
1.8 What is your
understanding of church membership?
BACKGROUND
TO DISCUSSION
2.1 In 1997 the Doctrine,
Prayer and Worship Committee began a reflection on our church’s
understanding of church membership today. It followed concerns being
raised that some young people were actually being discouraged from
becoming church members on grounds of finance and that local
understandings of church membership varied greatly. Discussion of the
issues surrounding church membership continued in the committee for the
next two years, with papers being contributed by five members of the
committee. It was recognised that considerable work had already been done
on the subject within the denomination and ecumenically. It was decided in
1999 that the discussion should be taken back to the Church, nationally
and locally, for its reflection.
CHALLENGES
3.1 Changes both within the
Church and in society and culture challenge many of our past assumptions
about church membership:
• Ecumenism has enlarged
our vision of the church. Every local congregation, whether a LEP or not,
has people from a variety of Christian backgrounds.
• Decline in church
membership in the Twentieth Century has burdened questions of membership
with an obsession with numbers. • Rediscovery of the
church’s task of mission and nurture (through the Decade of Evangelism,
Alpha Courses etc.) has brought a new focus on the pattern of faith
development and an emphasis on ‘belonging comes before believing’.
• Rediscovery of the
importance of all ages within the life of the church has changed our
picture of church and patterns of nurture.
• Today’s individualism
has brought about a widespread rejection of institutions and authority.
• Consumerism has made
people wary of long term commitment and increased their perception of
choice.
• Multi-cultural and
multi-faith dimensions of our society have raised many alternative
perceptions of reality.
• Our society has become
much more mobile and shifting.
REFLECTION
4.1 The principle
underlying Church Membership is the conviction that the Church is the body
of Christ, one body with many members or organs held together by Christ.
It is this organic and mystical picture given by Paul that needs to inform
our discussions on membership rather than the more general use of the
word. Ideas linked with the membership of clubs, parties and organisations
often colour our thinking. Membership has often become linked with voting
rights, financial payment, statistics and a very narrow understanding of
privileges and responsibilities.
4.2 The Church is a broken body, fallible and imperfect, fragmented and divided, despite the faithful presence of the one Lord in its midst and ahead of it on the journey. The body of Christ is ‘now’ and ‘not yet’ and the Church is constantly being called by Christ to become more fully the reality that in one sense it already is. As a result of this we have to treat ideas of Church Membership with considerable care, recognising the element of process or pilgrimage involved.
4.3 According to the Basis of Union (para. 14) people are received into the fellowship of the universal Church by baptism, whether this is administered at infancy or ‘at an age of responsibility’. ‘Membership’ is thus implied in the act of baptism, but a personal profession of faith in Christ as their Saviour and Lord is required before people can ‘enter upon the full privileges and responsibilities of membership’, exercised within a local congregation.
4.4 The agreement of the
Church Meeting is required before a person’s name can be added to the
membership roll of the local church. The local church may also suspend or
remove names from the membership roll. Many churches also keep a
supplementary roll of those who have been members of that congregation but
whose membership is no longer being exercised in that place. It should be
noted that suspension or removal from the church membership roll is not a
denial of the person’s baptism or profession of faith.
4.5 The Church Meeting (advised by the Elders’ Meeting) has the responsibility of ‘maintaining standards of membership’ (Structure para 2 (1) (ix)). Behind this phrase is the belief that we are accountable to each other within the body of Christ. The Methodist report Called to Love and Praise speaks of membership as ‘responsible and witnessed commitment’. Membership is not an individual right we can take for granted, but a mutual belonging together.
CONVICTIONS
5.1 The discussion within
the Doctrine, Prayer and Worship Committee underlined that:
• There should not be an
over-simplistic reliance on church membership figures for financial
assessments and scoping policy.
• There is a general lack
of understanding and valuing of baptism as a sacrament of entry to the
church that needs to be addressed within our congregations.
• Church membership is to
be celebrated in global and local terms; above all it begins with the
gracious call of God in Christ. We need to recover a proper emphasis on
the biblical picture of membership.
• Our understanding of
membership today must take into account our mobile society and the
rejection by many of institutions and commitment. We must allow Christ to
lead us into new patterns of belonging to him and serving one another and
the world. What might these patterns look like?
RESPONDING
6.1 Local churches are
invited to discuss the document and to send their comments and reflections
to the Deputy General Secretary:
Revd John Waller, United Reformed Church,
86 Tavistock Place,
London WC1H 9RT
Please include a
description of your church (e.g. its size, any ecumenical links) and of
the group that is giving your church’s response (e.g. Church Meeting,
Elders Meeting, study group). Responses should be sent before 28
February 2001.
Resolution 26 The United Reformed Church
Recognising that “the
United Reformed Church accepts with thanksgiving the witness borne to the
catholic faith by the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds” (paragraph 4 of
Schedule D of the Basis of Union), the General Assembly commends the paper
Do we believe in Creeds? to local churches for discussion.
Do We believe in creeds?
A discussion paper for local churches
INTRODUCTION
1.1 During 1997 and 1998 the Doctrine, Prayer and Worship 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 following discussion paper was written to assist reflection of the place of the Creeds within the life and worship of our Church.
1.2 Do we trust creeds to
say what we in the United Reformed Church believe? In this discussion
paper, the Doctrine, Prayer and Worship Committee rehearses some of our
traditional reservations about them, then affirms their value in the light
of our Reformed experience and ecumenical involvement.
PRESENT
PRACTICE
2.1 At the inauguration of
the United Reformed Church in 1972 we accepted ‘with thanksgiving the
witness borne to the Catholic faith by the Apostles’ and Nicene
Creeds’ and recognized as ‘our own particular heritage the
formulations and declarations of faith which have been valued by
Congregationalists and Presbyterians’. Later we added a reference to our
new partners from the Churches of Christ. These formulations, we said,
‘stated the gospel’ and sought to ‘make its implications clear’. The
Westminster Confession (1646), The Savoy Declaration (1658).
Thomas Campbell’s Declaration and Address (1809), A Statement
of Faith of the Presbyterian Church of England (1956) and A
Declaration of Faith of the Congregational Church in England and Wales
(1967) were brought together by Dr David Thompson in Stating the Faith (Edinburgh:
T & T Clarke, 1990), together with the revised Basis of Union (1981).
2.2 Rejoice and Sing
(1991) included the Apostles’ Creed, Nicene Creed, and Statement of the
Nature, Faith and Order of the United Reformed Church. The outline Order
of Service suggests that after the sermon there be a ‘Confession of
Faith’. Church Hymnary: Third Edition (1973), authorized by the
Church of Scotland and by Presbyterian Churches in England, Ireland and
Wales, gave the ancient creeds their traditional place. The Apostles’
Creed was included in the section of baptismal hymns, and the Nicene Creed
introduces the selection of responses and hymns for Holy Communion. The
United Reformed Church Service Book (1989) suggests a creed or
confession of faith be said after the sermon.
2.3 The Statement of the
Nature, Faith and Order of the United Reformed Church is required to be
read at ordinations and inductions of ministers and elders. But how many
of our churches stand and confess their faith in the language of the
traditional creeds or by using other credal material?
HISTORICAL
RESERVATIONS
3.1 The Reformers did not
reject any article of faith in the historic creeds. On the contrary, they
affirmed, as we do, the Catholic faith. But for various reasons they and
their successors had reservations about their use. These may be summarized
as follows:
i) the use of creeds to
compel belief. The Savoy Declaration spoke of ‘whipping men into
belief’; in the seventeenth century this was no mere figure of speech.
Churches of Christ reacted against the use of creeds as tests of
fellowship, and came to abandon them altogether; ii) a feeling that creeds
were manmade, in contrast to Scripture as ‘the word of God’;
iii) a suspicion of
anything that smacked of ‘vain repetition’, in contrast to the
immediate response to the prompting of the Holy Spirit;
iv) a sense that creeds
gave the intellectual aspects of the faith undue importance, compared with
the need for practical holiness. The dissenting brethren at the
Westminster Assembly said: ‘We took measure of no man’s holiness by
his opinion’;
v) a growing awareness that
all creeds are historically and culturally conditioned. The point is most
obvious in the case of the Nicene Creed, the language of which betrays
fourth-century controversies with those who were judged to have distorted
the faith.
Most of these are negative points. The positive response to the need to proclaim the faith was found in the preaching of the Gospel and in singing, hence the importance in our tradition of good preaching and good hymns. It was also seen as our common calling to live the faith.
REFORMED
AND ECUMENICAL AFFIRMATION OF CREEDS
4.1 The Orthodox theologian
John Zizioulas told the Faith and Order Conference of the World Council of
Churches in Santiago (1993) that creeds were something to sing about. We
have always believed this, and have recognised it in our tradition, from
metrical psalms and Isaac Watts to modern examples of hymns of faith.
Great hymns help us celebrate that faith; but we also need to know what it
is that we are celebrating.
4.2 Creeds can serve as
helpful summaries of what we believe. We now accept that the Apostles’
Creed was not written by the Apostles, but we may agree that it contains
the main points of the apostolic preaching. Hence its continued use in the
initiation of those to be baptised, and in the nurturing of all Christians
through exposition of its clauses. The Creed of 381 (commonly called the
Nicene) still has the greatest claim to be ecumenical, since in its
original form it pre-dates the major divisions in the Church.
4.3 Agreement in faith
should be welcomed as a gift from God. John Owen wrote in the Preface to
the Savoy Declaration that unanimous agreement even in some few
points of religions was a matter for rejoicing. The modern ecumenical
movement sees unity in faith as both gift and calling. We need both to
reassure and encourage one another that we share ‘the faith once
delivered to the saints’, and to give thanks to God for all we believe
together.
4.4 Creeds are not, of
course, the only ways of expressing faith. How we live shows what we
wholeheartedly believe. But when we are asked to ‘give account of the
hope that is in us’ some confession of faith is called for. Creeds and
confessions have a missionary purpose. They are public declarations of
faith: this is what we, as the Church, believe; here we stand.
4.5 At the same time, we
can affirm that no single formulation can do full justice to the height
and length and breadth and depth of God’s wisdom and love. Maybe that
love itself was the expression of faith missing from some ancient creeds
and the use made of them. We constantly have to find new ways of
‘stating the Gospel and making its implications clear’ for our daily
life. But because we believe in the apostolic succession of faithful
Christians, we are bound to try to understand and join with all who in the
past two millennia have told us the great things God has done. Could the
Apostles say ‘Amen’ to the faith we profess?
AREAS FOR
FURTHER STUDY AND ACTION
5.1 Use the Apostles’ or
Nicene Creed as the basis of a series of discussion meetings of the
essentials of the Christian Faith. There are many books and commentaries
available on the Creeds, including the WCC report Confessing the One
Faith.
5.2 As a local church
prepare your own statement of faith and reflect on its differences and
similarities to the major creeds.
5.3 Use the structure of
the Creeds as the basis of a sermon series.
5.4 Arrange an ecumenical
discussion with members of other churches and Christian groups on the
value (and limitations) of creeds.
5.5 Consider occasions when a creed or other statement of faith could be used in worship.
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