Not with a whimper but an AMEN
Martin Davies
| 26 May 2008
Print This
TEXT
Top News...
- Latest
- Most commented
And all the assembly said “Amen,” and praised the Lord. Nehemiah 5:13b
Recent years have seen much greater emphasis on congregational participation in worship. But one small word keeps being withheld from the people: AMEN. It’s meant to be a cry of assent, a shout, an affirmation. Yet too often we experience it as a barely audible whimper.
A small piece of good advice (in earlier days this was known as a ‘rubric’*) on page 549 of A New Zealand Prayer Book He Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa would help congregations to reclaim the AMEN.
Liturgy is always invitation and response – God’s invitation and our response. Good liturgy needs to echo this through the presider’s invitation and the people’s response. A prayer needs to draw a response from the people.
People feel confident and secure that this invitation has been extended if they clearly recognize some words of invitation. A prayer that seems to finish in mid-air, leaving the congregation to guess whether it has ended, does not evoke a confident AMEN.
Neither does it help for the presider to say the word. What follows is a straggle of muttered ‘Amens’, simply confirming the congregation in their passivity.
Barbara Schmich writes:
“Amen”:
We are present. We are open.
We hearken. We understand
Here we are; we listening to your word.
“Amen” makes demands
Like a signature on a dotted line:
Sober bond to all that goes before;
No hesitation, no half-heartedness,
no mental reservation allowed.
“Amen”:
We support. We approve.
We are of one mind. We promise.
May this come to pass. So be it.
Be careful when you say “Amen.”
*A rubric is like a good secretary who knows how things should be done – and even more importantly, how they shouldn’t be done!
Martin Davies is Ministry Educator for Waiapu.
Editors' Picks
'Horrific' violence against women
Violence against women in the Pacific is “horrific” and must be addressed, says an Australian...
Back to the community – every day
What we need is a "Back to the Community" campaign, says the vicar of a quake zone.
Cathedral bells bound for UK
The ChristChurch Cathedral bells will soon be enroute to England for testing and repair.
New guidelines for marriage rites
A “consensus description” of Anglican theology on marriage rites is being finalized by the Int...
A unique and final honour
Sir Paul Reeves is accorded a unique last honour. He is laid to rest on the gentle north-facin...
Decision time on gay ordination
The question of whether openly gay and lesbian people can be ordained should be settled s...
© Anglican Taonga
ANGLICAN TAONGA is the communications arm of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia / Te Haahi Mihanare ki Niu Tireni, ki Nga Moutere o Te Moana Nui a Kiwa. TAONGA magazine is published three times a year and distributed to all Anglican ministry units and agencies. TAONGA also publishes occasional booklets on church, ministry and sacraments. The General Editor of TAONGA is accountable to the Communications Commission of General Synod / te Hinota Whanui, 200 St Johns Road, Meadowbank, Auckland 1742.
Comments on this story
Log in or create a user account to comment.