Grizzle Reports from General Convention

David Grizzle, a deputy to General Convention and a senior executive for Continental Airlines, is posting daily observations about the convention on the Diocese of Texas Web site.  David is an insightful teacher, a gifted preacher, and a quick wit; his dispatches will definitely be worth reading.  Excerpt:

You can tell a lot about a church from just very small indications. For example, if in the opening acclamation, instead of “Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit; And blessed be ‘His’ kingdom, now and forever,” the whole congregation in conspicuous unison says “And blessed be ‘God’s’ kingdom, now and forever,” you can be fairly confident that gender politics is high on that congregation’s list of priorities.  So, I drew certain conclusions this morning about Trinity Episcopal Church in downtown Columbus when I attended their 10:30 service.  ... Culturally, I sensed that it was a different sort of congregation from my home church.  Almost everyone was wearing earrings, including many of the women.  It will be where the principal Integrity eucharist is held next Friday. (I plan to attend.) *  *  *

Much that is spiritual contains components that defy understanding, at least by me.  The eucharist at Trinity provided just such an encounter with my own limitations.  I observed during the offertory an appealing tradition of pouring the offering from the different collection plates into a large wicker basket, about the size of a laundry basket.  That wicker basket was brought to the altar as congregants came forward for the eucharist as a visible sign of our offering in response to the ministry of the Word and prayer.  I perceived immediately that the monetary contents of the basket had been adorned by other items – a large box of water crackers, a can of Spam and – and this is the part I don’t understand and am able, therefore, only to report – a clear plastic bag containing nine empty toilet paper rolls. Res ipsa loquitor.

David's Kabul Corporate Monk epistles, written during his 14-month special assignment in Afghanistan for the State Department, are also worth reading; see here for a sample.

Comments

[bls]

I wish people would recognize that “And blessed be ‘God’s’ kingdom, now and forever,” is completely standard at this point, which is why you get "conspicuous unison" when it's recited. It's actually people who are bothered and/or bemused by it who are having trouble with "gender politics."

While the original intent may have been based in "gender politics," it's actually much more about mysticism than about anything else. It's about the general recognition and acknowledgement that God is not a boy - nor is God a girl, since you'll notice that the female pronoun is not used, either.

IOW, it's simply a nod to reality.

[D. C.]

bls writes: "I wish people would recognize that “And blessed be ‘God’s’ kingdom, now and forever,” is completely standard at this point ...."

I'd have to disagree. I've never heard "God's kingdom" in the opening response anywhere, including in some very liberal parishes in different parts of the country. The point of a Book of Common Prayer is to be able to walk into any TEC church and, if you happen to know the prayers by heart, participate from memory. We all "know" that God is genderless (quaere how we know that, incidentally). I wouldn't oppose a movement to change the BCP to be gender-neutral about God. But until that day comes, people should stick with the standard text. To do otherwise is to elevate gender politics over courtesy to visitors.

(I'm an equal-opportunity grouch on this point: It irks me that in the Rite II Habemas, my congregation still responds "We lift them up unto the Lord," when the text says "We lift them to the Lord.")

[*Christopher]

I've heard both ways said in the parishes here in the Bay Area, but mostly "God's Kingdom". Same goes for Oregon and Washington.

Given it's a Trinitarian formula of great richness, I'm surprised you're not more grated by that than a "God's" versus "His".

[D. C.]

Christopher, if I respond "and blessed be his kingdom," I'm not necessarily endorsing the trinitarian motif of the call. My beef with trads is that they insist on using trinitarianism as a line in the sand. I'd be thrilled if they would say simply, we think God is a trinity, but we acknowledge that we can never really know for sure, and we don't insist that you profess intellectual assent to it as a prerequisite to full participation in our group.

[bls]

I'd have to disagree. I've never heard "God's kingdom" in the opening response anywhere, including in some very liberal parishes in different parts of the country. The point of a Book of Common Prayer is to be able to walk into any TEC church and, if you happen to know the prayers by heart, participate from memory.

Well, I hate to mention it, but that horse is already out of the barn. "Enriching Our Worship" contains Church-approved alternate liturgies and is in use in many places with the Bishop's approval. (Probably yours doesn't!)

And of course, the "Book of Common Prayer" in England is the 1662.

[bls]

(In any case, the words on the printed page haven't changed, in the case of the Acclamation. Anyone's free to say "His," if they feel like it.

I'd agree with you - and personally I get burned up when the rector decides to change the liturgy himself and forces hundreds of people to go along with him whether they want to or not - except that this is a case of the sensus fidelium. This is something the people themselves are doing, and you can't get them to stop saying it, anyway.

People are correcting an error. We used to pray for the "perfidious Jews," too, you know....)