Gathered, Transformed
and Sent
Gathered, Transformed and Sent:
‘beefing up’ the Eucharistic Dismissal
A discussion paper
for parishes
‘beefing
up’
the
from the Diocesan Liturgical Committee
Eucharistic Dismissal
A discussion paper for parishes
from the Diocesan Liturgical Committee
The Purpose of the Eucharist
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……...
The whole people of God celebrate the Eucharist in order
to be transformed so that we, too, may transform our
world in and through our sending out.
There is a danger, however, that the opportunities provided by the present ‘rites of sending out’ (the Dismissal)
may be missed. This booklet seeks to provide both a theological underpinning and practical suggestions for making the specifically missional elements of the Eucharist
more prominent.
………...
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What do you think is the most important part/moment of the Eucharist?
Perhaps the moment you receive communion, or the moment of
consecration (if you believe there is such a moment)? Whichever part of the
Eucharist comes to mind, we are probably not likely to be thinking of the post
-communion prayer, blessing and dismissal (which we shall term the ‘rite of
sending out’), summed up, in particular, by the words:
Send us out in the power of your
Spirit to live and work to your praise
and glory.
In a nutshell, the Eucharist is an act of worship in which we are called
together (or, perhaps better, called out as the ekklesia of God) to offer
thanksgiving for our salvation and, having been gathered together,
transformed in, by and through the great Eucharistic/sacramental action, we
are sent out to transform the world and bring God’s Kingdom nearer:
Your kingdom come….on earth
as in heaven
Why?
Because it is actually God’s world, not some alien field, as those who make a
stark distinction between the sacred and the secular would have us believe.
Transforming our world is the end of which the Eucharist (and, we
might say, every sacrament) is the means. Although the Eucharist is,
essentially, an ‘in-house operation’, it is not just for those who participate.
And unless the Eucharist does mean this, or something very much like it,
then it is in danger of becoming an entirely inward looking, perhaps even
selfish, act: if the Eucharist is said/attended simply for the purposes of our
personal salvation or ‘private devotion’, then the whole point of the Gospel of
salvation/healing (the Greek root is the same) has been missed.
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…the saints speak of the love for God as not just their
response to God’s love for them, but somehow as the
very movement of God’s Spirit within them…
John Macquarrie,
Principles of Christian Theology, p.335
The Gift of Salvation: for, in and through us
Whilst salvation is pre-eminently God’s initiative, in which the Holy Spirit is
constantly active, yet there must still be a true freedom in which individuals
can receive or reject this gift and, empowered by the same Spirit, the Church
(the Body of Christ) is thereby commissioned and enabled to make this offer
of salvation a reality for others. But only those who have allowed themselves
to be transformed can ever have any hope of contributing to the
transformation of those around them.
In the New Testament we hear of the “fellowship” of the
Spirit, or “participation” in the Spirit [koinonia pneumatos;
2 Cor 13: 14; Phil 2: 1]. So the community of faith is also a
community of the Spirit, who works in and through it and
gives to it its unity. The community becomes the agency by
which the Spirit works in the world and by which it
continues the work of reconciliation begun by Christ, or
rather, raised to a new level in Christ.
John Macquarrie,
Principles of Christian Theology, p.336
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What does it mean to be transformed?
Transformation is not just individual (although it is that); it is also corporate,
and ultimately may be understood to embrace the whole created order
(Romans 8: 18 – 25). In other words, our commitment to Christ not only
encourages us, but actually requires us to participate in God’s transformative
action of salvation. So we are not simply recipients of salvation, but also
those who share in God’s work. Many of the Eastern Fathers suggested (with
their concept of theosis) that the transformation of humanity is implicit in
Incarnation i.e. salvation is to be understood as the restoration of the divine
image in humanity and deliverance from death/corruption:
Our Lord Jesus Christ…did, through
His transcendent love, become what
we are, that He might bring us to be
even what He is Himself
Irenaeus
God lived on man’s level that
man might be able to live on
God’s level Tertullian
“
God shares our life
and then
For he was made
man that we might
be made God
Athanasius
“
The Word…became man just that
you may learn from a man how it
may be that man should become God
Clement of Alexandria
transforms it.
Bishop David Stancliffe
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What me - transformed?
As we reflect on this point, we may immediately ask ourselves two very
practical, yet also vitally important questions: do we feel transformed? Do we
conduct ourselves as though we have been transformed? Furthermore,
do we see examples of transformed and renewed fellow-members of the
Body of Christ around us? Do we really ‘go out in the power of the Spirit….’?
Is it the case that as we come out of church (perhaps this should be done
somewhat earlier: Mt 5: 23-24) we seek out that person whom we have
somehow wronged, or they us, and make our peace? Or does negative and
destructive talk persist over and after the coffee? These are bigger issues
than can be usefully approached in a short liturgical paper; nevertheless they
do beg the twin questions as to whether and how the Eucharistic rite can/
may be ‘beefed up’ to make its transformatory nature and power both more
apparent to, and more real for, the worshipper.
There are certain givens which are necessary to make any kind of personal
(yet alone corporate) transformation possible. Amongst these we might list
What’s there already?
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What does that mean in practice?
The Eucharist offers...
Those responsible for leading worship
need to…
...prayers of penitence
which, with adequate
preparation, provide the
opportunity for (indeed,
properly require) some kind
of serious self-appraisal
...provide at least some pause (if not, at
another time, explicit exhortation to do
some personal preparation beforehand
for those who do not participate in a
separate Sacrament of Penance) for
folk to reflect on their sins (and those of
the whole human family of which we are
part), rather than just announcing the
confession and rushing straight into the
words
...the Gospel and the
sermon which ought to
challenge us to reappraise
our lives in their light
...preach a sermon that has at least an
element of challenge, rather than one
that is so lacking in anything which
makes us look at ourselves anew in the
light of the Gospel, that it elicits the post
-service response: ‘Lovely sermon,
Vicar!’
...prayers of intercession
should enable us to step
empathetically into the
shoes of those in the greatest need, whilst at the same
time providing reason for us
to feel gratitude with our
own lot;
…lead prayers of intercession which are
structured to allow us to pray along with
the leader, as opposed to a list of
petitions read at break-neck speed, and
only really providing a surrogate news
broadcast
...a Eucharistic Prayer
which brings us closer to
the Divine by taking us, at
least briefly, out of the
purely mundane;
...have sufficient understanding of of
the dynamics and the nuances of the
Eucharistic Prayer to ensure that it is
not only well expressed but not overwhelmed by any ‘priestly actions’
...an opportunity to receive
communion reverently and
to ponder its mystery.
…ensure such organisation as to
prevent the Church becoming either a
children’s playground or a queue at a
football match during the reception of
communion
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Romans 12:2 explicitly calls for Christians to be “transformed” (by the
renewal of our minds) so that we may become “what is good and acceptable
and perfect” i.e. acceptable to God. This is a clear reiteration of Jesus’ own
command. So the transformation of the Christian is to enable us to become
as ‘God-like’ (“perfect” - Mt 5:48) as possible, to have restored within
ourselves that image of God which we had lost, and possibly continue to
lose, as we wallow in our natural states which refuse – or simply cannot
contemplate - the offer of theosis.
This is not simply a spiritual or liturgical question, it is an ethical one as well.
Indeed, it is one in which there is no divide between these different types of
discourse. Transformation will necessarily involve us changing in all sorts of
ways:
...the way we make decisions [and] change the kinds of decisions we
make…. [because we ought to] expect faith to make a difference; we
ought to expect our preaching to make a difference; we ought to expect
our encountering God to make a difference: God meets us, and God
changes us.
J Cassidy, The Post Communion Prayer—Living Sacrifice in Conway, S (ed)
Living the Eucharist, p.115
This is certainly an issue on which the preacher can challenge us all to
examine what difference our faith makes to our everyday lives: not just, do
we ‘do’ spiritual things (like saying our prayers), but do we act ethically in all
our dealings with the people we meet? But there is a sharp distinction to be
made here as well, between what we might call ‘religious’ (rather than
‘spiritual’) and the ethical: simply attending worship, even worshipping (not
the same), is not of itself sufficient for transformation:
I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn
assemblies...Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not
listen to the melody of your harps. But let justice roll down like
waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
Amos 5:21-24
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Even believing is not enough (James 2: 19). It is the way that we allow (or
not) our beliefs to affect our actions. So if we truly believe that God loves us,
then we will love others. It has to be said that that kind of transformation is
not always apparent within the Church – they will not (often), as a 60s song
put it: ‘know we are Christians by our love’.
…if we want to change our decision-making, if we want the Eucharist to
make a difference, if we want God to change us, if we are willing to be
commissioned to make a difference, we are going to have to allow God to
change the way we scale our values, to change our preferences, to change
our feelings, to change our felt-priorities. That is what change is all about.
That is what happens when hearts of stone are changed into hearts of
flesh.
J Cassidy, op cit. p.116f
So the Eucharist has the potential to enable God to convert us (and we do
not use this term in its more common ‘becoming-a-Christian’ sense),
because in the Eucharist God forgives and accepts us, so that truly we are,
time and again, made different persons from the ones who initially gathered
together. There is a variety of simple ways in which this might become
evident: showing greater care for our neighbours, collecting Christian Aid
envelopes even though we find it embarrassing; working to help the healing
of relationships within the Christian community, and so on. This may not be
earth-shattering stuff; but it could certainly be, in its own little way, worldchanging.
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‘Beefing up’ the ‘Rite of Sending Out’
If, then, we agree that the ending of the Eucharist is at least illustrative of this
kind of over-arching purpose (if not its pure expression), then what might we
do liturgically to ensure that it is not ‘just an ending’, a winding-up of an
hour’s worship? Cassidy’s overriding concern in his essay was to show –
against the overweening rationalism of today’s world, and sometimes today’s
theological world as well – that (to put it simply) feelings are important:
...we ought to expect the Eucharist to make a difference in our lives at
an affective level, perhaps even primarily at an affective level…. there is
something very right-headed and right-hearted about the need to
become so much more aware of how authentic, how affectively
evocative our liturgical movements and gestures are, and not expect
words to do all the communicative work.
J Cassidy, op cit. p.118
This means not just worrying over the words (it goes beyond the remit of this
paper to argue that the words of the Rite should be changed), but utilising
the many other resources at our disposal: gesture, ritual, symbol, music, art,
architecture, and so on. There are many ways of ‘beefing up’ this final part of
the Eucharist so as to make clear to the people that each and every
Eucharist is a kind of commissioning and enabling for the forwarding of
[Unless we are] affectively engaged by the liturgy, then both the post
communion commissioning and the dismissal will ring hollow. If we are
not affectively engaged by our being commissioned, then we shall not
actually be able to prefer God’s will, and all our ethical deliberations will
have been wasted. That is why we need to be open not only to the
possibility of religious conversion, but also to the possibility of affective
conversion. The Post Communion Prayer, when prayed from the heart,
can be a good litmus test of whether we have said ‘Amen’ to the real
Jesus.
J Cassidy, op cit. p.120f
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God’s Kingdom, and also encourage them to play some active part in this
process.
[The Eucharist is] not the hot bath at the end of the day, where
we lie back and forget all our troubles, it is more like the cold
shower at the beginning of the day to zap us up and energise us
for what lies ahead.
Bishop Stephen Cottrell in Conway op cit. p.120f
The post communion is the graveyard of many a good liturgy,
the section where everything so easily unravels and falls
apart. It’s a bit like playing injury time in a soccer game: you
may be in the lead, but you dare not drop your guard for one
second. The post communion is also a moment when something
of a struggle takes place between the purist and the practicalminded. A choice has to be made.
Richard Giles Creating Uncommon Worship, p.205
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The silence after communion is sometimes most effective where
there has been a lot of noise, and that means everyone being still,
from musicians to churchwardens…the collective silence is another
kind of statement, more than the mere fact that one particular
communicant is waiting…for the final part of the service to begin.
The congregation’s silence is a chance for the entire gathering to
refocus itself, to become aware again of its character as a
community rather than a collection of individuals who happen to be
at the same event.
Stevenson K
(2002) ‘Do This: The Shape, Style and Meaning of the Eucharist’
Taking a cold shower whilst holding
things together
1.
We might give much more thought to the rubric: “silence is kept”,
which follows the receiving of communion. In ‘quires and places
where they sing’ there may have been hymn-singing during the
administration, and/or an anthem may be sung either during or at
the end of the administration; all this is very worthy, but silence is
often a rare commodity in our churches, and if the coffee-makers
are becoming impatient, then the President may feel the need to
go straight into the post-communion prayer as soon as possible
(less people wonder what is happening – there is a temptation to
feel that people may regard a silence as being due to the
President losing the page!); again, a little teaching can point to the
value of reflecting on the sacramental gift we have just received,
and praying that we may put it to good use in our lives; perhaps it
shouldn’t need to be said that the president busying him/herself
‘washing up’ is not the purpose of the silence – even (particularly?)
the president needs time for reflection.
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2. offer more explicit teaching on the meaning and implications of the
two post-communion prayers; what is it “to be a living sacrifice”? just
how can we “who share Christ’s body live his risen life; we who drink
his cup bring life to others; we whom the Spirit lights give light to the
world”? Our duty (and joy) as the transformed people of God is to live
today a renewed resurrection life (what the Fourth evangelist
calls ‘eternal life’ i.e. not something we have only after death, but a
life in which we are already partly immersed) and, so doing, bring
both life and light to others;
If the second of the prayers in the main text is used, it is possible
for the president to say the first half up to ‘gate of glory’ and for
the assembly to join in from ‘May we who share’. Such a division
avoids the difficulties posed by a large number of people coping
with the linguistic complexities of a long congregational prayer.
Gordon-Taylor B & Jones S, 2005, ‘Celebrating the Eucharist’ p.76
Doing this would cause the missional element of the second part of
the prayer to be emphasised and interiorised;
3. ensure that the solemn blessing has the power to connote a recommissioning;
4. choose a decent ‘sending-out’ hymn which explicitly calls us to take
what we have been given out into the world (such as Omer
Westendorf’s ‘Sent forth by God’s blessing’ or James Seddon’s ‘Go
forth and tell’); just how much attention do those who select hymns
give to the words;
5. the procession of choir/clergy might exit the church building entirely
(as symbol of going out into the world) rather than end either at the
coffee table or the vestry;
6. many churches place their notices somewhere during the dismissal,
and these (often mundane, and easily given as a written sheet –
although, even then, some clergy feel the need to read them out) can
often create an considerable interruption to the flow of the liturgy,
particularly the notion of being transformed in order to transform
(‘please sign up for Bingo’ is hardly an invitation to further the
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Common Worship is clear that it comes before the Blessing and Dismissal,
and this is logical because there is little point in being blessed, told to go
home, and then proceeding to sing again….Whatever solution is adopted,
clear symbolism should take precedence over what the choir wants to do!
Beach, M (2000) ‘Using Common Worship: Holy Communion’ p.80
Kingdom); perhaps, if they have to be done at all, notices can
precede the final blessing? Similarly where to place to final hymn so
as to keep the liturgical movement intact;
We may have been seen to imply above that the post-service
coffee might prove a distraction; but it might also have a positive
use. Richard Giles reports how at St Gregory’s, San Francisco,
the practice is to have the coffee urn placed on the altar
“
...which now, with theological deliberation, becomes
the breakfast buffet….This dynamic movement from
(liturgical) communion to a communion of a different
kind (but also holy) has great appeal, and maintains
something of the terseness and vigour of the ancient
form of dismissal in the Roman rite [which he
paraphrases ‘It’s all over; get out of here’!]….Certainly
the St Gregory’s pattern reconnects the liturgy with the
world outside, with its expectation of re-entry into, and
interaction with, the stream of humanity beyond those
particular walls. It has about it a great purity and
directness which is very appealing.
“
7.
This concurs with the anecdote told by Mark Beach wherein his
parish priest used to announce: “‘Next week’s service will begin with
the coffee after this week’s service’”:
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...living the gospel, refreshed and inspired by hearing the
word and receiving communion, is integral to our worship.
Indeed, worship that does not ‘send us out in the power of
your Spirit to live and work’ is missing a vital ingredient.
[the Dismissal itself] should be proclaimed boldly and with a
sense of expectation, as though someone will actually listen
and respond….[the use of the word ‘peace’] has an excellent
ring to it [for it] links the peace known within the assembly
with the service of the world, of those who are not yet to
find peace.
Beach, op. cit. p.80
“
churches may wish to produce their own ‘rites of sending out’
modelled in some way on Jesus sending out his disciples: as in the
words of a Baptist rite:
Our worship
is ended;
our service begins
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“
8.
To think about
1.
Is our dismissal a bit of a damp squib? How
might we ‘beef it up’?
2.
What might ‘rite of sending out’ look like for us?
3.
How transformed are we?
4.
How might our mission be transformed?
5.
Are we known for our love?
6.
How might we bring life and light to others?
7.
Which bit of our world might we be able to
change?
8.
What has our Sunday worship to do with our
Monday life?
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Notes
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Text by the Revd Canon Dr. Peter Shepherd
Design by Revd Andy Gray
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