Christian Conflict Resolution

When introducing a Gospel reading during the Daily Office (Morning and Evening Prayer) do you say “A reading from the Gospel According to X” or “A reading from X?” This question engenders strong responses here (and, truth be told, probably elsewhere). I was taught one thing during a class on worship fundamentals. I then had an opportunity to put the teaching into practice at Evening Prayer the same night. I was strongly informed by someone else that I had done it the wrong way, causing me to literally bang my head on the lectern in frustration (during the rehearsal, not the actual prayer). I then decided to stir the pot a bit and raise the individual squabble to a community discussion. Having seen this form of debate over liturgical practice occur in other settings and over other issues, I decided (in consultation with other students) that it was time we solved the general problem, which is: How do you decide what to do when something isn't specified? I raised the issue at a Worship Committee meeting, emails have ensued, and the conflict is on.

The problem stems from lack of explicit details in the rubrics. The rubrics, or official church details regarding liturgical (and other) practice, are the small font, usually italics, in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer (BCP) or the nature of the text itself that give directions for how to conduct public prayers, worship, services, etc. In this case, the BCP specifies “One or two Lessons, as appointed, are read, the Reader first saying “A Reading (Lesson) from ________” (see pages 84 or 118 of the BCP). There is a lot of space in that blank. Space enough for “the Gospel According to X” or for “X.” Communities usually fill in those blanks in the rubrics with customary practices, things they have settled on that work in the particular community. Sometimes these are codified in an actual text, or “Customary.” In the case of CDSP a draft customary has been under revision for quite some time, leaving all kinds of room for little battles over these issues.

The wonderful side of these conflicts is that they show that we really do deeply care about worship, including the most minor details. My wife was stunned that we could even be perturbed over such a small set of words. It turns out that those who favor “A reading from X” want to make absolutely sure that the Gospel is not “proclaimed” in the Daily Office, as it is during the Eucharist. The rubric for introducing the Gospel reading during the Eucharist specifies saying “The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to ______” (BCP, page 357). About half of the community wants to distinguish the proclamation of the Gospel in the Eucharist from the sense of simply reading a text in the Daily Office; they prefer to drop the “according to” phraseology during the Daily Office and to replace it with “A reading from X”. Others prefer to always distinguish the Gospel from other texts and “according to” does that very nicely. It turns out that, at least in the learned opinion of a distinguished liturgical expert here on campus, either is actually acceptable.

So how will we settle it? My hope is that we will find a way that is either distinctly Christian, or at least encapsulates our values of respecting all people, paying attention to the marginalized (in this case the quiet ones who never say anything), and seeking reconciliation. I am supposed to be learning how to live and operate in and even lead a “Christian” community, not just any community. I hope I'm not being too literal in wanting to actually discover what, concretely, this entails. So far, the process has been fairly typical of any conflict resolution in any organization I've been in. We've had meetings, sent emails. In the discussion, many people have shared stories of being “chewed out” over some perceived violation of rubrics, customaries, or some such. Sadly, like all communities, we frequently hurt each others' feelings while trying to enculturate them. Where will the “Christian community” solution come in? Will it be in the details of what we do, or will it be in how we do it? Or both?