BREAK THE CHAINS OF OPPRESION AND THE YOKE OF ...

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Litur gy chosen was that one of the conference languages was German, a language with which I am familiar. The subject matter of the conference - the historical developments within both the REC and WARC, especially in relation to the Accra declaration - had up till that point been distant information which occasionally had landed on the desk in my study together with other mailing regarding the wide variety of subject matters with which a parish minister in the Church of Scotland has to contend with when not dealing with flaring tempers on the Congregational Board over malfunctioning central heating systems or savouring the peculiar delights of attending the town council’s meetings to unravel the mysteries of parking, legal and illegal, outside the church’s premises. Having arrived at the conference as a bit of an innocent abroad regarding not only the intricacies of the Swiss public transport system which was to convey me to the conference centre, but also on the subject matter itself, despite having immersed myself in any papers I could lay my hands on, I then discovered myself to be in the peculiar situation of being asked within half an hour of arrival whether I would consider conducting a communion service. Tomorrow. This particular communion service is the reason of my having been included in the list of contributors to this publication. An analysis of this particular liturgy cannot be offered in retrospect as the notes of the liturgy are no longer extant. While some of the overall considerations which determined the crafting of this particular liturgy can still be recalled, this article shall reflect on wider issues of the liturgy of Holy Communion in general rather than the particular liturgy on which the editor’s request had been based. I write as a parish minister and as a theologically reflective practitioner. I also write from a particular � �cultural �context and a particular � � theological background which may require of some readers an act of translation, modification or even contradiction for their particular cultural, ecclesiastical and theological contexts. This much as background information which may or may not prove useful: the author is an ordained minister of the (Presbyterian) Church of Scotland serving in one of that country’s socially and economically more deprived areas. The author also, if asked to define herself theologically would claim to be Calvinist in her general disposition, though hopefully not uncritically so, having enjoyed a Lutheran childhood and also an immersion into Roman-Catholicism during her student years. Covenant. Justice. Communion. Liturgy. Each of these subject matters deserves attention in its own right, yet the request had been made, based on the experience of that one Communion service led by the author together with an Irish colleague at the above mentioned conference, that she reflect on matters of liturgy and communion, liturgy and justice, Holy Communion and justice. �� – THE LITURGY OF HOLY COMMUNION – 99
Litur gy Having consulted the local university library, and - resulting from the meagre success I had in the world of academia on these matters - then consulting with colleagues in the ministry, it transpires that the latter two pairs in particular are not, or are not considered to be, natural theological companions. Instead of attempting to remedy that gap with an academic theological paper, I propose instead to offer reflections which weave from that particular Communion service at the conference to general observations gleaned from many years in parish ministry to biblical theological reflections and also pastoral considerations on the above mentioned subject matters. The liturgy which had been prepared for the above mentioned conference had laboured under the disadvantage of having been requested at short notice and with only a bible as resource material to hand. With the assistance of an Irish colleague a liturgy was crafted which drew on elements recalled from the Church of Scotland’s Book of Common order and which also made use of material which has entered the life of the Church of Scotland through the Iona Community. In its intention it was biblically grounded throughout and it had to take particular care of being accessible to those for whom English was neither a first, nor even a second, but third or even fourth language. At the time of its preparation issues of liturgical practice were reflected on – what form was the sharing of the bread and wine going to take? Matters of the theology of Holy Communion were touched on - could it be assumed that all present were grounded in a Calvinist theology of the real presence of Christ? At this stage in the conference � �we hardly � had got to �know �each others names, never mind our respective theological backgrounds. Were there any Zwinglians among us? Any closet Lutherans? And then there was the subject matter of justice: consciously it was not dealt with, unconsciously though it was a constant companion in the preparation of the liturgy for matters of justice and potential injustice required to be addressed. The conference had been called on the subject matter of ‘Communion and Justice’ and delegates had travelled from all over Europe to attend. But as one of the first observations on the conference programme it was noted by one delegate that no space had been allowed for the celebration of a service of Holy Communion. And so at very short notice room was created for such a service. That such a service had not been scheduled might have indeed been an innocent oversight. But in itself it presented an injustice, maybe even a very Reformed injustice. We may claim as the notae ecclesiae the preaching of the Word and the administration of the sacraments. But in Reformed practice there is a history of a much �� 100 – THE LITURGY OF HOLY COMMUNION –
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eak the chains of oppresion and the
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BREAK THE CHAINS OF OPRESSION AND T
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PContents REAChing Preface There is
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PREFA ce There is No Unjust Communi
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PREFA ce Let us remember: there sho
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PREFA ce ed, stripped bare, when th
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PREAChing 1 Preaching on Justice: T
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PREAChing message of the free grace
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PREAChing come aware of how abundan
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PREAChing I draw attention again to
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PREAChing who believe that “those
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EnGAGEMEnT 2 Commitment after Accra
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EnGAGEMEnT which has become spiritu
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EnGAGEMEnT worries more, is more ea
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Europe’s Discussion about Justice
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were being seen - because of this -
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Discus sion Church and State are fu
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The Reformed tradition with the ope
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DEMoc rAcy However democracy is sti
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DEMoc rAcy of the homo politicus -
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viewers, the programme is “cut to
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DEMoc rAcy Finally it would natural
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point modern democracies are open t
Page 49 and 50: DEMoc rAcy Naturally, in many cases
Page 52 and 53: cove nanTi ng 59 Europe’s Road to
Page 54 and 55: cove nanTi ng Western neighbor coun
Page 56 and 57: cove nanTi ng focused on. On the on
Page 58 and 59: 5 pE o H 6 Theology of hope in time
Page 60 and 61: At the bottom of these enormous ent
Page 62 and 63: The question has to be raised wheth
Page 64 and 65: in the communio with Christ. In thi
Page 66 and 67: anity has been closely related to e
Page 68 and 69: world: the oppressed, the poor, the
Page 70 and 71: 8 p EM ire 7 Empire - Provocation w
Page 72 and 73: EMpire thors also supply an ambitio
Page 74 and 75: EMpire Aspects of a difficult relat
Page 76 and 77: governments in southern countries e
Page 78 and 79: EMpire Talk of empire, as this exam
Page 80: EMpire hand, and realpolitik talk a
Page 83 and 84: Ethics two? Globethics.net proposes
Page 85 and 86: Ethics 2. Performance-related justi
Page 87 and 88: Ethics difficult to implement all o
Page 89 and 90: Ethics instrument, which correspond
Page 91 and 92: Ethics tice. In some cases it may s
Page 93 and 94: Ethics 6. The Principle of Transpar
Page 95 and 96: Ethics to others what we ourselves
Page 98 and 99: Litur gy 49 The Liturgy of Holy Com
Page 102 and 103: Litur gy stronger weighting towards
Page 104 and 105: Litur gy It may be argued that few
Page 106 and 107: Litur gy but here particularly so.
Page 108 and 109: Litur gy turn out to be. For if we
Page 110: For the shaping of the liturgy the
Page 113 and 114: PRojec ts The scope of the children
Page 115 and 116: DiaLo g ic analyses which already e
Page 117 and 118: DiaLo g suppression as a power-alli
Page 119 and 120: DiaLo g Dreaming a Different World
Page 121 and 122: DiaLo g We remember together the in
Page 123 and 124: The Further Development of the Conc
Page 125 and 126: DiaLo g come to stand: do they belo
Page 127 and 128: DiaLo g dividuals who come into vie
Page 129 and 130: EXPLoita Tion formation and counsel
Page 131 and 132: there is emerging here a specific i
Page 133 and 134: EXPLoita Tion wealthier lands in No
Page 135 and 136: study 5 of children’s attitudes t
Page 137 and 138: EXPLoita Tion Christian understandi
Page 139 and 140: EXPLoita Tion gal prosecution of cr
Page 141 and 142: these questions. An approach that r
Page 143 and 144: of governments for the regular fina
Page 145 and 146: We recommend EXPLoita Tion The orga
Page 148 and 149: Hope in God’s Future: Christian D
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FuturE I Approaching God in the con
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FuturE All of these changes will ha
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FuturE ship; God’s sacrifice in C
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FuturE between rich and poor becomi
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FuturE Reflection 5 Low-lying count
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gry and those now first finding the
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FuturE Even to sinners like us, God
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FuturE UK Government Committee on C
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FuturE Reflection 11 “A commitmen
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FuturE Alertness to disproportionat
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FuturE set out on a journey of free
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seeking 2. It has become much more
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seeking tions and in the Synod, was
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LEArnin G Praying for growth Food,
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we, with 20% of world-population, a
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LEArnin G hunger, but sooner from a
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LEArnin G And they wonder: what doe
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LEArnin G The richer the USA and Eu
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A Globalance - Christian Perspectiv
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A GLoB LAncE uence on political and
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Recommendations The position paper
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Pov y ert 17 „Don’t Leave Us Ha
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Group Children’s Summit 2006” r
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Pov erty our doorstep as relatively
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Pov erty This well-founded option f
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All these rights could be provided
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Pov erty The action “Hiding is no
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