The Anglican Eucharist in New Zealand 1814-1989 9781463219512

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The Anglican Eucharist in New Zealand 1814-1989

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Gorgias Liturgical Studies

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This series is intended to provide a venue for studies about liturgies as well as books containing various liturgies. Making liturgical studies available to those who wish to learn more about their own worship and practice or about the traditions of other religious groups, this series includes works on service music, the daily offices, services for special occasions, and the sacraments.

The Anglican Eucharist in New Zealand 1814-1989

Bosco Peters

1 gorgias press 2010

Gorgias Press LLC, 180 Centennial Ave., Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA www.gorgiaspress.com Copyright © 2010 by Gorgias Press LLC Originally published in All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise without the prior written permission of Gorgias Press LLC. 2010

1

ISBN 978-1-60724-374-8

ISSN 1937-3252

Published first in the U.K. by Grove Books, 1992.

Printed in the United States of America

The Anglican Eucharist in New Zealand 1814 — 1989 by Bosco Peters Presbyter of the diocese of Christchurch, New Zealand

CON I 1 \

IS

CHAPTER

PA( i f

Introduction 1. Background

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7

2. Beginnings

10

3. Eucharistic Controversies

14

4. Eucharistic Developments 1920 to 1960

21

J. T h e 1966 Revision

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6. Eucharistic Developments 1966 to 1970 .

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. 31

7. Eucharistic Developments 1970 to 1984

36

8. A N e w Zealand Prayer Book—He Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa 9. Conclusion

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. 40 43

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Because of the necessary brevity of this Study, which is a reworking of a significantly larger thesis, many details are omitted and some generalizations made. Chapters 1 and 8 have been added particularly for those less familiar with the N e w Zealand context. My thanks are due to many people, particularly to the Rev. Dr. Allan Davidson, the supervisor for my thesis; to tne Provincial Archives Committee; to many members of the Provincial Commission on Prayer Book Revision; to the staff of St. John's College Library, and to my spouse, Helen, for her enthusiastic support and proof-reading.

Introduction 'Lexorandi is always and everywhere Lex credendi, but very markedly so with [Anglicans]. T h a t is why in our history we have had few heresy trials, but, however wrongly directed, many ritual prosecutions.' 1 In 1 9 1 4 t h e R e v . H . T . P u r c h a s w r o t e in A History

ofthe

English

Church in

New

Zealand that T h e conduct of public worship in N e w Zealand presents n o special features in contrast with that of the mother Church.' 2 This statement, however, can be seen both as an oversimplification, and as an indictment against those who transplanted Anglicanism to N e w Zealand soils. It is an oversimplification because, for example, it neglected'to observe the u n i q u e Maori pattern of worshipping. It is an indictment because it declares that in the century since the first Anglican service led by Rev. Samuel Marsden, little adaptation had occurred, for example, to the different seasons of the southern hemisphere. A statement like that of Purchas could not be made with any validity today. In eucharistic worship, with which this Study is concerned, the Church of England is still deeply divided into parties. Those training for ordination regularly cnoose their theological college according to 'churchmanship'. In N e w Zealand, those training for stipendiary ministry normally train in the ecumenical setting of St. John's College, Auckland. Party divisions into anglo-catholic and evangelical are increasingly giving way to issues of biculturalism, feminism, creation spirituality, inclusive language, and charismatic influences. In N e w Zealand there is now one w o m a n diocesan bishop and numerous w o m e n priests. I nfants can receive comm u n i o n from their baptism. Many insights and practices from charismatic renewal, in a similar way to those of the Catholic renewal, have been incorporated into the regular weekly eucharist of most N e w Zealand parishes. A Neii Zealand

Prayer Book—He

Karakia

Mihinare

o Aotearoa

(ANZPB-HKMA)

includes

some eucharistic rites which bear little resemblance to or influence from the material produced by Cranmer. In all these ways and more the Anglican Church in New Zealand now differs from the mother Church of England. This Study concentrates u p o n the eucharist as Anglicans of European origin (Pakehas) have experienced it. The unique developments a m o n g Maori, as well as in Melanesia and Polynesia, invite similar studies. These would require particular cultural insight and understanding. T his Study traces the history of the eucharist from the time when Anglicanism in New Zealand was an extension of the United Church of England and Ireland to the development of an independent and self-confident Anglican province.

1

2

The Right Rev. David Colin Dunlop, "['he Liturgical l ife of the Anglican C o m m u n i o n in the Twentieth Century', in Report ofthe Anglican Congress 1954 (SPCK, L o n d o n . 1955). p.99. H. T. Purchas, A History of the English Churcb in New Zealand (Simpson & Williams. Christchurch, 1914)."p.231 Introduction

5

This historical survey of eucharistic worship underscores the aphorism of Prosper of Aquitaine, Lex orandi—Lex credendi, prayer shapes believing. A significant part of this Study, however, concerns the twenty-five years of Prayer Book revision in which P r o s p e r s claim is turned around, and what N e w Zealand Anglicans believed became the source of the new way in which they would pray. It is too early to say whether the publication of A New Zealand Prayer Book—He Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa marks a new chapter in N e w Zealand's Anglican eucharistic worship. By highlighting and binding the eucharistic rites at the centre of this book, however, it well expresses the revolution which has placed the eucharist at the heart of Anglican worship today.

6

The Anglican Eucharist in Netr Zealand

1814-1989

1. Background T h e t h r e e a n d a t h i r d million p e o p l e of N e w Zealand live in a c o u n t r y t h a t stretches m o r e t h a n 1500 kilometers across t w o m a i n islands in t h e S o u t h Pacific. A l t h o u g h m u c h of t h e c o u n t r y ' s livelihood derives f r o m t h e land, m o s t of t h e p o p u l a t i o n is u r b a n , with m o r e t h a n half living in f o u r cities. A l t h o u g h a b o u t t w e n t y - f i v e p e r c e n t of t h e p o p u l a t i o n calls itself 'Anglican', m a k i n g it n o m i n a l l y t h e largest c h u r c h , Anglican c h u r c h a t t e n d a n c e on S u n d a y is closer to o n e p e r cent. This is a c h u r c h smaller in n u m b e r t h a n m a n y English dioceses. The Anglican C h u r c h in Aotearoa, N e w Zealand a n d Polynesia (the n e w n a m e f r o m M a y 1992) n o t o n l y covers N e w Zealand, b u t also S a m o a , l o n g a a n d t h e Fiji Islands. N e w Z e a l a n d was t h e last m a j o r land mass, aside f r o m Antarctica, t o be e x p l o r e d a n d settled. Polynesian discovery a n d m i g r a t i o n began a b o u t twelve c e n t u r i e s ago. T h r o u g h t h e centuries, a d a p t i n g to a land so vastly d i f f e r e n t f r o m o t h e r Polynesian islands in size, g e o g r a p h i c a l variety, a n d climate, this M a o r i civilization s p r e a d f r o m t h e far n o r t h to t h e f a r s o u t h . A l t h o u g h t h e r e are a n u m b e r of tribes, t h e l a n g u a g e t h r o u g h o u t A o t e a r o a (the Maori n a m e f o r t h e l a n d ) has o n l y dialectical differences. M a o r i c u l t u r e has a holistic a p p r o a c h to life so t h a t it is i m p o s s i b l e to s e p a r a t e M a o r i religion f r o m o t h e r aspects of life such as f o o d g a t h e r i n g , d e a t h , war, a n d music. Tribal ancestors were v e n e r a t e d a n d several g o d s r e p r e s e n t e d t h e earth, sea, sky, forest and so on. In 1642 t h e D u t c h navigator Abel T a s m a n sighted t h e S o u t h e r n Alps of t h e S o u t h Island. This resulted in a w a v e r i n g line n a m e d ' N i e u w Z e e l a n d ' on Europ e a n m a p s , '['here was little l a s m a n saw, h o w e v e r , w h i c h e n c o u r a g e d E u r o p e a n s to return. In 1769, t h e E n g l i s h m a n J a m e s C o o k , a n d the F r e n c h m a n , d e Surville, a l m o s t s i m u l t a n e o u s l y arrived in A o t e a r o a - N e w Zealand. C o o k c i r c u m n a v i g a t e d the land, a n d his m a p s a n d i n f o r m a t i o n led to E u r o p e a n s e t t l e m e n t c o m m e n c i n g . E u r o p e a n s first c a m e for t i m b e r a n d flax, seals a n d whales. T h e r e w e r e a d v e n turers a n d speculators, e s c a p e d convicts f r o m S y d n e y and o t h e r u n s a v o u r y settlers. I h e i n t r o d u c t i o n of m u s k e t s u p s e t t h e o f t e n delicate balance of p o w e r b e t w e e n M a o r i tribes, a n d E u r o p e a n diseases such as measles a n d i n f l u e n z a also f u r t h e r e d the d e c l i n e of t h e M a o r i p o p u l a t i o n . Christianity spread a m o n g M a o r i t h r o u g h c o n t a c t with E u r o p e a n s living in N e w Zealand, t h r o u g h M a o r i such as R u a t a r a . a N g a P u h i l e a d e r w h o had travelled overseas, a n d t h r o u g h t h e c o m i n g of E u r o p e a n missionaries b e g i n n i n g with S a m u e l M a r s d e n in 1814. A l t h o u g h Britain was disinclined to a d d N e w Zealand to its colonies, missionaries w e r e a m o n g t h o s e p r e s s u r i n g f o r a treaty. T h e Treaty of Waitangi, signed in 1840, g u a r a n t e e d M a o r i t h e i r rights a n d p r o p e r t y a n d c e d e d g o v e r n m e n t to t h e Q u e e n ot E n g l a n d . O n c e this h a d Background

7

occurred, a bishop was appointed for N e w Zealand. George Augustus Selwyn was consecrated in 1841 and arrived in N e w Zealand in 1842. Due to an error on his Letters Patent, the northern border of his diocese was given as 34° 30' north rather than south! (This was probably incorporated from the error of Captain Hobson who, in proclaiming Queen Victoria's sovereignty, gave this latitude for N e w Zealand in his despatch.) Moreover, the Archbishop of Canterbury had encouraged Selwyn in a letter to view N e w Zealand as a 'fountain diffusing the streams of salvation over the islands and coasts of the Pacific.' 1 And so, until the foundation of an i n d e p e n d e n t Anglican province in 1975, Melanesia was part of the Anglican province of N e w Zealand. On 13 J u n e 1857, at a General Conference held at Auckland, a Constitution of the Anglican Church in N e w Zealand was agreed to. In the f u n d a m e n t a l clauses of this Constitution the Anglican Church was seen as a branch of the United Church of England and Ireland in N e w Zealand, with the same doctrines, sacraments, Book of C o m m o n Prayer, Ordinal, Articles, and authorized version of the Scriptures. General Synod was constituted to govern this 'branch' but it would have no power to alter these 'above-named Formularies of the Church' except u n d e r rigorously defined conditions. Changes adopted in the United Church of England and Ireland, with the consent of the Crown and of Convocation, could be accepted in N e w Zealand. Furthermore, a licence could be granted by the Crown to make changes in N e w Zealand which would not affect doctrine. And finally, if N e w Zealand separated from England, or the Church was disestablished in England and Ireland, then ' G e n e r a l S y n o d shall have full power to make such alterations in the Articles, Services, and Ceremonies of this Branch of the United Church of England and Ireland in New Zealand as its altered circumstances may require." (Clause 4 of the Constitution). Even so, no indication was given in 1857 by what process such alterations would be enacted. T h e Anglican Church in N e w Zealand was a voluntary compact, a group of people who gathered in agreement to the 1857 Constitution. All property or the Church was tied to the doctrine and practice specified in the Constitution, and any change in these could endanger the legal ownership of the Church's property. T h e Church was a holder of trust property u n d e r the N e w Zealand Parliament's Religious, Charitable and Educational Trusts Act of 1856. Hence, until 1928 when the Church went to Parliament to remedy this defect in the Constitution, there was no legal way to change doctrine or practice without threatening the Church's property. T h e Constitution established a General Synod of three orders (bishops, clergy, and laity) and the consent of a majority of each of them was necessary for all acts of General Synod. Each diocese also has a diocesan synod, whicn follows a similar structure to General Synod. N o n - f u n d a m e n t a l clauses in the Constitution can be changed by a proposal at General Synod being referred to Diocesan Synods and then agreed to by the next General Synod. Diocesan bishops are elected in the Diocesan Synod by the majority of clergy and laity, and this 1

8

H. W. Tucker, Memoir of the Life and Episcopate of George Augustus Selu'vn London, 1879). vol.1, p.85.

The Anglican Eucharist in S'ac Zealand

1814-1989

(Gardner.

nomination is sanctioned either by General Synod or by the majority of Standing C o m m i t t e e s of the dioceses. After this the Archbishop announces the bishop-elect. In theory, then, the dioceses are the f u n d a m e n t a l units of the N e w Zealand Church. In practice each diocese has tended to take on a particular feel. Some have tended more to a particular 'churchmanship', or, because for example the proportion of Maori and Polynesian people increases the further north one goes, there may be a different cultural mix or expression. In March 1865 the Westbury J u d g e m e n t of the Judicial C o m m i t t e e of the Privy Council in England ruled that trie Crown had no power to create dioceses or bishops for colonies possessing an independent legislature. T h e N e w Zealand bishops resigned their Letters Patent from the Queen and reported this to the 1868 General Synod. Except for the formularies, this completed the independence of the N e w Zealand Anglican Church from the Church of England. Mostly in response to Maori religious movements, the first Maori bishop, F. A. Bennet, was consecrated within the diocese of Waiapu in 1928 as Suffragan Bishop of Aotearoa. It was an historical event. T h e bishop, however, could not attend Genera! Synod except when elected as a clerical representative, and he required permission f r o m diocesan bishops to minister to Maori outside Waiapu. In 1978 Ie Pihopatanga o Aotearoa (the Bishopric of Aotearoa) was established by General Synod. T h e bishop now shared oversight of Maori with each diocesan bishop. As well as the three streams already mentioned, the Anglican work a m o n g Maori people, in Melanesian islands, and a m o n g European settlers, there was also Anglican missionary work in Polynesia which resulted in the Diocese ot Polynesia becoming an Associated Missionary Diocese in 1925, and a full Diocese in 1990. With the creation of the independent Melanesian Province in 1975, the three remaining streams have been working towards a partnership which acknowledges cultural differences as well as interdependence, with a revision of the Constitution ratified at General Synod (May 1992) being a very important step along the way. In the revised Constitution Te Runanga o le Pihopatanga o Aotearoa, the Diocese of Polynesia, and the Diocesan Synods in N e w Zealand, form an equal partnership in the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, N e w Zealand and Polynesia. Where previously a majority of Diocesan Synods was required for any agreements, for example, this now requires assent from Ie Runanga o Te Pihopatanga o Aotearoa, the Diocese of Polynesia and a majority of the Diocesan Synods in N e w Zealand. This changing environment is the context for the story ot how Pakeha worship has slowly begun to recognize that the eucharist in N e w Zealand is not being celebrated in a group of islands just off the coast of Britain. It is in the Pacific and below a Southern Cross that bread is being broken.

Background

9

2. Beginnings Although no records exist, it seems most likely that the first eucharists in N e w Zealand would have been masses said by Fr. Paul-Antoine Leonard de V'illefeix, the Dominican chaplain on the Saint-Jean Baptiste, in December 1769. T h e first recorded celebration of holy c o m m u n i o n in N e w Zealand occurred on Christmas day, Sunday 25 December 1814. In the evening, aboard the brig, the Active, after the f a m o u s first Anglican service at Rangihoua, the Rev. Samuel Marsden 'administered the Holy Sacrament in remembrance of o u r Saviour's birth and what H e had done and suffered for us.' 1 Such a terse description is typical of most nineteenth century accounts of c o m m u n i o n services in N e w Zealand. We can surmise from these brief references that the form of celebration was that to which Anglicans were accustomed in England, however much it may have been adapted to the missionary situation or coloured by Evangelical 'churchmanship'. This chapter, then, briefly backgrounds this Anglican euchanstic inheritance from the Reformation, as well as the Evangelical and Catholic movements that influenced it. It then describes some of tne influence of Bishop George Augustus Selwyn whose arrival in N e w Zealand heralded the establishment of an i n d e p e n d e n t province free from the erastianism which would plague ritual controversies in England. During this era the 1662 Book of Common Prayer was embodied in the unalterable Fundamental Provisions of the Constitution of this province. T h e c o m m u n i o n was celebrated from The Book of Common Prayer with hymns and prayers (often intoned) in newly built 'Gothic' churches (often wooden), with the congregation using bench pews. Many attitudes, in even the most recent understandings of the service of holy c o m m u n i o n in N e w Zealand, can be traced to changes that the English Reformation had made to the medieval non-communicating mass. C r a n m e r stressed the centrality of the cross and our unworthiness (a confession of sin at the eucharist by the whole congregation was first introduced in the Reformation period). H e was particularly weak on thanksgiving and praise. In The Book of Common Prayer the N e w Zealand Anglican Church inherited a c o m m u n i o n rite which embodied these features. It is the interpretation of many that in the rearranging and truncating of the euchanstic prayer, the 1552 revision was producing a rite that had reception of c o m m u n i o n effectively in the middle of the revised 1549 euchanstic prayer at precisely the place where the elevation had occurred in the medieval rite. After the reception of c o m m u n i o n , the 'Prayer of Oblation' (or alternatively the 'Prayer of Thanksgiving') continued the euchanstic prayer. Tnat reception occurred in the middle of Cranmer's euchanstic prayer was distorted by two additions in 1662. T h e title 'the Prayer of Consecration' was

1

S a m u e l M a r s d e n , The Letters and journals of Samuel Marsden 1765-1838, (ed. J o h n R a w s o n E l d e r ) ( C o u l l s S o m e r v i l l e W i l k i e a n d A. H . R e e d . D u n c d i n . 1932). p.94.

10

The Anglican Eucharist in Mew Zealand

1814-1989

inserted for the preamble and narrative of the institution of the Lord's Supper. Furthermore, an 'Amen' was introduced after this institution narrative, clearly concluding the 'consecration' at this point. These apparently minor changes reinforced the common western understanding of consecration as effected by the priest's recitation o f the institution narrative.1 For many Anglicans this continues to influence the theory of consecration as well as the manner in which the institution narrative is proclaimed, and the ritual gestures, elevations, genuflections, and so on. associated with it. Cranmer's intention of a weekly Sunday service of the Lord's Supper was not fulfilled. In the eighteenth century, however, a movement began which may he termed 'Evangelical Anglicanism' and these Evangelicals increased the frequency of celebrating communion to monthly from the four times a year which had become the accepted pattern. Such astress on frequent communion had not been seen since the Non-Jurors. At the heart of the Evangelical revival was personal conversion, and it was the desire to share this which led to an interest in missions. Several voluntary missionary organisations had already been founded in the eighteenth century when the Church Missionary Society (CMS) was established on 12 April 1799. Samuel Marsden (1765-1838), who was identified with the Evangelical movement, was a chaplain to the convict colony of New South Wales when he proposed to the CMS in 1808 that it send missionaries to New Zealand. Until the arrival of Selwyn, it was the Evangelical clergy from the C M S who presided at the holy communion in New Zealand. Our early records of these eucharists, for example in the journal fragment of Octavius Hadfield (1839) and the letters and journals of William and Jane Williams, give no reason to suppose that there was any novelty involved. Henry Williams regularly writes in his journals, 'service as usual: administered the sacrament. Its frequency shows no particular pattern as he travelled about but appears rather to be related to the shortage of clergy in most areas. Missionaries journeyed around and services of holy communion were celebrated whenever possible, in people's houses, aboard boats, often with Christian Maori, in the morning, afternoon or evening. Hadfield's extant two and a half month journal fragment o f 1839 mentions tne Lord's Supper explicitly three times. The first account gives some idea o f his feelings as he presided alone for the first time: 'Administered the Lord's Supper for the first time by myself, enjoyed a blessed feast, oh! I wonder when I may again meet with so many Christian friends around the Lord's table.' 2 The Prayer Book does not appear to have been followed inflexibly. In these early records, the Scripture reference o f the sermon is often given, and from these we can deduce that there was no subservience to the lectionary o f The Book o] Common Prayer. Confirmation was not a requirement for receiving the sacrament. Intercommunion between Anglicans and Methodists was common. 1

2

In 1662 there was also added the consecration for further elements if they should run out. This too was accomplished by merely repeating part of the institution narrative. 6 October 1839. 'The Hadfield Journal' in 11. W. Monaghan, From Age to AgeCThe Stand ing C o m m i t t e e o f the Diocese o f Wellington, 1957), p.226.

Beginnings

11

During this missionary period, new m o v e m e n t s were beginning in England which would alter eucharistic worship both there and in N e w Zealand. T h e Assize Sermon of J o h n Keble on 14 July 1833 is regarded as the beginning of the Oxford orTractarian movement. T h e f o u n d i n g in May 1839 of the Cambridge C a m d e n Society for the study of G o t h i c Architecture and Ritual Arts can De regarded as the beginning of the Ritualist movement. T h e Tractarian and Ritualist m o v e m e n t s were originally opposed to o n e another. They mutually influenced one another, however, until their streams merged in the second generation to form Anglo-Catholicism. Evangelicalism and Anglo-Catholicism were originally not antithetical, however their positions polarized, in particular through a series of acrimonious court cases in England. Many factors encouraged the a p p o i n t m e n t of an Anglican bishop for N e w Zealand. A m o n g t h e m were the advance of C M S missionaries in N e w Zealand as well as the need for a new cohesiveness in the Anglican mission. T h e arrival of the Roman Catholic Bishop P o m p a l l i e r o n 10 January 1838 had increased the prestige of the R o m a n Catholic mission. Pressure from the settlers and the proclamation of British sovereignty were also important. And so Selwyn, the first and only Bishop of N e w Zealand, arrived on 30 May 1842. Selwyn had been ordained deacon in the m o n t h before Keble's Assize Sermon, and his High Church attitudes and anti-erastianism gave him m u c h in c o m m o n with the Tractarian movement. H e was also a patron of the Cambridge C a m d e n Society. They provided him with m u c h advice on the building of Norman churches in stone because the 'rudeness and massiveness, and the grotesque character of its sculpture | would] probably render it easier to be understood and appreciated by [Maori]'! 1 This advice Selwyn ignored. Instead, the w o o d e n colonial Gothic churches which he promoted have d o n e much to shape the way the Anglican eucharist is celebrated in N e w Zealand to this day. It appears that Selwyn regularly wore a cassock, and for services he would have worn a surplice, scarf and nood (or possibly a rochet and chimere). H e used a cross and candles on the altar at St. John's (the theological college in Auckland). Much of the service would have been intoned and h y m n s w o u l a h a v e f o r m e d an important part of the service. Selwyn required intercommunion with other denominations to cease. S o m e of these features, and others imagined, led to Bishop Selwyn regularly being called a 'Puseyite'. Certainly through his influence and nis visit to England in 1854-55, priests came to N e w Zealand who, like Selwyn, did not belong to the Evangelical party. There were of course many similarities with the Evangelicals who, in N e w Zealand, were slower to undergo the polarization experienced in England. Selwyn's desire for frequent celebration of the holy c o m m u n i o n , for example, did nor clash with the early Evangelical ideals held by the CMS. As Selwyn worked towards a Constitution for the Anglican Church in N e w Zealand, a central principle was 'that neither the Doctrines nor the Ritual of the Church of England . . . shall in any way be subject to the General Convention.' 1 In

1

The Ecclesiologist. Vol I. No. 1, N o v e m b e r 1841 (Stevenson, Cambridge, 1893), p.4.

12

The Anglican Eucharist in Neii' Zealand

1814-1989

his visit to E n g l a n d this helped to quieten s o m e d i s c o n t e n t that Selwyn's calling of a Synod had provoked there. O n 14 M a y 1857 a conference m e t at St. S t e p h e n ' s C h a p e l in Auckland a n d ratified t h e C o n s t i t u t i o n which contains t h e following ' F u n d a m e n t a l Provision' (Clause 1): 'This Branch of t h e U n i t e d C h u r c h of England and Ireland in N e w Zealand d o t h hold a n d maintain the Doctrine and Sacraments of C H R I S T as t h e L O R D hath c o m m a n d e d in His H o l y W o r d , and as t h e U n i t e d C h u r c h of England a n d Ireland hath received and explained t h e s a m e in t h e Book of C o m m o n Prayer, in t h e Form a n d M a n n e r of Making, Ordaining, and Consecrating of Bishops, Priests, a n d Deacons, a n d in t n e T h i r t y - n i n e Articles of Religion. And t n e General Synod hereinafter constituted for t h e governm e n t of this Branch of t h e said C h u r c h shall also hold and m a i n t a i n t h e said Doctrine a n d Sacraments of C H R I S T , a n d shall have no p o w e r t o m a k e a n y alteration in t h e authorized version of the I loly Scriptures, or in t h e aboven a m e d Formularies of the Church.' 1 And so an i n d e p e n d e n t province was born, with a C o n s t i t u t i o n that t e n d e d to militate against c h a n g e in eucharistic practice. W h i l e riots a n d c o u r t actions followed in the wake of the Ritualist m o v e m e n t in England, N e w Zealand was m a i n t a i n i n g a relatively h o m o g e n e o u s style of eucharistic worship. T h e Evangelical missionary a p p r o a c h had given way to a settled, colonial attitude. From t h e time of t h e arrival of Bishop Selwyn, descriptions of t h e eucharist include references to the scarf, h o o d , surplice a n d g o w n worn by t h e priest ( n o w s o m e t i m e s called t h e 'celebrant'). S o m e choirs and s o m e licensed lay readers also began wearing surplices. T h e r e was m u c h use of m u s i c in t h e services with singing at the holy c o m m u n i o n the n o r m . It a p p e a r s that the service of MorningPrayer, which w o u l d have been m o r e familiar to congregations, o f t e n replaced the part of t h e holy c o m m u n i o n service u p to the Offertory. S o m e departed after M o r n i n g Prayer, n o t r e m a i n i n g to receive c o m m u n i o n . Isolation f r o m t h e issues 'at h o m e ' in England, however, did n o t p r e v e n t the ritual controversies a n d eucharistic changes f r o m reaching N e w Zealand's shores. T h e reliance o n England for priests and bishops, and t h e c h a n g i n g lifestyle of t h e settlers m a d e it inevitable that t h e English m o v e m e n t s and disputes, t h o u g h delayed, would arrive.

1

Selwyn's pastoral letter of 19 April 1852. Cited in John II. Iivans. Churchman (George Allen & L n w i n , London, 1964). p.141.

Beginning,

Militant

IJ

3. Eucharistie Controversies Apart from the claims that Selwyn was a Puseyite, Anglicans in N e w Zealand were free from the party divisions that raged in England. M o s t Anglican colonists were low church (of the non-party type that preceded the Oxford movement). M a n y feared prelacy and most were strongly against the papacy. They were usually conservative and pragmatic, focusing on getting established in a new land. After the first generation, however, the prospering colony began to look for Victorian luxuries in church as well as home. With New Zealand's continuing dependence on England for clergy, it was inevitable that the eucharistic homogeneity of the early settler period would break down. In this chapter the Jenner controversy, the Carlyon case and the Perry-Gosset case mark a progression from a repugnance for ritual innovations in the eucharist, to the official acceptance of congregational diversity in both thought and practice. T h e details of each of these cases are complex. Because of the necessary brevity of this chapter, only summaries of them will be presented. T h e focus here is on the N e w Zealand attitude to Ritualism which these cases revealed. T h e Jenner controversy is unique in Anglican history, for it is the story of a priest w h o was consecrated but never became a diocesan, suffragan or assistant bishop. T h e controversy can be seen as a constitutional issue which illuminates the use of authority by Selwyn, Harper 1 , and others. At its heart it is clear that if the charge of'Ritualism' had not been m a d e against Jenner, he would have taken u p the role of the first Bishop of Dunedin without animosity. T h e discovery of gold at Gabriel's Gully had encouraged the establishment of an Otago and Southland Bishopric Fund in January 1862. With N e w Zealand having its own legislature, the issuing of Royal letters patent no longer applied. There was, however, as yet no other system for the creation of a new diocese and the a p p o i n t m e n t of its first bishop. Before the E n d o w m e n t Fund was completed, Selwyn had, without the Rural Deanery Board's permission, requested Archbishop Longley of Canterbury to choose a clergyman to be the Bishop of Dunedin. Longley responded promptly and appointed Henry Lascelles Jenner. As the gold flow had slowed so had the growth of the E n d o w m e n t Fund. A Board motion to delay Jenner's coming because of lack of funds, however, was vetoed by Harper and not forwarded to England. On 24 August 1866 Archbishop Longley consecrated J e n n e r in Canterbury Cathedral along with the Rev. A. B. Suter who had been constitutionally elected to be bishop of the vacant see of Nelson. In England the 1860s were a time of heated ritual controversies. Jenner was the secretary of the Cambridge C a m d e n Society and the first Ritualist to be m a d e a 1

H a r p e r w a s t h e first B i s h o p of C h r i s t c h u r c h , w h i c h also i n c l u d e d j u r i s d i c t i o n o v e r O t a g o a n d S o u t h l a n d , n o w parts o f t h e D u n e d i n Diocese.

14

The Anglican Eucharist in New Zealand

1814-1989

bishop. The Ritualist tendencies of Jenner were soon described in the English newspapers. These reports were copied into the New Zealand press, but fears of Jenner's Ritualism were reduced by Harper's eirenic efforts. These appeared to be succeeding when letters arrived in Otago from William Carr Young, an Otago settler who was visiting England. Young had written to Archbishop Longley that 'with the news of the appointment came also certain reports o f Dr Jenner's ritualistic practices, to which 1 am happy to say our Church in Otago (I may add, the Church of New Zealand}, is most firmly and unanimously opposed.' 1 Having visited St Matthias", Stoke Newington, where Bishop Jenner had been invited to attend. Young had 'witnessed the most extravagant scenes, and heard the grossest doctrines .. that ever disgraced a so-called Protestant church. Bishop Jenner not only assisted in that ceremony, but afterwards expressed his "admiration" of the whole service as conducted at St Matthias'. I need hardly say that my only object in attending this Popish ceremony was to see and judge for myself." 2 To the Board Young wrote that at St Matthias' 'A procession, composed o f clergy, choristers, and the Bishop, all more or less gorgeously arrayed . . . proceeded down the middle isle in the following order—Boy carrying on high a large gold cross; choir chanting; boy carrying scarlet ana white banner . . . two boys, each waving censers of burning incense; the clergy . . . then the Bishop . . . the candles on the altar were lighted, and the full service of the Church commenced. A sermon was preached by Mr. Bennet, Vicar of Frome, of Ritualist notoriety, when he extolled Ritualism, and almost advocated the doctrine of Transubstantia tion, and the Infallibility o f the Church. The Bishop pronounced the usual blessing, holding a crazier in his left hand, while describing in the air with his right, what appeared to be very like the sign of the cross . . Altogether the decorations o f the church and on the altar, the genuflexions and signs of the cross, the lighted candles and incense offerings, were as complete as could be in a Roman Catholic Chapel; and yet all this took place in a professed Protestant Church, in the centre of England.' 3 We know that Young continued to exaggerate the extremity o f Jenner's Ritualism. Jenner had acted in accordance with The Book of Common Prayer and rather than being 'gorgeously arrayed' had worn the regular black chimere with academic hood. 1 le had not condoned the style of service, but had praised the choir. Young had no response when asked why he had not visited Jenner's own church to ascertain his practices. In fact the personal ritual attitudes of Jenner remain unclear, though ne did not hide his desire for beauty in services. Jenner's 'John H. Evans, Southern See (Fht Standing Committee of the Diocese of Duncdin, 19681, p.24. 2 Ibid., pp.24-25. ä Ibid.. pp.26-27. Eucharistie Controversies

I5

response to New Zealand's fears was a constant assurance that he had no intention of imposing Ritualism in N e w Zealand. The N e w Zealand attitude to Jenner continued to vacillate until finally in 1868 the focus shifted to General Synod in Auckland. There a special C o m m i t t e e recommended that Synod not confirm Jenner's a p p o i n t m e n t because the E n d o w m e n t Fund was insufficient and would probably be slow to be completed because of Jenner's alleged Ritualist practices. Synod too became very divided a n a finally passed the motion, 'That, whereas the General Synod is of opinion that it is better for the peace of the Church that Bishop Jenner should not take charge of the Bishopric of Dunedin, this Synod hereby requests him to withdraw his claim to that position.' 1 Jenner, as might be expected in one of Catholic convictions, saw the semidemocratic operations of Synods as secondary to his consecration as bishop and proceeded to N e w Zealand in the hope of being accepted by his see. Although he defended his position admirably, and won many to his support, the Dunedin Diocesan Synod, after an all-night sitting, voted against him in the house of laity. Jenner returned to England. T h e 1868 General Synod C o m m i t t e e had intentionally not addressed Jenner's ntual practices but had instead hidden behind the incompleteness of the E n d o w m e n t Fund (which was actually) only a few h u n d r e d p o u n d s from its goal. In ignoring the ritual issue underlying the J e n n e r controversy, General Synod manifested a colonial church not prepared to enter the debate which had been raging now in England for over twenty years. Within a decade, however, the Rev. H. E. Carlyon of Kaiapoi tested the homogeneity of N e w Zealand's eucharistic worship which the J e n n e r controversy had served to underscore. It is clear that even those w h o supported Jenner were not in favour of an alteration in N e w Zealand's eucharistic thought or practices. They were convinced by his claims that he would introduce nothing repugnant to New Zealand Anglicans. Before proceeding to the Carlyon case, it is of value to outline the eucharistic worship experienced throughout New Zealand at this time. The Book of Common Prayer required the services of Morning Prayer, the Litany and at least the antec o m m u n i o n to be used on every Sunday (at the General Synod of 1871 it was stated that the bishop could sanction M o r n i n g Prayer to the third collect followed by holy c o m m u n i o n if the Litany was to be used in the afternoon or evening service and if both the clergyman and the majority of vestry agreed to this modification). The holy c o m m u n i o n was often celebrated monthly. T h e priest, wearing a cassock, surplice and black scarf, dominated the service. Congregational participation was limited to a few responses and an occasional hymn. T h e 'holy table' was bare except for plain (leavened) bread and the chalice of wine, and the priest knelt at the north side of it for the 'Prayer of Consecration'. Choral eucharists imitated Cathedrals, with surpliced choirs processing in, and chanting and intoning in the service. Even these were suspected of being Ritualist innovations. At the Chnstchurch Diocesan Synod of 1871, Harper's

1

Ibid., p.32.

16

The Anglican Eucharist in Sen- Zealand

1814-1989

address presented guidelines for Anglican worship that have an uncanny resemblance to the views expressed by J e n n e r two years before! 'In all cases there m u s t be the joint approval o f Bishop, clergyman, and a majority at least o f the vestry. O u r congregations will nave g o o d cause for c o m p l a i n t if this condition be not steadily adhered to; and it m u s t be understood also as applying to any change in the usual m o d e o f celebrating Divine Service—such, for instance, as trie intoning the service or parts o f the service. I am far from wishing there should be a rigid uniformity in this respect; 1 consider it a great advantage that o u r services should be variously celebrated at different churches, so long as the m o d e o f celebration be such as o u r Prayer B o o k allows. W e are not all constituted alike, and what may be a hindrance to s o m e in the exercise o f their devotional feelings, is to others a real help and refreshment. But no individual, w h e t h e r Bishop or clergyman, has a right to dictate to a congregation what is most agreeable to himself; still less to introduce changes in the services and the usual m o d e o f performing them, even though s o m e sanction to such changes may be given in the rubric.' 1 This a m o u n t e d to an official acceptance o f o n e o f the creations o f the Catholic revival in Anglicanism, 'Congregationalism'. N o longer would the Anglican church have 'one use'. It was recognized that the homogeneity o f the pragmatic 'colonial evangelicalism' was beginning to fragment as growing affluence encouraged Victorian elegance in both drawing room and chancel. On 6 J u n e 1875 Harper instituted H e r b e r t Edward Carlyon as Vicar o f Kaiapoi (near Christchurch). T h e vestry approved o f his introduction o f communion on every Sunday and Saint's day. T h e r e was dissatisfaction, however, with other changes that Carlyon soon made. In relation to c o m m u n i o n it appears he mixed water with the wine, presided in the eastward position, elevated the sacrament at the 'consecration', made the sign o f the cross with the chalice when administering it, had seven-branch candlesticks, and had admitted a server within the c o m m u n i o n rails. Furthermore Carlyon believed that in the eucharist the bread and the wine were Christ's body and blood understood in a literal sense. In N o v e m b e r 1875, a C o m m i s s i o n o f Inquiry sat and the evidence collected was passed on to Harper. T h e bishop, however, exonerated Carlyon. H e judged many o f Carlyon's ideas and practices, his belief in the real presence, and eastward celebration, to be witnin Anglican comprehensiveness. At Harper's reauest, Carlyon had already discontinued his use o f a server, and now the bisnop ordered the ceasing o f the mixed chalice and elevation because, as the bishop wrote to the Kaiapoi Vestrymen, 'they certainly . . . failed at Kaiapoi in promoting those devout and reverential feelings which are and ought to be the chief end o f all ceremonial observances.' 2

1 2

Diocese of Christchurch—Proceedings of Synod, 1871, pp.6-7 Cited in H. M. Bowron, 'Anglo-Catholicism in the Diocese of Christchurch 1850-1920' (Unpublished M.A. Thesis, University of Canterbury, 1975). p. 100.

Eucharistie

Controversies

17

A special general meeting was called, however, at which, by a majority of seven, a motion was passed requesting Carlyon's resignation. Harper's patience waned as this acrimonious struggle was aired in both the secular and religious press, and Carlyon refused to give u p the mixed chalice. Carlyon, moreover, was supported by a new vestry. H e wrote to H a r p e r that 'My present m o d e of conducting the Divine Service i s f a r below the standard positively prescribed by the Book of C o m m o n Prayer and the only reason why I thus deliberately neglect to obey the Church is that I wish to teach the people to desire conformity and so make it as much their act as my own.' 1 In September 1876 Dean Jacobs of Christchurch and four residents of Kaiapoi charged Carlyon in the Ecclesiastical Court. H a r p e r could have prevented the court hearing as he had acquitted Carlyon on similar charges. T h e court proceeded, however, and placed eleven charges before the bishops of Auckland, Wellington, Nelson and Dunedin. These found him guilty of seven charges. Of these the eucharistic charges were: holding doctrine contrary to the Church of England, using wafers, elevating the chalice, and adopting the eastward position. Even though the parish was in financial difficulties it was now fully behind Carlyon and threatened to secede to the Old Catholics. Carlyon returned to England claiming that he would discuss the issues with eminent theologians. H e had gone before H a r p e r officially removed him from his incumbency. A new vicar was installed and Carlyon sent H a r p e r a retraction from England. O n e of the four bishops w h o had c o n d e m n e d Carlyon, Samuel Tarratt Nevill, a decade later had a similar case within his own diocese of Dunedin. As with Carlyon, the vestry of Roslyn (Dunedin) called for the resignation of the Rev. R. A. Kerkham and threatened to withhold his stipend. H e had introduced a processional cross and coloured cassocks in St. Jonn's Roslyn and 'more advanced' ritual at the Church of the G o o d Shepherd in Wakari. His wife's conversion to Roman Catholicism did not help his image. Although Nevill sided with Kerkham, the latter resigned and returned to England in 1889. Nevill's attitude encouraged the ministry of the Rev. William Curzon-Siggers w h o introduced vestments at St. Matthew's (Dunedin) in 1896 and candies in 1897. T h e former were not approved of by Nevill, w h o nonetheless did not suppress them. Curzon-Siggers' long ministry at St Matthew's (1896-1922) prefigured the moderate Catholic position of the present Dunedin diocese. 2 In Auckland, M. R. Neligan was consecrated bishop in 1903, and for many his episcopacy marks the beginning of Catholic revival in N e w Zealand as he went to England to appeal for clergy who were 'Catholics without frills'. Such a dating, however, appears too late, more especially as in Christchurch eucharistic vestments had been worn since 1880 when the Rev. H.J. C. Gilbert as vicar of the 1

Ibid., p. 110.

2

It is an i r o n y of historv t h a t since 1955 St. M a t t h e w ' s f o r m s an Kvangelical e n c l a v e w i t h i n it'

18

The Anglican Eucharist in New Zealand

1814-1989

Church of the G o o d Shepherd, Phillipstown, was given a white linen set by B. W. M o u n t f o r t . M o u n t f o r t was an architect w h o furthermore influenced N e w Zealand eucharistic practice by his design of churches which followed the principles of the Cambridge C a m d e n Society (he designed thirty in Canterbury, in the Diocese of Christchurch, and ten t h r o u g h o u t the rest of the country). In 1910 sixteen missioners with a commission from the Archbishops of Canterbury and York undertook the 'General Mission of Help' throughout N e w Zealand. Many of the missioners were of Anglo-Catholic persuasion and their gentle approaches led to the softening of attitudes to Anglo-Catholicism a m o n g many. In that same year the Rev. Harry Darwin Burton had introduced vestments and daily mass on his arrival at St Michael's in Christchurch. H e also introduced a sung mass at 11 am. on Sundays. Some people even received comm u n i o n at their local parish church before proceeding on to St Michael's. A memorial was presented to Bishop Julius (Harper's successor) requesting him to see that Ritualist practices were discontinued. T h e bishop delayed to give a full response until t h e meeting of the Christchurch Synod. Bishop Julius' address to Synod in September 1911 was a major landmark in the debate on Ritualism in N e w Zealand. 'We share with the Church of Rome the faith which the Church has held for eighteen h u n d r e d years of the Eucharistic Sacrifice, and of the Real Presence of Christ in the Sacrament. We explain them differently, and we express them differently, but we hold the same faith . . . In themselves vestments . . . are doubtless innocent of any doctrinal significance whatsoever; . . . It appears that Vestments are ordered to be used u n d e r the law of the Prayer Book, by which alone we are governed and controlled in such matters; that this view of the law obtained very widely at the time when our Constitution was formed; and that the only Courts to which we C h u r c h m e n can appeal in the matter, are o u r own Church Courts, duly constituted . . . O n this subject [of wafer bread] . .. The Rubric concerning the bread to be used at H o l y C o m m u n i o n is somewhat ambiguous. .. . S o m e Elevation is necessary, for the Priest is instructed to take the Paten and C u p into his hands. T h e Elevation of the Sacred Elements before G o d is consonant with the doctrine of the Church in all ages. Elevation before the people, for the purpose of adoration . . . is contrary to the doctrine of o u r Church.' 1 On 26 May 1916 the Rev. C. E. Perry was instituted as Burton's successor in St. Michael's. The only change he made was to place the 'Prayer of Oblation' immediately after the 'Prayer of Consecration'. This 'Interim Rite' (suggested in 1911 by the liturgical scholar W. H. Erere) restored the eucharistic prayer somewhat to its 1549 form and was popular with some Anglo-Catholics as it stressed the eucharistic sacrifice and had a closer resemblance to the Roman Catholic eucharistic prayer. It was the attendance at the funeral of Mrs El. W. Bishop by Archdeacon C. I J. Gosset on 5 January 1918 which precipitated the 'Perry-Gosset case'. Bishop Julius had taken part in this funeral, and Gosset complained to him. W h e n the 1

Diocese o] Christchurch—

Yearbook, 1911. pp.17-20.

Eucharistic Controversies

19

charge. It is clear that Gosset's o b j e c t was n o t Perry but the bishop's sheltering o f Anglo-Catholicism in Christchurch. G o s s e t was not satisfied with J u l i u s ' decision delivered on 3 O c t o b e r after a public meeting in August, and lodged his complaint with the Church's court o f appeal consisting o f all N e w Zealand's bishops. Finally on 8 O c t o b e r 1919 Julius pronounced on the three charges on which Perry had been found guilty. O n most charges Perry had been acquitted but Perry's continuing o f Burton's practice o f reserving the sacrament in a tabernacle with a light was to be altered to reservation in an aumbry. Fasting before c o m m u n i o n was not mandatory. T h e ringing o f the sanctuary bell (but not o f the church bell) at the consecration was forbidden. T h e a n n o u n c e m e n t 'Behold the L a m b o f G o d ' to the congregation before reception was also forbidden. T h e Perry-Gossetcase is a N e w Zealand parallel to the Lincoln case in England in 1890. T h e Perry-Gosset j u d g m e n t declared m a n y Anglo-Catholic e u c h a n s t i c practices allowable in N e w Zealand: reservation when authorized by a bishop, genuflecting in the Creed, crucifixes and o t h e r ornaments. G o s s e t had not challenged the use o f vestments, wafers, o r elevation, on which Julius had pronounced in 1911. By 1920 a wide diversity o f eucharistic t h o u g h t and practice was officially sanctioned throughout New Zealand. In areas o f dispute, the bishops had moved towards a more C a t h o l i c interpretation o f t h e i r f u n c t i o n and had b e c o m e the focus o f this authorisation. T h e Prayer B o o k was now being adapted in a variety o f fashions and as a result Congregationalism in eucharistic worship in the Anglican church in N e w Zealand was there to stay.

20

The Anglican Eucharist in Neu- Zealand

¡814-1989

4. Eucharistic Developments 1920 to 1960 In England t h e ritual controversies there resulted in the a p p o i n t m e n t in 1904 of a Royal C o m m i s s i o n on Ecclesiastical Discipline. Its report in 1906 r e c o m m e n ded a m o n g o t h e r things t h e suppression of the use of t h e R o m a n Catholic eucharistic prayer, of reservation, a n d of prayers for souls in purgatory. It concluded, however, 'that t h e law of public w o r s h i p in t h e C h u r c h of E n g l a n d is t o o narrow for t h e religious life of the present generation . . . [and that] the machinery for discipline has broken down.' 1 After a tedious process t h e bishops presented a revised Prayer Book to t h e C h u r c h Assembly in July 1927. Although it received o v e r w h e l m i n g s u p p o r t in t h e Assembly (517 votes to 133), it was resisted by b o t h Evangelicals a n d AngloCatholics. T h e m a i n issues were t h e eucharistic prayer a n d the regulation concerning reservation. After a m e n d m e n t s it was a p p r o v e d again by t h e Assembly in April 1928, b u t rejected by t h e H o u s e of C o m m o n s by 266 votes to 220. T h e response of t h e bishops was to publish t h e 1928 b o o k as a private v e n t u r e and in 1929 they issued a s t a t e m e n t t h a t they w o u l d n o t 'regard as inconsistent with loyalty to t h e principles of the C h u r c h of England the use of such additions o r deviations as fall within t h e limits of these proposals. For t h e s a m e reason they m u s t regard as inconsistent with C h u r c h O r d e r t h e use of any o t h e r deviations f r o m or a d d i t i o n s to the Forms and O r d e r s c o n t a i n e d in t h e Book of 1662.' 2 T h e bishops claim of jus liturgicum (the intrinsic right of bishops to regulate the liturgical life within their respective dioceses), although generally u n q u e s tioned, had n o legal basis in England. In s o m e o t h e r provinces, u n h a m p e r e d by t h e State, t h e 1928 Prayer Book stimulated similar revisions. In N e w Zealand revision was h i n d e r e d by t h e C o n s t i t u t i o n . The C o n s t i t u t i o n had f r o m its inception been a subject of dispute. At t h e first General Synod in 1859 its authority was q u e s t i o n e d , and t h e second General Synod was boycotted by the Christchurch Diocese with only Bishop H a r p e r attending. This led to an a m e n d i n g of t h e C o n s t i t u t i o n in 1865. T h e desire to alter the formularies and a d a p t f o r m s of w o r s h i p was constantly raised. As early as 1877 I i a r p e r as Primate, in his address to G e n e r a l Synod in Cnristchurch, presented t h e o p t i o n of altering formularies by a ma]ority of Diocesan Synods assenting to an alteration a n d f i n a l l y t w o thirds in each O r d e r of G e n e r a l Synod voting in f a v o u r of it. F u r t h e r m o r e , there would be n o possibility of c h a n g i n g doctrine. At t h e 1925 G e n e r a l Synod, a Christchurch C o m m i s s i o n r e c o m m e n d e d that Parliament be asked to pass an Act e n a b l i n g G e n e r a l Synod to m a k e alterations to the formularies and t h e Authorized Version of t h e Bible in m u c h the same m a n n e r as suggested half a century earlier. T h e C h u r c h of England E m p o w e r i n g Act 1928, w h e n passed on 6 October 1928. effectively replaced clauses two, ' Ci.J. C u m i n g . A History of Anglican

2

Liturvy

(Macmillan. London, 1969), pp.211-212.

Ibid., p.221 Eucharistic Developments

1920 to i960

21

three, and fourof the Constitution. Two additions to the 1877 proposal had been incorporated. These were that there be an appellate tribunal and tne clarification that General Synod could not depart from the Doctrine and Sacraments of Christ as defined in clause one of the Constitution.' (Clause 3 of the Act). An appeal can be lodged to the tribunal within a year of confirmation of an alteration by General Synod. For the appeal to fail at least two thirds of the tribunal must vote against it. Although this Empowering Act became more topical with the defeat of the 1928 Prayer Book in England, no official alteration to eucharlstic formularies in N e w Zealand was to eventuate from the Empowering Act for another three decades. In N e w Zealand much of the 1928 Prayer Book was increasingly popular. Clergy who had been using it in England continued using it when ministering in New Zealand. M a n y did not even Know it was not authorised in N e w Zealand and no ecclesiastical court cases resulted from its use. All of the 'Alternative Order of the Ministration of H o l y C o m m u n i o n was used regularly except for the alternative eucharistic prayer. Some would have been aware of tne theological debates about this eucnaristic prayer, but for many (most?) it was just too long. It seemed to them to add much that was unnecessary to the institution narrative which, since the 1662 Prayer Book, had been the essence of the Prayer of Consecration. T h e popularity of a great deal of the 1928 Prayer Book in N e w Zealand was not due to the absence of party positions. Anglo-Catholic Congresses were held from the mid nineteen twenties and the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament was begun by Bishop Cherrington of Waikato in 1926. A N e w Zealand Church Fellowship (formed in 1930 and becoming the N e w Zealand Church Union in 1935) also furthered Anglo-Catholic ideals as did the Guild of the Servants of the Sanctuary. Surprisingly the Evangelical C h u r c h m e n ' s Fellowship (later Anglican Evangelical Fellowship then Latimer Fellowship of N e w Zealand) did not form in New Zealand until 1945. Positions on the eucharist polarised and certain actions or dress became signals of one's party. 1 T h e parties, too, were not homogeneous but occasionally a whole diocese was almost monochromancally Evangelical (e.g. Nelson) or Anglo-Catholic (e.g. Waikato and Dunedin). Movements in eucharistic worship had begun, however, which would cut across these party boundaries. Since the 1920s the English Parish C o m m u n i o n M o v e m e n t had been growing in popularity in N e w Zealand. Its catch cry was 'the Lord's own Service on the Lord's own day.' It encouraged a sung eucharist to be held with general comm u n i o n around 9.30 a.m. every Sunday. Although it had come out of the AngloCatholic stable, in the fifties such 'Parish C o m m u n i o n s ' were encouraged by the 1

O n e little k n o w n A n g l o - C a t h o l i c term was ' T A R P m g ' The Book of Common Prayer directed that any r e m a i n i n g c o n s e c r a t e d e l e m e n t s he c o n s u m e d a f t e r t h e blessing. R o m a n practice was to deal with t h e m a n d cleanse t h e chalice, a n d so o n , i m m e d i a t e l y a f t e r t h e c o m m u n i o n a n d b e f o r e the p o s t - c o m m u n i o n prayers. TARPing, Taking t h e A b l u t i o n s at t h e Right (or R o m a n ) Place (!) w a s an o p t i o n i n c o r p o r a t e d into t h e 1966 Liturgy in N e w Zealand.

22

The Anglican Eucharist in Seiv Zealand

1814-1989

English Parish and People m o v e m e n t which gained s u p p o r t f r o m all colours in N e w Zealand except extreme Evangelicals. These objected to the offering theology of the 'Offertory' in which these m o v e m e n t s (in teaching and through 'Offertory Processions') encouraged an understanding of the bread and wine (and cash) as symbolizing the participants' lives which were taken, transformed and sanctified in the c o m m u n i o n . These m o v e m e n t s had antecedents in the eucharistic principles and practices of the Christian Socialists such as F. D.Maurice (1805-72), and in leading English Ritualists such as Charles Lowder (1820-80) and A. H. Mackonochie (1825-87) who had linked eucharistic worship with the c o m m u n a l dimension and social mission of the church. T h e Parish C o m m u n i o n was to focus and e m p o w e r the incarnational mission of the Church. ]n N e w Zealand the address of the Rev. J. R. Maclean of Hastings to the 1955 Dominion conference of the Church of England Men's Society, although it did not explicitly mention the Parish and People movement, typifies many of its ideals. H e said, 'If you want a definition of the church, let it be this: those w h o gather at the altar for the breaking of the bread . . . I am persuaded that it is the Anglican tradition for the local Church to meet Sunday by Sunday for the I loly C o m m u n i o n — t h e Lord's own service, for the Lord's own people, on the Lord's own day. .. 1 would not suggest that this tradition has always been honoured. . . . [Let| The Holy C o m m u n i o n |become| the parish C o m m u nion. Everything possible will be d o n e to ensure that the service is as congregational as possible without going beyond the boundaries of Anglican ways of worship. There will be at least four h y m n s to give the people more voice in the service . . . T h e time of the service will be fixed both for convenience and for conviviality.... Let the service be at 9 a.m. or9.3(). and let it be followed by a social gathering together over a cup of tea, so that, having worshipped together, the communicants might mingle together; it is not enough to pray together, they must also play together . . . fit is| suggested that there might be included in such a service a third Bible reading and a psalm or psalms. T h e reading would be taken from the Old Testament and would follow immediately after the Collect for the day and precede the Epistle... . And of course, there must be a s e r m o n . . . . I'llie length of such a service has been overcome in England] by the bishop of the diocese licensing lay readers or even other suitable men to administer the Chalice. I believe our bishops would do the same if they were persuaded that such a practice would be acceptable to the Church.' 1 That such changes in eucharistic practice affected architecture is not surprising. In 1958 All Saints Ponsonby (Auckland) introduced an altar placed about seven metres forward of the east wall around which the congregation could gather and at which the celebrant could preside facing either east or west. In response to an article on the Ponsonby altar in the Church and People, the Rev. Kenneth Scholar indicated that he had already been presiding in tne westward 1

Church and People, 1 November. 1955. p. IV

Eucharistic Developments

1920 to I960

23

position for five or six years in the chapel ar Wigram air force base (near Christchurch). The westward position, the centrality of the eucharist, and the increased congregational participation can all be seen as Anglican equivalents to the Continental liturgical movement. As part of this increasing participation the congregation had begun to join in saying the Collect for Purity and the Prayer o f Humble Access. T h e newly introduced Offertory processions also provided another opportunity for lay participation. Although Maclean had voiced the general tendency of the movement of working within 'the boundaries o f Anglican ways of worship', the calls for a new lectionary, and congregations' spontaneous responses and participation introduced new pressures for liturgical reform. Until the fifties Anglican liturgical reform had tended to focus either on the restoration of the 1549 or Sarum patterns, or on duplicating Roman Catholic usages. Not since the Nonjurors had the Patristic period been earnestly looked to. But at the first Anglican Congress at Minneapolis (4-13 August, 1954), Professor Massey Shepherd o f U.S.A. and the Dean of Lincoln, Colin Dunlop, highlighted the period o f the early church in two addresses which introduced the discussions on 'Our Worship'. Shepherd pointed to the liturgical documents of the first four centuries which had not been available to the sixteenth century Reformers, while Dunlop explained that though it may have been right in Victorian ecclesiastical triumphalism to be guided by the Church's secure ascendancy of the Middle Ages, in this different world, it was with the Church in the days o f pagan ascendancy and barbarian invasions that there was a new affinity. This Congress paved the way for the Lambeth Conference o f 1958 which gave more serious attention to worship than any o f its predecessors. Thirty-four bishops met in a subcommittee on the Book of Common Prayer. Reapplying Article XXXIV, which condoned separate national uses, the report accepted 'in the different Prayer Books of the Anglican Communion a variety which enriches our worship o f God.' It enumerated features in The Books of Common Prayer which it saw as essential to safeguarding the unity o f the Anglican Communion, as well as effective features for maintaining Anglican doctrinal em phases. Then it 'suggested [six) modifications or additions for the further recovery o f other elements of the worship of the Primitive Church': shorter and fewer exhortations, modified penitence, more litanies, the recovery of the People's Prayers' at the eucharist, the Offertory to be more closely connected with the Prayer of Consecration, and in that prayer, thanksgiving to be forall the principal 'mighty works of God', not just for Calvary. 1 Furthermore, the report recommended the introduction of Old Testament lessons, corresponding with the Epistle or Gospel, and with the readings separated by psalms (or psalm portions) relating to the theme. The sermon should come between Gospel ana Creed, and the Gloria should be moved to the beginning o f the service. Trie understanding of consecration through thanksgiving was highlighted. All these features acted both as a kind of official imprimatur 1

The Lambeth Conference 1958. 2.79.

24

The Anglican Eucharist in New Zealand

1814-1989

of work already u n d e r t a k e n , and also stimulated a w h o l e n e w series of revisions. T h e s u b - c o m m i t t e e ' s a t t e m p t , however, at an eirenic s t a t e m e n t on eucharistic sacrifice was overly optimistic and c o n t i n u e d to prove controversial. T h e C o n ference resolutions e n d o r s e d the s u b - c o m m i t t e e ' s report and requested t h e Archbishop of C a n t e r b u r y (G. F. Fisher) to ' a p p o i n t an Advisory C o m m i t t e e to prepare r e c o m m e n d a t i o n s for the structure of t h e H o l y C o m m u n i o n service which could be taken into consideration by any C h u r c h or Province revising its Eucharistic rite.' 1 T h e b i s h o p s r e t u r n e d to N e w Zealand f r o m L a m b e t h , and at t h e G e n e r a l Synod in H a m i l t o n , c o m p l e t e d the authorization of a n u m b e r of o p t i o n s f r o m the 1928 Prayer Book. W i t h i n t h e e u c h a n s t t h e 1928 provisions n o w a u t h o r i z e d (only with t h e approval of the diocesan bishop) were t h e S u m m a r y of t h e Law and Kyries (as substitutes for t h e Ien C o m m a n d m e n t s ) , t h e additional Collects, Epistles a n d Gospels, t h e Intercession, Proper Prefaces, and t h e C o m m u n i o n of t h e Priest and People. T h e alternative eucharistic prayer was not authorized, nor was t h e m o v i n g of the 'Prayer of H u m b l e Access' to after t h e ' C o m f o r t a b l e Words'. Either w o u l d have g o n e s o m e way to restoring t h e unity of t h e eucharistic prayer. As far as holy c o m m u n i o n was c o n c e r n e d , N e w Zealand had n o w authorized nearly all of the highly p o p u l a r The Shorter Prayer Book. In the President's address to t h e 1958 G e n e r a l Synod, the Archbishop typified t h e attitude of m a n y in o n e of t h e liturgically m o s t conservative provinces of t h e Anglican C o m m u n i o n w h e n he said, 'I d o n o t believe that t h e language of w o r s h i p can be identified entirely with the language of everyday life, n o r d o t h e majority of o u r people wish f o r it. In w o r s h i p there is an e l e m e n t of "holiness," s o m e t h i n g that m a k e s it distinct and separate f r o m the secular things of the world. I believe that little would be gained and m u c h lost if w e sacrificed f o r m s of speech t h a t have stood t h e test of time, which are loved by millions t h e world over, and which can be u n d e r s t o o d with a little t h o u g h t on t h e part of t h e w o r s h i p e r or anvh o w after a little instruction.' 2 Within a d e c a d e these w o r d s w o u l d begin to belong to a n o t h e r era.

1 2

¡bid.. 1.47-48. I he L a m b e t h R e s o l u t i o n 76. Proceedings of General Synod. 1958, p. 18.

liuchamtic

Developments

1920 to I960

25

5. The 1966 Revision The sixties were to break many of the comfortable moulds in New Zealand. They began with N e w Zealand having little u n e m p l o y m e n t and little discontent. Then television and jet travel opened a world larger than the two places called ' h o m e ' (New Zealand and England). T h e Vietnam war, the American civil rights movement, protest demonstrations and progressive liberalization affected N e w Zealand. T h e churches had to speak on these issues, as well as on the contraceptive pill, homosexuality, divorce and so on. T h e Presbyterian minister, Professor Lloyd Geering, was tried for heresy (and acquitted), church union became a viable option, and the Roman Catholic Church was to undergo a revolution and nowhere more so than in its worship. In the area of worship Anglicans too were to begin a significant renewal. Increasingly they were now worshipping at a morning 'Parish C o m m u n i o n ' or Family C o m m u n i o n ' , with evenings given over to television. Significantly, the fifties and sixties saw a p h e n o m e n a l church building boom. Cathedrals were built in Dunedin, Wellington, Waiapu and Auckland. Suburban expansion, reversal of the post-war church attendance slump, and general prosperity, resulted also in new parish churches, with architecture inspired by the European liturgical movement. T h e altar was no longer necessarily in an indented chancel, but often had the congregation on three sides with the priest being able to choose to face the congregation across the altar or not. Older churches too more commonly began to rearrange their chancels and bring their altars forward. In terms of rites, however, the sixties began with N e w Zealand (as well as Australia and England) being behind others in Anglican liturgical renewal. But important movements in the sixties, such as ecumenism, the liturgical movem e n t and charismatic renewal, followed by feminism and Maori rights in the seventies, would ultimately lead to the production in N e w Zealand of the most adventurous prayer book in the Anglican C o m m u n i o n . The tercentenary of The Book of Common Prayer was marked in 1962. Not on ly were there many services to note this milestone, but the celebration of its history underlined the fact that it belonged to a bygone age. The best way to be faithful to its spirit was to revise its content. England and Australia began working on euchanstic revisions. N e w Zealand, the last Anglican Province to d o so, suddenly had m o u n t i n g pressure to produce its own Prayer Book. In his charge to the Auckland Diocesan Synod in 1962, Bishop C o w i n g hoped that the Church of the Province of New Zealand had reached a stage where it could 'very seriously consider' aprayer book of its own. H e saw reasons similar to those behind the publication of the N e w English Bible (New Testament, 1961), as well as the need to have a liturgy which emerged 'from the e n v i r o n m e n t in which it is used', and o n e that showed that there were two races in N e w Zealand. 1 T h e Waikato Synod similarly sought a N e w Zealand Prayer Book ('written in 1

Year Book of the Diocese of Auckland

26

1962.

p.26.

The Anglican Eucharist in New Zealand

1814-1989

more simple and modern phraseology') and appointed a commission to further that goal. 1 T h e Auckland and Waikato dioceses reaffirmed this direction at their 1963 synods. That same year, at the biennial Conference of the Evangelical C h u r c h m e n ' s Fellowship in Wellington, the Rev. Brian Carrell 2 put forward possibilities for a new main Sunday service. After outlining the options of either a mild revision, or of rewriting The Book of Common Prayer into modern language, Carrell presented a 'root and branch revision' in which a new basic Sunday service would be fashioned out of Matins, the Litany and ante-communion. This new service would be the context for baptism, confirmation or holy c o m m u n i o n . T h e eucharist would not invariably be a part of this service. Later that year Carrell moved a motion at the Chnstchurch Synod in support of Prayer Book revision. It was passed unanimously. Meanwhile internationally, in J u n e 1963, Bishop Stephen Bayne. the first Anglican Executive Officer, admitted that no action had yet been taken to form the Advisory C o m m i t t e e on a basic eucharistic pattern. I f e reported that 'A beginning of c o m m o n study has been made through the circulation of a draft African liturgy which has been studied by most of the churches. . . . A list of Liturgical Consultants has been developed, and correspondence opened between churches on liturgical matters. A Consultation on Liturgical Affairs is planned for the post-Congress weekend in loronto.' 3 This Consultation, held 23-25 August 1963, was attended by representatives of fourteen Anglican Churches and included the Right Rev. J. T. Holland of Waikato. It appointed four members as a continuing sub-committee to work on a document. T h e next year. N e w Zealand's General Synod, meeting in Auckland 12-16 April 1964, agreed to the following motion. T h a t this General Synod requests the Archbishop to appoint a Commission as representative as possible of the whole Province (a) lb plan and prepare a revised Book of C o m m o n Prayer, either in stages or as a whole, in the light of the needs of the Province and of contemporary liturgical developments and, (b) Itself or through its delegates to prepare a Lecnonary for use in the Church of this Province.' 4 The Archbishop's interpretation of as representative as possible of the whole Province' resulted in his appointing a priest f r o m each of the seven New Zealand dioceses each of w h o m was to enlist the interest and assistance of knowledgeable people within their own diocese. On 7 August, forty clergy met with the Bishop of Auckland, the Right Rev. E. A. Cowing, for a seminar at St. John's College entitled 'A Prayer Book for New 1 2

3

4

Waikato Year Book for the Year 1962, p.26. A m e m b e r of t h e P r o v i n c i a l C o m m i s s i o n o n P r a y e r Book Revision f r o m 1965 to 1990 w h e n it w a s d i s b a n d e d . Since 1991, a s s i s t a n t b i s h o p of W e l l i n g t o n . C o l i n B u c h a n a n . Modern Anglican Liturgies. 1958-1968 ( O x f o r d U n i v e r s i t y Press. L o n d o n , 1968), p.23. Proceedings of General Synod. 1964, p.65.

The I960 Revision

27

Zealand.' A paper on 'Liturgical Developments' was presented and there was much discussion a b o u t whether to use m o d e r n language such as that of the contemporary R o m a n Catholic mass, or language in the style of the Revised Standard Version (published 1952). In spite or hesitation at producing a purely Anglican work, with ecumenism a growing reality, and although they could reach no consensus on content or structure, most saw revision as long overdue. The first meeting of the Provincial Commission on Prayer Book Revision was convened 12 August 1964. Dismay had been expressed at the Commission's membership. W i t h n o Maori, no laity and only one m e m b e r of a professional teaching faculty, it was hardly 'as representative as possible of the whole Province.' Hence the Commission requested that the Archbishop a p p o i n t a diocesan bishop as a link with the bishops and with the Lambeth Conference, and submitted seven more names for consideration. T h e Archbishop agreed to these requests and Canon M. Cameron, representing Maori, and C a n o n R. S. Foster, the Warden of St. John's College, were a m o n g those who accepted. Bishop H. W. Baines became the representative of the bishops and Dr. Foster suggested the College provide a secretary f r o m its staff. Procedure became an immediate issue. Acknowledging the N e w Zealand liturgical conservatism, it was discussed whether revision was to be a patching u p of C r a n m e r or a real liturgical reform. If the f o r m e r was followed, there was the possibility of producing an out-of-date book. An important decision was to proceed immediately to working on a new pattern of Sunday m o r n i n g worship, particularly a form of the c o m m u n i o n rite in which the synaxis could stand alone as a non-eucharistic Sunday morning service. T h e Commission had before it the liturgy of Taize and of the Church of South India, the new Prayer Book from Canada (1959), An Experimental Liturgy (by G . Cope, J. G. Davies and D. A. lytler, 1958), and the recently published collection, The Liturgp in English, by B. Wigan. It also referred to the Lambeth 1958 report, and to Vatican II's Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy. It decided to proceed by dividing into three regional committees, a Northern (Auckland—Waikato; 5 members). Central (Waiapu—Wellington—Nelson; 6) and Southern G r o u p (Christchurch—Dunedin; 3). T h e committee with the Commission's Chair became the executive and m a d e the decisions between meetings. The Northern G r o u p produced its first draft of the eucharist after a two-day meeting in N o v e m b e r 1964. This text was in fact a conflation of 1662 with Canada's 1959 rite and the Liturgy of the Church of South India. T h e Southern G r o u p was also working on a draft beginning rather more f r o m principles than f r o m texts. It also provided c o m m e n t s on the Northern draft. T h e Central G r o u p was attempting to produce a liturgy for all Sunday services which could either include the eucharist or not. T h e first draft was revised by a meeting of the Northern G r o u p at St. J o h n ' s College on Friday and Saturday, 12-13 March 1965. On the Saturday, Auckland clergy were invited to c o m e and discuss this second draft. They were, at this stage, still working with texts addressing G o d as'thou', intending to get the structure right before examining style and language. 28

The Anglican Eucharist in New Zealand

1814-1989

Meanwhile, Archbishop Leslie Brown of Uganda had been drafting the document T h e Structure and Contents of the Eucharistic Liturgy.' I le haa had a long and important involvement in liturgical revision. In 1949 he had convened the Liturgy Committee o f the Church of South India and had been the major drafter of its very influential communion rite, l i e had been secretary of the Book of Common Prayer sub-committee at Lambeth 1958 and prepared its report. Later as Archbishop o f Uganda he had been a major contributor to A liturgy for Africa the draft o f which was mentioned above. T h e Structure and Contents of the Eucharistic Liturgy' arrived in New Zealand in March 1965, in time for the first residential Conference of the Commission at St. John's College from 24-27 May. Comments on the revised draft by the Northern Group were received from the Church of England Liturgical Commission which had been sent a copy. These were not particularly favourable, as the draft was seen to be too much in the now antiquated 1662/1928 tradition. The Bishop in Polynesia had forwarded 'A South Pacific Liturgy' to the New Zealand Commission. This liturgy was dependent on A Liturgy for Africa as presented to the Toronto Consultation. Its eucharistic prayer now gripped the Commission's imagination and, with emendations, was used as the new text. After the full Commission meeting, tasks were assigned. The Northern Group was to work on texts and rubrics, the Central on tne Propers, and the Southern on the eucharistic readings. In September, the new text was worked over to address God as 'you'. At the next residential conference, held 7-10 February 1966. onlv one member (Canon D. S. Millar) dissented from this move. New Zealand was now well on the way to being the first Anglican province to make such a shift. At this February meeting the Commission also had before it a preliminary draft of what would become England's Series 2. The English preface was perceived to express the great acts of redemption more tightly tnan New Zealand's draft, but its anamnesis included an oblation that England itself would soon abandon. New Zealand decided to replace its preface with England's but keep the rest of the eucharistic prayer as it stood. 1 Permission was received from the Archbishop to celebrate using this new liturgy. With tne first stage of revision nearing completion, thoughts turned to its experimental use. Until the beginning of this century, complete prayer books were issued as a fait accompli. Now experimentation followed by revision had become the normal way of producing new liturgies, the Church of England Empowering Act of 1928 only authorized a prolonged process for producing new formularies. An amendment to the Act, however, was being put through Parliament. Prior to 1964, General Synods met at intervals of three years and this had been incorporated into the Act. But from now on they would meet biennially and an amendment was required incorporating this change. In the event, it 1

One New Zealand anomaly, derived from the Roman (and Sarum) rite, which was to continue until the 1984 revision when a fullerepiclesis would be placed in the eucharistic prayer, was the option in The Offertory o f the priest praying, 'Come, Holv Spirit, Sanctifier, everhving God, and bless us and these gifts prepared for your use

The 1966 Revision

29

was decided to tiy to further a m e n d the Act so that a service could be experimental for a period or five years after its acceptance by General Synod and a majority o f diocesan synods. T h e General Synod held in Dunedin, 18-22 April 1966, gave mixed reception to the new service. It was the language, rather than the theology which received the most complaint. Millar, however, described h i m s e l f as a 'total convert' to the modern English. M o n t e i t h (the c o n v e n e r o f the original C o m m i s s i o n o f seven and now assistant bishop o f Auckland) recognized the rushed nature o f the project, but wished to see it now in experimental use so that, with reactions, a more worthy revision could be planned. W i t h this in mind, the Synod voted in favour o f experimental authorization. 1 A parish could use it if the vicar and vestry applied to the diocesan bishop. O n c e permission was received the parish needed to use it regularly but not exclusively, and for a m i n i m u m o f twelve months. Again it was mainly criticism o f the poor quality o f the language that surfaced at diocesan synods, though in Wellington there was objection to the prayers for the dead and allegations that the doctrine o f 'eucharistic sacrifice' had been introduced. T h e issue o f prayers for the dead also c a m e up at the Nelson Synod, but this Synod's u n a n i m o u s approval for experimental use o f t h e service m e a n t a majority o f diocesan synods had approved. O n l y the Parliamentary passing o f the Empowering Act's a m e n d m e n t remained for the service to be authorized. For some, the use o f Parliament in this m a n n e r was deplored as erastianism, and appeared to be using Parliament to settle controversial debates such as the two mentioned above. Similar fears were expressed by a slowly growing n u m b e r who showed dissatisfaction (generally from the other, more Catholic, end o f the party spectrum) with the form o f supplementary consecration and all that it implied. In its responses the C o m m i s s i o n constantly stressed that in the revision no alteration was intended o f the doctrine e m b o d i e d in The Book of Common

Prayer.

O n 29 S e p t e m b e r 1966, Bishop M o n t e i t h received a telegram from Bishop Baines in Wellington, 'Prayer B o o k measure became law 3.30 yesterday. S o far so good.' 2 A new chapter had begun in the history o f Anglican eucharistic practice in N e w Zealand.

1 2

Comments reported in Chimb and People. May 1966, p.5. Provincial Archives. St J o h n ' s College, M S P C P B R 2/3,7

30

The Anglican Eucharist in New Zealand 1814-1989

6. Eucharistic Developments 1966 to 1970 From October 1966, New Zealand Anglicans had their first indigenous order of holy communion. Three editions were produced, a large Altar copy (19/6d.), a full edition with Propers (6/-), and a congregational version without tnem (l/10d). By March 1967 the Maori translation of the Liturgy was completed and published in diglot form. 1 The 'Introduction' to the new Liturgy briefly traced the history from The Book of Common Prayer of 1662, mentioning the 1958 and 1964 General Synods in New Zealand, and made reference to the Liturgical Consultation of 1963 in loronto and its resulting recommendations, as well as to Anglican revisions worldwide (with an explicit reference to England's!). The Commission was later to declare that 'The aim of the revised liturgy is to provide a service which more adequately expresses the meaning of Holy C o m m u n i o n in the light of contemporarv liturgical and biblical understanding. We have done this by a) emphasizing the dramatic structure and unity of the liturgy; b) restoring to the people their proper function within the service; c) enabling the people to recognize the relevance of the liturgy to thendaily life; and d) using contemporary language to clarify the meaning.' 2 The 'General Directions', which followed the 'Introduction' of the experimental Liturgy, at a stroke dealt with many historic controversies. Fasting was a matter of personal conscience, at least one person needed to be present to communicate with the Priest, the service should be audible (without inserting private devotions), the Priest 'shall wear a cassock and surplice with scarf or stole, or an alb with the customary vestments', the bread might be loaf or wafer, and persons not in Holy Orders could read any of the lessons (including the Gospel). The drafters of the rite were well aware that there were deficiencies in it. The rite had been produced against time. It had been recognized that the Anglican Church in New Zealand Tacked the liturgical scholarship to produce material from scratch, and so the experimental liturgy had derived extensively from fusing together existing material. This was one of the few provinces to take account of the Pan-Anglican document. 'The Structure and Contents of the Fucharistic Liturgy', and it deviated from it at only four points. There was no mention of a 'psalm or hymn of approach' (the only mention ol any hymn was optionally between readings), the Gloria was in the Church of South India position (after the 'Collect for Purity ) rather than after the Confession, the Pan-Anglican document advocated either 1

2

The text is provided ill Colin Buchanan (ed.) Modern Anglican Liturtries !9SH-li>bH ( O x f o r d , 1968), p p . 3 2 9 - 3 3 9 . '[-'.valuation of t h e N e w Z e a l a n d Liturgy,' (Provincial C o m m i s s i o n o n Prayer B o o k Revis i o n . Provincial Archives, St J o h n ' s College, M S P C P B R 3/6.59, u n d a t e d ) . T h e s e f o u r r e a s o n s w e r e u s e d t o f o r m u l a t e t h e q u e s t i o n n a i r e t o e v a l u a t e t h e n e w I.iturgv

Eucharistic Developments 1966 to 1970

>/

an Old Testament or an Epistle reading whereas in New Zealand one could have both, and the Lord's Prayer could optionally follow communion (its position in 1662).

The major innovation of the new liturgy was in it being the first Anglican eucharistic text which addressed God in the second person plural rather than second person singular. Australia had also made this transition by July 1966. The Commission had not expected such an exuberant response to its work. It had anticipated about one in ten parishes applying to their diocesan bishop for permission to use it, and being able to use feedback from this experiment for a more leisurely revision. In the event, however, a majority of parishes came to use it. Although neither clergy nor laity had been adequately prepared for the liturgical revolution now occurring, tne surge to use the new rite was the final demonstration that a sixteenth and seventeenth century service could no longer nourish the average worship of the twentieth century. Criticism of the new rite focused on five areas. Inevitably it was compared with the The Bookof Common Prayer, and many only began to appreciate the new service when they began to look at it in its own right. The first issue was prayer for the dead. Canonicatly, since 1958, 'the intercession' of the 'Alternative Order of the Communion' (1928) had been accepted. This prayed, 'And we commend to thy gracious keeping, O Lord, all thy servants departed this life in thy faith and fear, beseeching thee to grant them everlasting light and peace.' Now the disputed prayers in the 1966 liturgy were, 'For those who have departed this life (especially...), we pray to you' as well as 'Grant rest eternal to the departed; That light perpetual may shine upon them.' Both were optional. Evangelicals could eitner call into question the 1958 authorization by tne General Synod, or point out that these options in the new experimental service did not include the words 'in thy faith and fear'. Interestingly, little notice was taken, in New Zealand, of the Maori attitude to the departed. This debate took place as if it was occurring in England! The second issue was that of language. The Collects in particular came in for much criticism. Many had memorized Cranmer's Collects in their youth, and the new ones lacked the familiar cadences. The move to addressing God as 'you' rather than as'thou", as would be expected, was for many irreverent, particularly as the recent Bible translations (New English Bible New Testament 1961, Revised Standard Version 1952) had continued to address God as 'thou'. Thirdly the omissions of the Ten Commandments, of the Summary of the Law, ana of a final blessing caused considerable disappointment. The fourth issue, the form of supplementary consecration, had also been much debated in the Commission and finally they had settled on a simple declaratory statement (with an unspecified 'manual act'). The Commission consulted experts overseas and many of these were happy with New Zealand's solution. The widespread concern over supplementary consecration reached General Synod wnen it next met in 1968. The 1966 decl'aratory version ceased to be authorized and a new form replaced it. The priest either prayed that the bread (or wine) also be set apart for this holy use, so that it may be for us the 'Body (or 32

The Anglican Eucharist in Neiv Zealand

1814-1989

Blood) of o u r Lord Jesus Christ', or he could use t h e 1966 w o r d s of institution. 1 This latter authorization continued the assumption that these words consecrated. T h e fifth issue was t h e material in t h e eucharistic prayer after t h e institution narrative. T h e w i d e s p r e a d Anglican belief t h a t consecration was effected by t h e w o r d s of institution m e a n t that, particularly Evangelicals, saw this n e w material as i n t r o d u c i n g 'irrelevancies' between 'consecration' a n d receiving c o m m u n i o n . Moreover, this s a m e tradition v e h e m e n t l y o p p o s e d any oblation occurring before c o m m u n i o n . T h e n e e d f o r liturgical e d u c a t i o n p r o m p t e d t h e C o m m i s s i o n to invite t h e Rev. Paul Reeves, 2 lecturer in C h u r c h H i s t o r y at St. J o h n ' s College, to p r o d u c e an explanatory booklet for s t u d y purposes t h r o u g h o u t t h e province. T h e resulting p a m p h l e t , Life is Liturgy (Scott Printing, Auckland, 1966), subtitled A Guide to the Proposed Liturgy of the Anglican Church in Neiv Zealand, c a m e u n d e r s o m e criticism f r o m Evangelical quarters for a d v o c a t i n g 'Parish a n d People' interpretations of t h e n e w rite. Reeves followed Dix in identifying t h e first of Christ's fourfold actions, t h e 'taking', with t h e Offertory. O f f e r t o r y processions were described. T h e n Reeves stated, ' The Eucharist has n o t h i n g to w o r k on until this world in w h i c h we live is b r o u g h t into t h e C h u r c h a n d laid u p o n t h e altar. T h i s is w h a t t h e bread and wine represent.' (p.23). In a f o o t n o t e he wrote, 'in t h e Eucharist w e o f f e r ourselves and t h e bread and wine, which are t h e visible symbols of o u r lives, to G o d a n d w e can d o this only because Christ o u r H e a d offers us H i s m e m b e r s . ' (p.24). It was precisely this kind of offering theology which was diametrically o p p o s i t e to t h e Evangelical tradition and p r o v o k e d concern t h a t this booklet be seen as having n o o t h e r a u t h o r i t y than t h a t of its author. T h e Evangelical 'Latimer F o u n d a t i o n ' p r o d u c e d its own response to t h e e x p e r i m e n t a l Liturgy. Worship for Today (published 1967) was edited by t h e Rev. Colin Clark and t h e Rev. M a u r i c e G o o d a l l . 3 A l t h o u g h it claimed to have 'no intention of r e - o p e n i n g t h e old "party" controversies' (p. 14) it attacked prayers for t h e dead, 'imitation R o m a n v e s t m e n t s ' (p.26), offertory processions and t h e use of w o r d s such as 'altar' (p. 18) and 'priest' (p.37). 4 It perceived t h e n e w rite as teaching eucharistic sacrifice a n d a localized real presence ( t h r o u g h including the Benedictus a n d t h e A g n u s Dei). It m a d e m a n y constructive suggestions including a plea for the 'liturgical use of silence'.

1

Proceedings of General Synod, 1968, pp.65-66 & 227-228. Later a member of the Provincial Commission on Prayer Book Revision (1968-71; 197880); Bishop of Waiapu (1971-79); Bishop of Auckland (1979-85); Primate and Archbishop (1980-85); GovernorGeneral (1985-90); Anglican Observer at the United Nations (1991-). 3 Later Bishop of Christchurch (1984-90). 4 The experimental Liturgy had carefully distinguished between priest (used particularly from the Offertory) and 'minister' (used particularly for the first part of the service where the leader could be a priest, deacon or lay person). In retrospect, the confusion underlines that there was little communication of the Commission's intentions. 2

Eucharistic Developments

1966 to 1970

3?

A third publication was Life in Christ by Peter Tanton (A. H. & A. W. Reed, Wellington, 1967). It printed c o m m e n t s alongside the text of the experimental Liturgy. It included prayers for before and after the service, some notes on sacraments, particularly the holy c o m m u n i o n and 'the sacrament of confession', as well as a form of confession. Tanton followed the offering theology of the Offertory, he also identified particularly the institution narrative as 'the Consecration' (p.34). To evaluate reactions to the new Liturgy a simple questionnaire was designed and an evaluation committee appointee!. This evaluation took place on Sunday 11 J u n e 1967 (the date had been kept secret) and the weekdays following. Of the 40.000 questionnaires distributed 30,000 were completed and returned. T h e results showed the experimental Liturgy was well received, most especially in the northern three dioceses. Furthermore, whatever may be said about the value of having undertaken such a massive opinion poll, the feeling of 'being consulted' engendered much goodwill towards the Commission. Education appeared an important next step. In N o v e m b e r a detailed questionnaire was addressed to the clergy (some laity were frustrated that the anticipated second questionnaire for them never appeared). T h e clerical questionnaires were collated within dioceses. 336 forms were returned (compared with the just over 350 parishes in N e w Zealand). This second evaluation gave detailed information for the Commission's process of revision. General Synod 1968 also gave specific directions for the Commission's work. At the residential conference at the beginning of 1969, Bishop Barnes reported on the post-Lambeth Liturgical Consultation (1968) which had been concerned, among other matters, with the reform of the Daily Office and its interrelationship with the eucharist. T h e second Pan-Anglican d o c u m e n t which resulted from this Consultation, seems to have had no influence in N e w Zealand. The Commission was also aware of developments in the Roman CatholicChurch which was preparing three eucharistic prayers alternative to the Roman one. This was not a possibility the Commission considered emulating. Revision of the Liturgy had been progressing systematically. At the residential conference in August 1969 the rite was revised line by line with particular reference to the English Series 2. A draft eucharistic prayer was prepared. T h e preface of this, little changed from 1966, would essentially become the preface of the 1970 service. Between this meeting and the next a revision of the eucharistic prayer was circulated. After receiving c o m m e n t s this was revised and at the residential conference at the beginning of 1970, o n e of two alternative revisions of this, slightly adapted, was chosen by the Commission. Attempts to reinstate the passage 'Hear us merciful Father . . . failed, and from n o w on eucharistic prayers authorized in New Zealand would follow the Antiochene tradition and only have one epiclesis after the words of institution. In March 1970 a long awaited collection of c o m m o n liturgical texts appeared entitled Prayers We Have In Common. These were produced Dy the International Consultation on English Iexts (ICET). They arrived just in time to be incorporated into the revision presented to General Synod in Christchurch in April 1970. M

The Anglican Eucharist w Neic Zealand

1814-1989

The General S y n o d of 1970 first a u t h o r i z e d this rite. 1 Then at t h e General Synod of 1972, The New Zealand Litum* 1970 c o m p l e t e d its course t h r o u g h t w o General Synods a n d t h e majority of t h e diocesan synods as required b y the C h u r c h of England E m p o w e r i n g Act. It n o w had equal status to the parts of t h e 1928 Prayer Book authorized in 1 958. The experimental Liturgy of 1966 ceased to be a u t h o r i z e d (though it c o n t i n u e d to be used for m a n y years in Fiji, having been translated into Fijian, H i n d i and Tongan). T h e structure of t h e 1970 service was t h e s a m e as that of 1966. Rubrics were reduced, however, and t h e Ten C o m m a n d m e n t s , O u r Lord's S u m m a r y of the Law and his N e w C o m m a n d m e n t were included. T h e ICET texts were followed for the Gloria, Nicene Creed, Lord's Prayer a n d t h e Sanctus and Benedictus. T h e prayers for the d e a d were m a d e m o r e acceptable to all. T h e Lord's Prayer could n o w c o n c l u d e t h e Intercession. T h e blessing was restored. T h e eucharistic prayer had been t h o r o u g h l y rewritten. T h e Collects were also significantly revised a n d a second collection of readings provided for alternating years. S u n d a y s after Trinity were r e n a m e d after Pentecost'. T h e r e was an edition with t h e Collects and readings (30c) and o n e w i t h o u t (15c), a limited gift edition of the f o r m e r (S1.25) a n d an Altar edition ($1.50). T h e Liturgy had t w o colours modelled on the Australian n e w Liturgy. N e w Zealand n o w had a m o d e r n rite which was to serve it f o r f o u r t e e n years. It was used alongside t h e 1662 c o m m u n i o n service (and its 1928 variants) which c o n t i n u e d to b e authorized. Occasionally there were a t t e m p t s to p r o d u c e a ' m o d e r n i z e d 1662' service, generally originating f r o m D u n e d i n (using either 'thou' o r 'you'), b u t these did n o t generate m u c h e n t h u s i a s m . T h e m a i n energy of t h e church in t h e early seventies was directed towards t h e church union debate. Eucharistic t h o u g h t a n d practice was slow to change. In the 1970 rite t h e rubric to kneel a f t e r t h e Sanctus (and optional Benedictus) militated against seeing the eucharistic prayer as a unity effecting consecration by thanksgiving, a n d reinforced the widespread Anglican u n d e r s t a n d i n g ot consecration as effected by the words of institution. S o m e practices, however, were changing. Priests n o w m o r e generally presided using t h e westward position, a n d the weekly S u n d a y eucharist was t h e growing n o r m . T h e ecumenical alb' began to a p p e a r and would gain in popularity in the seventies. C h a n n e l i n g and restraining diversity had been o n e of the motives of the liturgical reform. T h e banks were bursting, however, and the diversity of Family Services was flowing into the Parish Eucharist. In the next t w o decades m o v e m e n t s such as charismatic renewal, biculturalism, feminism and inclusive language w o u l d build o n the theological revolution of t h e sixties to m a k e the old Anglican party divisions a r o u n d the eucharist obsolete.

1

1 h e text is p r o v i d e d in C o l i n B u c h a n a n toi.), Further Anglican Books, 1975) p p . 3 6 6 - 3 7 7 ) .

Liturgies 1^08-197^

Eucharistic Developments

((¿rove

1966 to 1970

35

7. Eucharistic Developments 1970 to 1984 T h e seventies began a new era of N e w Zealand's national self-confidence. T h e statement m a d e Dy N o r m a n Kirk, prime minister in the Labour G o v e r n m e n t elected in 1972, typified this: Circumstances dictate that, while we preserve the warmest ties and closest sentimental attachments between our country and the United Kingdom, we recognize that we have c o m e of age and must now stand on o u r own feet to reject the role of the d e p e n d e n t and at every opportunity seize the initiative.' 1 These words could equally describe the growing attitude of the Provincial Commission on Prayer Book Revision. T h e text of the 1966 revision of the eucharist had primarily resulted from combining various overseas and traditional texts and 'translating' them into m o d e r n English. T h e process of revising for the 1970 rite had been different. Certainly there had been reference to overseas texts, but the primary sources for the revision had been the suggestions from within N e w Zealand. Whereas at the beginning of revision members of the Commission had no expertise at creating new services, the experience of producing the 1970 rite had given them confidence in beginning to draft original material themselves. Furthermore their years of working together, as would be expected, had moulded them into a more enterprising group. Unlike in other Provinces, there was no rotation of Commission membership. In the seventies, developments in eucharistic practice continued. N e w Zealand was one of the provinces leading the Anglican C o m m u n i o n in the eucharistic discipline of admitting children to c o m m u n i o n before confirmation. Prior to 1970, N e w Zealand had followed the rubric in The Book of Common Prayer that 'there shall none be admitted to H o l y C o m m u n i o n until such time as he b e confirmed, or be ready and desirous to be confirmed'. General Synod in 1970 permitted diocesan experimentation. In 1972 it approved continued experimentation including the provision of admission to holy c o m m u n i o n prior to confirmation. This was reaffirmed in 1974 and passed as an alternative practice within the N e w Zealand Anglican Church in 1976. In 1977 five clergy appealed against this to the Tribunal created u n d e r the Empowering Act (this appeal was later withdrawn). They also challenged the legality of what was being d o n e in the Supreme Court, contending that it conflicted with Clause 1 of the Constitution which upheld the doctrine and practice of The Book of Common Prayer. T h e Supreme Court, however, ruled that it needed first to be considered i n a c h u r c h court and s o o n 1 9 J u n e 1978 the Very Rev. Brian Davis 2 applied to the Judicial C o m m i t t e e of General Synod for a resolution of d o u b t s of the validity of the experimental pattern. 1

Michael King, After the War— Sleic Zealand Since 1945 ( H o d d c r a n d Stoughton, Auckland, 1988), p.135. 2 T h e n Dean o f W a i a p u ; later Bishop o f W a i k a t o (1980- 86); Primate and Archbishop (May 1986,-); Bishop of Wellington (September 1986.-).

36

The Anglican Eucharist in Nav Zealand

1814-1989

T h e Judicial C o m m i t t e e decided that the confirmation rubric was a part o f Clause 1 arid that this did not permit the alternative practice. A special session o f General Synod was held in Wellington on 4-5 April 1979. This passed a new C a n o n which would allow the alternative practice. The Canon then passed by all Diocesan Synods except Nelson and Wellington In 1980 it was again passed in General Synod by the two thirds ma]ority necessary under the Empowering Act. T h e growth o f tne alternative practice may be seen from the n u m b e r o f N e w Zealand parishes admitting children to c o m m u n i o n prior to confirmation: 1972 14 1974 56 1975 76 1981 89 (approximately 'A o f all parishes) 1984 170 (almost V2 o f all parishes) 1 Eucharistic worship was also changing in the seventies through the influence o f the charismatic m o v e m e n t which had begun in New Zealand in 1965. T h e m o v e m e n t encouraged greater freedom in worship, it developed a whole new repertoire and style o f music, it gave a priority to praise and thanksgiving and it was highly ecumenical, particularly developing strong links with charismatic renewal in the R o m a n Catholic Church. All these elements strongly influenced Anglican eucharistic worship and encouraged its centrality. Although those involved in charismatic renewal were generally happy to use the rites produced by the Prayer Book C o m m i s s i o n , leaders o f this renewal showed little interest in becoming involved in the work o f the C o m m i s s i o n . N o r did m e m b e r s o f the C o m m i s s i o n b e c o m e involved in charismatic renewal so that, surprisingly, charismatic renewal's influence on textual revision in N e w Zealand has only been indirect. Another important textual development in N e w Zealand's eucharistic worship was the N e w Zealand Liturgy 1970 in a diglot o f English and Maori (launched 23 August 1977). This diglot edition was produced just when there was a growing recognition that the N e w Zealand Liturgy needed to be revised. In particular in 1977 inclusive language began to b e c o m e an issue in the C o m m i s sion. This was the year in which the Anglican Church in New Zealand had b e c o m e o n e o f the first Anglican provinces to ordain women to the priesthood. That women were now presiding at the eucharist naturally highlighted such 'male' language as 'men' and 'brethren' which had been included in the 1970 revision with a generic meaning. N e w divisions began to appear, which cut across the old party positions. On the one hand some wanted a conservative revision ot 1662, on the o t h e r hand there were those w h o were exploring new images for G o d which sought not to limit G o d to masculine titles, and wished to celebrate the eucharist with language that reflected a c o m m u n i t y following a non-hierarchical model. In 1970 the regional groups had ceased to function and diocesan c o m m i t t e e s began undertaking preparatory work for the Commission, a procedure which 1

Brian Davis, 'New Zealand Initiation Experience. in Colin Buchanan (cd ),

Children in Communion:

Nurturing

Essays from the Boston Consultation, Grove Liturgical Study

N o . 4 4 (Grove Books, Bramcote. Notts.. 1985). p.27

Eucharistic

Developments

1970 to 1984

17

was possibly unique to N e w Zealand. In revising the marriage service, the Commission had been unable to make a choice between the draft produced in Wellington and the C h n s t c h u r c h one. From these the Commission hoped later to produce a single flexible rite and the Commission regretted 'that it [found] itself compelled to present more than one form of such a service' 1 to General Synod in 1972. W h e n General Synod authorized both, a new pattern of parallel rites for a similar service had been created almost by accident. This new pattern would affect eucharistic revisions. From 1978 two diocesan committees were working on producing markedly different revisions of the N e w Zealand Liturgy. Particularly important was the Commission's decision that for a rite to teel significantly different for the congregation, the people's prayers, responses and acclamations needed to vary from one rite to the next. Wellington was working on a conservative revision of 1970 while Auckland was drafting a completely alternative Liturgy. Further eucharistic revision was also in progress. Waikato was assigned the Collects and Christchurch the Intercessions. In 1976 the Christchurch Diocesan Prayer Book C o m m i t t e e had been asked to look at the 'themes' in the N e w Zealand eucharistic lectionary. After looking at tour options they r e c o m m e n d e d that N e w Zealand a d o p t the Roman Catholic three year mass readings. T h e Commission did not endorse this recommendation, seeing that bishops had authority to authorize this experimentally in their dioceses. Increasing pressure, however, particularly after its adoption in the new Australian Prayer Book in 1979, resulted in its authorization at General Synod in 1980 as the 'Australian Prayer Book three year series cycle of readings'. In 1979 Anglican churches in Australia and the United States had published new prayer books. In 1980 the Church of Fngland did so as well. This encouraged the 1980 General Synod to pass a motion agreeing 'to the principle ot providing a New Zealand Prayer Book as soon as possible'. 2 In 1981 the Well ington Diocesan Synod requested the formation of a N e w Zealand Prayer Hookas a matter of urgency. In 1982 General Synod approved 'the principle of a New Zealand Prayer Book . . . in two editions,' 3 , the one including all authorized alternative services, the other those services used in normal Sunday worship (this idea of two editions lost m o m e n t u m ) . Then in 1983 a questionnaire was conducted to ascertain what material should be in any proposed N e w Zealand Praver Book. Meanwhile the Commission's textual revision continued apace. In the period leading u p to the 1970 revision, the Rev. Richard Easton 4 as Vicar of Northland-Wilton (Wellington), had been experimenting with a eucharistic revision he called the 'St. Anne Liturgy' (also referred to as the 'Northland Rite' o r ' P i n k 3'). T h e motivation behind nis material was significantly different from that of the Commission's 1966-1970 approach. H e was particularly interested in the congregation taking a leading role in the worship, rather than responding to the priest's prayers. W h e n in 1978 he moved to Auckland he was enthused to find tne alternative work progressing there. Easton was 1 2 3 4

P r e f a c e to An Order of Christian Marriage and Marriage Sen-ia• 1972. Proceedings of General Synod. 1980. p 42. Proceedings of General Synod. 1982. pp.36- ' 7 O n e o t t h e seven priests w h o h a d m a d e u p t h e original C o m m i s s i o n , a n d a m e m b e r until it was d i s b a n d e d in 1990.

18

The Anglican Eucharist m Sen- Zealand

1814-1989

r e v o l u t i o n a r y in his s t r u c t u r i n g ot t h e eucharistic prayer. H e a b a n d o n e d his earlier usage of t h e e c u m e n i c a l S a n c t u s a n d was o p p o s e d to t h e n e e d f o r an epiclesis. H e saw t h e eucharist as primarily anamnetic (significantly, in his prayer, n o w titled ' T h a n k s g i v i n g a n d Praise' in A New Zealand Prayer Book pp.485-488, it is t h e c o n g r e g a t i o n w h i c h recites t h e a n a m n e s i s ) . E a s t o n ' s w o r k e n c o u r a g e d s o m e rewriting by t h e Rev. Dr. R a y m o n d Pelly ( t h e n t h e W a r d e n of St. J o h n ' s College) w h o was w o r k i n g o n t h e eucharistic p r a y e r in t h e A u c k l a n d revision. A u c k l a n d ' s w o r k resulted in 1984 in a n e w rite with t w o eucharistic prayers (the s e c o n d p r a y e r is n o w titled ' T h a n k s g i v i n g t o r C r e a t i o n a n d R e d e m p t i o n ' in A New Zealand Prayer Book pp.467-470). T h e s e w e r e n o t t h e o n l y a t t e m p t s to i n t r o d u c e alternative eucharistic prayers into t h e revision. In 1980 an a d a p t a t i o n of t h e eucharistic prayer f r o m t h e Apostolic Tradition (which was widely u s e d e c u m e n i c a l l y a n d i n t e r n a t i o n a l l y ) w a s p r o p o s e d . As p r e s e n t e d it lacked a preface, h o w e v e r a f t e r m i n o r a d a p t a t i o n it was i n c o r p o r a t e d , with t h e s t a n d a r d N e w Zealand preface, as an a l t e r n a t i v e eucharistic p r a y e r into t h e C o m m i s s i o n ' s d r a f t revision in 1981. There w e r e t h r e e areas in it, h o w e v e r , t h a t were q u e s t i o n e d . It had a s t r o n g epiclesis b e f o r e t h e institution narrative ('grant that, by t h e p o w e r o f y o u r H o l y Spirit, t h e s e y o u r gifts of bread a n d w i n e m a y be to us t h e b o d y and blood of o u r Lord J e s u s Christ'), it u s e d t h e o b l a t i o n , 'we bring b e f o r e y o u this bread a n d this c u p ' , a n d it t h a n k e d G o d f o r ' c o u n t i n g us w o r t h y to s t a n d in y o u r presence a n d serve y o u ' In J a n u a r y 1982 it was a b a n d o n e d at t h e m e e t i n g of t h e C o m m i s s i o n . T h e p r e l i m i n a r y epiclesis a n d t h e a c c l a m a t i o n 'Christ has died, C h r i s t is risen, Christ will c o m e again' b o t h h a d a brief p e r i o d in t h e C o m m i s s i o n ' s d r a f t eucharistic prayer in 1982, b u t by 1983 these t o o were g o n e (the a c c l a m a t i o n was used bv Brian Carrell in his eucharistic p r a y e r described below). In 1982 a d r a f t eucharistic liturgy was issued to ten parishes in each d i o c e s e for e x p e r i m e n t a l use, a n d a q u e s t i o n n a i r e used t o collate suggestions. Surprisingly, this d r a f t o n l y i n c o r p o r a t e d t h e w o r k of t h e W e l l i n g t o n C o m m i t t e e w i t h t h e single eucharistic praver, so t h a t n o m o r e g e n e r a l reaction was received to t h e A u c k l a n d material. S o m e Evangelical dissatisfaction h a d still persisted a f t e r 1970. The g r o w i n g c o n s e n s u s o v e r a t h e o l o g y ot consecration by thanksgiving as b e i n g biblically based had quelled d i s c o n t e n t with w h a t w e r e o n c e seen as irrelevancies e x t e n d ing t h e eucharistic p r a y e r a f t e r t h e ' c o n s e c r a t i o n ' (i.e. t h e institution narrative). Dissatisfaction, however, still c o n t i n u e d o v e r o f f e r t o r y material, t h e Benedictus, lack of sufficient reference t o t h e Cross, t h e epiclesis, and t h e Lord's Prayer a n d o t h e r material b e f o r e c o m m u n i o n (e.g. t h e A g n u s Dei a n d t h e Prayer of H u m b l e Access). By 1984, a step h a d been m a d e to satisfy s o m e of t h e Evangelical p r e f e r e n c e s w h e n t h e Rev. Brian Carrell produced an 'Alternative Great I hanksgiving— C e l e b r a t i n g t h e G r a c e of G o d ' . This was written to be a c c e p t a b l e to all, b u t e m b o d y i n g s o m e of t h e s e leanings. The B e n e d i c t u s was not an o p t i o n , t h e r e was a special f o c u s on Christ's suffering a n d d e a t h , a n d t h e material a f t e r t h e institution a c c o u n t had t h e very o p p o s i t e ot offering: 'we were tar off until vou b r o u g h t Eucharistic

developments

If70

to 1984

J9

us near and our hands are e m p t y until you fill t h e m . In 1984 it was included after the first rite as almost an appendix (pp.41-43). Later, in A New Zealand Prayer Book—He Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa, some ingenious typographical additions were m a d e which, without being immediately obvious, quelled all of the above dissatisfactions. In 1984 'An Alternative Great Thanksgiving' was provided after the Liturgy of the Eucharist and o n e needed to turn back to the main text (with all its optional material before communion) immediately after this eucharistic prayer. In the Prayer Book this is n o longer necessary. After the Peace one can omit the (optional) prayers (with their offering overtones) at T h e Preparation of the Gifts and move straight to 'An Alternative Great Thanksgiving . After this the text of the fraction and the Invitation have been included (much as suggested in Worshipfor today p.23) so that one no longer needs to turn back pages until after c o m m u n i o n . In 1982 two d o c u m e n t s of significant ecumenical consensus appeared in the forms of The Final Report of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission, and the Faitn and Order paper of the World Council of Churches, Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry. Some fine tuning of N e w Zealand's revisions of the eucharistic prayers was carried o u t in the light of these. Finally in 1984, General Synod authorized The Liturgy of the EucharistThis included the conservative revision of 1970 and Carrell's 'Alternative Great Thanksgiving'. T h e Auckland material formed 'Alternative Eucharistic Liturgies' with a c o m m o n synaxis. These n o w used inclusive language for G o d as well as people. Thirdly, an outline forspecial occasions (1984 p.69) provided little more than a list of elements necessary to celebrate the eucharist. It could be used with any of the given eucharistic prayers, or with the framework 'A Great Thanksgiving for Special Occasions' (1984 p.71 -73). Nicknamed the 'garage rite' and the 'bare-bones-liturgy', it was based on the Episcopalian equivalent with the framework from a eucharistic prayer originally written by the Ven. Dr. Ken Booth 2 for use with C o m m u n i o n of the Sick. Each of the Propers was provided with three Collects in different styles. With the publication o f ' T h e Liturgy of the Eucharist 1984' some of the most innovative eucharistic material anywhere in the Anglican c o m m u n i o n was now authorised for use.

1

2

T h e text is p r o v i d e d in C o l i n B u c h a n a n (cd.). Latest Anglican Liturtries 1976-1984 (Alcuin/ S P C K , 1985), p p . 2 4 1 - 2 6 8 . M e m b e r o f t h e Provincial C o m m i s s i o n o n Prayer B o o k Revision 1980 to 1990.

40

The Anglican Eucharist in New Zealand

1814-1989

8. A New Zealand Prayer Book— He Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa A special s e s s i o n o f G e n e r a l S y n o d w a s called f r o m 15 to 18 M a y 1 9 8 7 in C h r i s t c h u r c h . T h e r e t h e m a t e r i a l i n t e n d e d f o r t h e n e w P r a y e r B o o k w a s presented in t w o red v o l u m e s in t h e f o r m o f s i x t y - o n e p r o p o s e d f o r m u l a r i e s . F o r t h e e u c h a r i s t t h e o n l y m a j o r c h a n g e to t h e 1 9 8 4 L i t u r g i e s w a s t h e i n t r o d u c t i o n o f a n e w synaxis (by E a s t o n ) t o ' T n a n k s g i v i n g a n d Praise' w h i c h was n o w a d i g l o t ( M a o r i - E n g l i s h ) . In 1 9 8 4 t h e C o m m i s s i o n w a s still t h i n k i n g in t e r m s o f a ' m a i n line' liturgy a n d ' A l t e r n a t i v e E u c h a r i s t i c L i t u r g i e s ' . By 1 9 8 6 t h e t h r e e rites w e r e seen 'as b e i n g o f e q u a l s t a t u s a n d i m p o r t a n c e . ' 1 F u r t h e r m o r e , m a t e r i a l t h a t m a d e rites t o o alike w a s r e p l a c e d with n e w m a t e r i a l . T h e S y n o d w e n t t h r o u g h t h e m a t e r i a l page by page m a k i n g a m e n d m e n t s . T h i s revision t h e n f o l l o w e d t h e p r o c e d u r e o f t h e E m p o w e r i n g A c t a n d did t h e r o u n d s o f t h e d i o c e s a n s y n o d s r e t u r n i n g t o t h e n e w l y e l e c t e d G e n e r a l S y n o d in 1 9 8 8 . A f t e r w a i t i n g a y e a r w i t h o u t a n a p p e a l , A New Zealand Prayer Book—He Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa w a s publislbed in 1 9 8 9 . T h i s n e w Prayer B o o k reflects t h e p r e s e n t life o f t h e A n g l i c a n C h u r c h in A o t e a r o a , N e w Z e a l a n d a n d P o l y n e s i a , a p r o v i n c e w h i c h is m u l t i - l i n g u a l a n d m u l t i - c u l t u r a l , a n d w h i c h in N e w Z e a l a n d is s t r u g g l i n g t o w a r d s a |ust p a r t n e r s h i p b e t w e e n M a o r i a n d o t h e r s in t h e light o f t h e 1 8 4 0 Treaty o f W a i t a n g i . A l t h o u g h m o s t o f t h e P r a y e r B o o k is in E n g l i s h , t h e r e is s i g n i f i c a n t m a t e r i a l in M a o r i , a n d s o m e e u c h a r i s t i c s e c t i o n s in F i j i a n a n d T o n g a n . T h e t o t a l a c c e p t a n c e o f w o m e n p r i e s t s a n d t h e w o r l d ' s first w o m a n d i o c e s a n b i s h o p is r e f l e c t e d in t h e b o o k . T h i s is t h e m o s t i n c l u s i v e P r a y e r B o o k n o w in t h e A n g l i c a n C o m m u n i o n . G o d is very s e l d o m ' h e ' (in t h e Psalter, f o r e x a m p l e , ' h e ' w a s very n a t u r a l l y c h a n g e d t o y o u ' ) . T h e r e is s o m e s p a r k l i n g l y original d r a f t i n g . T h e C a l e n d a r e m p h a s i z e s t h a t t h i s is a P a c i f i c p r o v i n c e . M a n y o t h e r f e a t u r e s c o n t e x tualize t h e liturgy in this place, A o t e a r o a - N e w Zealantf, at this t i m e . C l e a r l y t h e b o o k is p r e s e n t i n g services a l t e r n a t i v e to t h o s e in The Book of Common Prayer nearly all o f w h i c h r e m a i n s a u t h o r i z e d f o r use. T h e r e is, f o r e x a m p l e , little m a t e r i a l f o r t h e special services o f A d v e n t , C h r i s t m a s , L e n t , o r Easter. T h e Prayer B o o k has a C a l e n d a r , a variety o f f o r m s o f t h e O f f i c e s (Liturgies of the Word), a c o n t e m p o r a r y P s a l t e r in t h e C o v e r d a l e tradition, a s i n g l e liturgy for B a p t i s m , C o n f i r m a t i o n a n d ' R e n e w a l ' , several liturgies o f the e u c h a r i s t i n c l u d i n g t h e diglot, as well as o n e c o m p l e t e l y in M a o r i . T n e f r a m e w o r k f o r p r o d u c i n g e u c h a r i s t s o n ' p a r t i c u l a r o c c a s i o n s ' f r o m 1 9 8 4 is also i n c l u d e d . There are t h e Propers f o r t h e C h u r c h ' s Year, i n c l u d i n g t h e t w o - y e a r t h e m a t i c l e c t i o n a r y p r o d u c e d in N e w Z e a l a n d , as well as t h e R o m a n C a t h o l i c " T h r e e Year Series'. T h e r e are Pastoral services f o r h e a l i n g , f o r Reconciliation of a Penitent. Thanksgivingfor the Gift of a Child, a n d The Blessing of a Home. T h e r e are t h r e e very f l e x i b l e Marriage Liturgies, a n d a w e a l t h o f r e s o u r c e s f o r f u n e r a l s and services in t h e t i m e o f d e a t h 1

Proceedings of General Synod,

1986. p.R.288.

A New Zealand Prayer Book—He Karakia Mihinare

o Aotearoa

41

reflecting many of the Maori insights into death and mourning. Then there are the Ordination liturgies and the Prayer Book concludes with A Catechism. T h e whole book is enhanced by fourteen original illustrations by New Zealand artists, and the eucharistic material at the centre of the book is highlighted in red. The most controversial part of the new Prayer Book was the changes to 'Israel' (e.g. to 'God's people') ana 'Zion' (e.g. to 'Jerusalem') in many of the Psalms. This was similarly done in the Canticles and Sentences. Controversy arose particularly with the significant Auckland Jewish community. General Synod has stated that its intention was not anti-semitic. There has also been disagreement over the inclusion of Carl Sylvius Volkner in the Calendar. Volkner was a C M S missionary a m o n g Maori in Opotiki. As tensions increased by war, Volkner, w h o in c o m m o n with other missionaries had acted as a g o v e r n m e n t informant, was killed by Maori on 2 March 1865. British troops arrested and executed f o u r Maori including M o k o m o k o , a chief, and m o u n t e d a punitive expedition. Historical research has confirmed Maori oral tradition asserting M o k o m o k o ' s innocence. In both these controversies there has been m o v e m e n t to rectify the Prayer Book. T h e Prayer Book has proved very popular. Only the Road C o d e sold more copies than the new Prayer Book in 1990 in N e w Zealand! More than 76,000 prayer books have been sold. T h e Prayer Book is not just a compilation of the latest pamphlets of the Commission, but is itself, in many places, a significant revision. Furthermore, it contains new material which underwent no lengthy experimentation. This has resulted in some services being more 'user-friendly' than others. Within the Prayer Book there is, intentionally, a great diversity of styles. Material produced later in the Commission's life is often more flexible, more imaginative in its images, sometimes using the creative work of the English priest, Jim Cotter. One of the liturgically more conservative Anglican provinces nas become one of the more audacious.

42

The Anglican Eucharist in New Zealand

¡814-1989

9. Conclusion The Anglican missionaries and early settlers brought to New Zealand an eucharistic rite which had been basically unchanged for two and a half centuries. New Zealand was initially settled when the fervour of the Evangelical revival had dimmed, and the Ritualist movement was only in its infancy. This encouraged a fairly homogeneous form of eucharistic worship. Except for a few local cases. New Zealand Anglicans looked on the ritual controversies as spectators rather than participants. The Ritualists did not turn to New Zealand when their programs were hindered in England and so Ritualist practices generally arrived much later than they did in several other colonies. Such practices were introduced gradually and by 1 920 there was no danger of any further Ritualist trials. The Anglican Church in New Zealand continued to be served by priests and bishops from England who imported the latest English eucharistic developments. In many ways, then, New Zealand followed England's lead. There were differences arising from the way in which the Anglican Church in New Zealand was not an established church. But nevertheless 'Parish Communions' and the use of the 1928 Prayer Book, for example, were much the same in New Zealand as they were in England. The increasing differences between England and New Zealand began to accelerate in the late sixties and more particularly in the seventies. New Zealand began more consciously to perceive itself as a Pacific island nation and Britain turned from a being a colonial power and focused more deliberately towards Europe. The New Zealand Anglican Church is smaller than many dioceses in England and yet, or maybe because of its size, in the 1980's it produced some of the most adventurous eucharistic texts seen in Anglican history. Thanksgiving for Creation and Redemption' (ANZPB-HKMA, pp.456-475) and 'Thanksgiving and Praise' ( A N Z P B - H K M A , pp.476-493) are no mere rewriting into modern English of medieval or Reformation concepts, but they are an attempt to express modern theology in a modern idiom appropriate to New Zealand. Although the land, the scenery, and much of the particular present culture have been incorporated into new eucharistic revisions. New Zealand has continued to fail to express the reversal of the southern hemisphere's seasons in its liturgical year or its eucharistic Propers. In other areas also of eucharistic thought and practice, there has been a tardiness in discardingelements of the inheritance (e.g. A Nov Zealand Prayer Book requires that at the regular Sunday celebration of the eucharist there is confession and absolution before communion, a requirement which is not necessary in the Anglican Churches in Canada and the United States). The theology of consecration occurring through recitation of the institution narrative is only slowly giving way to an understanding of consecration taking place through the whole eucharistic action and focusing on The Great Thanksgiving prayer. The understanding of the eucharist as primarily action to Conclusion

43

which the words are a c o m m e n t a r y is frequently affirmed. T h e practice, however, more regularly contradicts this. Revisions have frequently increased the verbal content. Initial fears by many that optional material would seldom be omitted have often proved correct. Several m o v e m e n t s have influenced the renewal of eucharistic worship in the Anglican Church in N e w Zealand. Alongside this renewal has been the textual revision of the Provincial Commission on Prayer Book Revision. There has often, however, been a lack of consonance between the eucharistic practices at the parish level and the intentions behind the texts drafted by t h e Commission. Education of both clergy and congregations in the theory and practice of liturgy has been a weak link in the integration of music, new texts, new theology, architectural re-ordering and so on. Tnere has been some educational material produced with the eucharistic revisions, particularly the Education For Liturgf Kit tor use in association with A New Zealand Prayer Book—He Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa. N e w clergy, however, generally follow the examples of those longer ordained in the m a n n e r in which they preside at the eucharist. H e n c e ornaments and gestures, which were once appropriate for the eastward position or required by The Book of Common Prayer, have often been continued, without m u c h reflection, with the new rites which are n o w generally celebrated using the westward position. Congregational differences have continued. Within many parishes two congregations have been formed, the one celebrating the euchanst using the 1662 Book of Common Prayer (generally at eight o'clock), the other using one ot the modern revisions (beginning between nine and ten o'clock). Eclectic congregations along Anglo-Catholic and Evangelical party lines still exist, but alongside these, particularly in the main centres, people will travel significant distances to participate in a euchanst that is more charismatic, inclusive, bicultural, or more family oriented and so on. While at present there is an understandable 'book-boundedness', it remains to be seen whether, with increasing familiarity with the congregational responses and as people begin to perceive the eucharist more as action, there will be a concomitant closing of the books. If this should occur, a new form of Congregationalism may result as parishes begin to opt for the regular use of one particular eucharistic rite in A New Zealand Prayer Book—He Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa. T h e N e w Zealand Province at present is one of the leaders in the Anglican world in eucharistic thought and practice in such areas as w o m e n priests, inclusive language, recognition of cultural diversity, and acceptance of all the baptised, including infants, to c o m m u n i o n . It is musically resourceful and unencumbered by the acrimonious party strife still prevalent in other provinces. Charismatic renewal and liturgical experimentation have resulted in great freedom and creativity in liturgy. T h e intentions of the English Reformers and the hopes of waves of renewal m o v e m e n t s since have been fulfilled. T h e euchanst has become the focus of Anglican worship today.

44

The Anglican Eucharist in New Zealand

1814-1989