Saturday, May 23, 2015

The Ad Orientem Mass is the most intimate for both sexes.


East-facing celebrations of the Holy Eucharist have gotten a lot of grief for being uninviting and lacking in intimacy. After all, how inappropriate is it that the priest spends most of the time with his back to you? How rude! Yet research may indicate that this is actually far more intimate for both sexes than the celebration style in which the priest stands behind the altar facing the congregation.

In Love & Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs, a Christian book on male/female relationships, Dr. Eggerichs cites a work, Gender & Discourse by Deborah Tannen and explains a study in that work as follows:

“Research studies confirm the male preference for shoulder-to-shoulder communication with little or no talking. In one study, researchers performed a series of tests on males and females from four age groups: second graders, sixth graders, tenth graders, and twenty-five-year-olds. Instructions for each pair of females and each pair of males were exactly the same: enter a room, sit down on two chairs, and talk, if you wish.

“As the test proceeded, every pair of females, no matter what their ages, reacted the same way. They turned their chairs toward each other, or at least they turned toward each other, so they could be face to face, lean forward, and talk. The males reacted differently. They did not turn toward each other in any way. They sat side by side, shoulder to shoulder, looking straight ahead except for an occasional glance at each other.

“Because the females turned toward each other or literally turned their chairs to face one another for direct, face-to-face contact, the researchers assumed they would have the most intimate conversations. Actually, the most open and transparent of all the pairs, male or female, were the tenth-grade boys.”

Now this is really amazing research and indicates that what has often been derided as silly, insecure “Wallflower” behavior in teenage boys is actually quite bonding, like lining up in para-military organizations or monasteries or among altar boys. It is intimate, more intimate than the comparable female communication preferences.

One might quickly turn this to the debate as to how the Mass should be celebrated. We were likely informed, with the same sort of prejudiced, overconfident, psychoanalytic bravado as those conducting the above research, that “obviously” the priest facing the people from behind the altar would be more intimate, forgetting one minor detail: there is a piece of furniture between the priest and congregation. At the same time, the same sort of folks were telling teachers and bosses that they shouldn’t have the desk between themselves and their students and employees. Why? Because it made them authoritarian and cut down on open and frank communication, or so I’ve gathered. So which is it? Is having a priest standing high up and turning his back to the congregation authoritarian and distant or is having a desk/table between him and the congregation authoritarian and distant, or should we just get rid of the holy table/altar altogether?

Certainly the final option, removing the altar altogether, would be the most favored by some, but let us analyze the East-facing position for its value at providing intimate and meaningful worship for both sexes. First of all, the traditional setting with altar boys either ranging along the chancel or sanctuary walls or facing the altar along with the priest provides young men, at that critical age of second to tenth grade, the opportunity for extremely intimate bonding, an esprit de corps. The same is provided when the priest is flanked at the altar by deacon and subdeacon at certain points of the traditional Western mass. Second of all, the priest will turn around at certain points of the mass providing the female congregation face-to-face communication, without, I might add, a piece of furniture in the way. The men in the nave do have the opportunity to feel intimate with the rest of the congregation simply by standing next to them, shoulder-to-shoulder.

Nobody could doubt this when observing traditional liturgies, even in congregations where there is an iconostasis or chancel screen obstructing part or all of the "view". Nobody who has seen the Coptic Orthodox liturgy, with young men, sometimes as young as four or five, joined in worship with older men shoulder-to-shoulder in the chancel could think this lacking intimacy. Nobody can doubt this when watching the liturgies of the Malankara Orthodox with similar young men standing facing East with the priest in para-military formation. But in all of these Eastern rites, the priest is sure to have several intimate face-to-face communications with those in the nave. He will make an appearance from time to time, either to come to the King’s Doors to give a blessing or facing towards the people in gentle exchanges or loving exhortations.  

Thus, despite what many have been spouting or assuming for years, the Ad Orientem celebration is, in fact, the most intimate possibility, providing the kind of communication styles for which both sexes desire and long. To place the priest behind the altar is to reduce the male-to-male bonding during the administration of the Eucharist and to place a barrier between the priest and the female congregation during open face-to-face communications, thus reducing the appeal for female worshipers as well. By this we can see that an East-facing celebration is the better used when trying to draw both sexes to the Holy Mass. 

Fr. Peter Geromel is Assisting Priest at Church of the Incarnation and an adjunct professor of Philosophy at Northampton Community College. Educated at Virginia Military Institute, Hillsdale College, Reformed Episcopal Seminary and the University of Dallas, Fr. Peter has authored Sublime Duty: Its Emphasis in The Anglican WayChrist & College: A Guide from The Anglican Way, and Frankincense & Mirth on HighHe manages Traditional Anglican Resources.

Saturday, May 16, 2015

Photos from the Consecration of Bishop William Francis Burns (ACC)

The priest associate at my parish, Fr. Don Edelmann, is a first generation continuing Anglican priest. He recently gave me some photos that scanned of his bishop's consecration. The bishop is the Rt. Rev'd William Francis Burns of the ACC's Diocese of the Resurrection.

A friend told me that there is an old legend that a prominent "Episcopalian turned Continuing Church priest" who was expecting to be elevated to this position and was passed over decided at that point to go to Rome, where he is now a noted traditionalist convert who is featured on EWTN from time to time!

Anyway, I have attached the photos of the consecration of Bp. Burns here along with a later photo of some of the clergy of that diocese with Bishops Burns and Kleppinger. Enjoy!




Thursday, May 7, 2015

“I had rather be a door-keeper…” (Psalm 84:10) – A Word on Ushers.

I often say to folks that if I could be paid full time with benefits just to be a thurifer, I would. But then, for some monks and for some gentlemen in bowler hats at Oxford and Cambridge their whole lives they spend as “porters”, doorkeepers. Doorkeeper is an ancient minor order, no less than a lay reader, or an acolyte. It is something that should be taken seriously and, for the most part is. But how can it be done better? I remember in high school going to the local Pentecostal mega-church. There was a closet not unlike where the acolyte robes are kept where every gentleman had in his size a maroon usher’s blazer. I was impressed. I have heard raving reviews of the ushers at St. Michael’s in Charleston. Again, what can we do to do a better job?

After all, it’s the first contact. “You never have a second chance to make a first impression.” It doesn’t just take skill to take up the collection (repressing the urge to check out how much is going in or who is giving). It takes far more skill to gauge the person coming into church, not simply to press a bulletin into his or her hand and mumble a greeting, but to figure out exactly what is needed, where they would like to be seated.

It takes prayer. Just as the priest prepares before going to the altar and hopefully the acolytes, just as the altar guild prays before their holy duties are engaged upon, perhaps even more so should the usher saturate himself with prayer, that is, if we are to take evangelism seriously. How are you, after all, to make sure the proper welcome is given, the bulletin is pressed, the nursery is pointed out, the best place for the hearing impaired is hinted at, or the warmest or coolest places for the chilly or warm looking, all in about 5 seconds?

The Usher should be well aware of the latest procedures concerning how evangelism is to take place. How important is your guest registry? Is there a place for email on it? How is your “email capture” as the sales world calls it? How do you point out where the Nursery is without making the young family think that you don’t welcome young people at the worship service? This takes tact indeed! And only prayer, I think, will pull it off. That and practice.

I was always impressed with the ushers growing up. They were serious, usually men of military experience, conscious of the importance of their task. Yet as they grow older, have they passed on their skills and the tricks of their trade to a younger generation? I wonder. Mentoring, too, is important if these traditions are to continue.

Finally, consider having a few of Our Prayer and Praise on hand to hand to young people. It may be out of print (I am not sure). It may be hiding somewhere in the parish library, but it is a fabulous version of the 1928 Prayer Book for children. There are other great resources like that. Whatever it is, it does no good just sitting in the parish library not being used and, perhaps if we start using them again, some continuing Anglican jurisdiction will think of republishing it. Have some kids inserts from the Traditional Anglican Resources available or some coloring books. Also, think about having a few of the large print 1928 BCPs on hand for those who look as if they might need them – and this, again, must be done with care after much prayer. The large print 1928 (for weakening eyes) is now available through the Anglican Province of America.

Fr. Peter Geromel is Assisting Priest at Church of the Incarnation and an adjunct professor of Philosophy at Northampton Community College. Educated at Virginia Military Institute, Hillsdale College, Reformed Episcopal Seminary and the University of Dallas, Fr. Peter has authored Sublime Duty: Its Emphasis in The Anglican WayChrist & College: A Guide from The Anglican Way, and Frankincense & Mirth on HighHe manages Traditional Anglican Resources.