O God …

The Episcopal Church, with the help of St Gregory’s, San Francisco, now offers an online Liturgical Resource. Here’s a bit of commentary from Midwest Conservative Journal:

So what sorts of resources can be found at The Worship Well? If you have to ask, you really should bail out now and go read something else. But if you have the stomach for it, here are two. The Rev. Bonnie Perry of All Saints Episcopal Church in Chicago delivered a sermon last March called “It’s a River, Not a Pie” that starts out like this:

Christianity. Not the Christianity that some would have us believe. It’s not the narrow, moralistic, judgmental, provincial ideology that some purport it to be. It’s not the constitutional amending, gay marriage-banning, if-you-love-another-adult-that-somehow-wrecks-who-I-love theology that some claim it to be.

The scriptural reality is that Christianity is first and foremost, not about keeping people out, it’s not about sending people away, it’s not about saying, “You can’t play.” Christianity in its finest form is an open door and a warm hearth. It is a gracious host meeting us at the door and saying, “I’ve waited so long to see you. I am so happy you’re here. You know, I was hoping you’d stop by.”

And ends like this:

My second thought: It’s a river, not a pie! God’s love for us is not a 9-inch, deep-dish strawberry, rhubarb pie – as delectable as that might be. God’s love for us is a raging, roaring, rain-forest fed, class five river of grace. It is an ever-flowing stream of abundant love. God’s love for us is not limited. God’s love is not finite. It is not a pie that is whacked up and given out parsimoniously to the deserving. God’s love, God’s welcome, God’s grace is distributed recklessly washing over all in its path. God’s love is a river-not a pie.

This one’s not quite as good as her famous sermon “It’s a Strawberry Daiquiri, Not a Bridge Abutment” but that one’s a homiletical masterpiece, pretty much.

The other example comes from St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church of, mirablie dictu, San Francisco. St. Greg’s, who has an icon mural of these people dancing on its walls, put together some principles of worship in June of 1999. They include:

God invites us to be God’s Friends.

We take part in a spirit of Holy play.

We make physical connection, touching one another as we greet the Gospel book, dance to the Table, exchange the Peace, and dance our final Carol.

We only put congregational music in people’s hands, music they will need to sing, so our eyes are up, not reading along. As we pray the Eucharistic prayer together, we listen or drone a support pitch (again, not reading along).

We move together physically – the whole congregation moves in processions and congregational dance.