Many people strongly prefer either the contemporary language of the Book of Alternative Services (BAS) or the traditional language of the Book of Common Prayer (BCP). While I certainly have my personal preferences, as the rector of a church that endeavours to offer both with integrity, I don’t play favourites when it comes to these two sibling services. Like my own children, they both spring from the same stock, but each has a unique personality. As such, a sort of sibling rivalry is almost inevitable from time to time. Many of us have experienced this dynamic within our own families, and as a middle child myself, I am fascinated by how the younger relates to the elder, and vice versa. But as the father of this parish family, in a short time I have come to appreciate the charisms of both the BAS and BCP services each in their own right (or rather, their own rite), just as I appreciate the gifts that my children have as individuals.
My reflections on the following are intended to be more observational than magisterial, but when it comes to the differences between the BCP and BAS, what strikes me most is how each one has its own particular eschatological orientation. By this I mean the “already–not yet” tension between the fact that in Christ we are already participating in the Kingdom of God, but we have not yet entered into its fullness, nor will we, until Jesus returns again in glory to judge both the living and the dead. In a broad sense, the BAS emphasizes the “already,” while the BCP emphasizes the “not yet.”
This emphasis on the “already” is most succinctly illustrated in the canon of the BAS, where the celebrant prays to the Father, “For in these last days you sent [Jesus] to be incarnate from the Virgin Mary, to be the Saviour and Redeemer of the world. In him, you have delivered us from evil, and made us worthy to stand before you. In him, you have brought us out of error into truth, out of sin into righteousness, out of death into life.”
Compare this with the Prayer of Humble Access in the BCP, which priest and people pray together prior to receiving communion: “We do not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table. But thou art the same Lord, whose property is always to have mercy: Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the Flesh of thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and to drink his Blood, that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his Body, and our souls washed through his most precious Blood, and that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us. Amen.”
Which rite is right? In good Anglican fashion, I’m happy to assert that they both are. Christ Jesus has indeed made us worthy to stand before the Father, both now and on the Day of Judgement. And yet, even though we have been redeemed by Christ, we are still sinners, and as such, we remain unworthy in ourselves to approach the Altar. But we do approach it, because our worthiness is derived from Jesus, not ourselves.
Consequently, the BCP rite is rightly penitential and anticipatory, whilst simultaneously thankful for the work of salvation accomplished in the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Likewise, the BAS rite is rightly celebratory and anticipatory, whilst simultaneously recognizing our need for repentance and forgiveness in the confession and absolution prior to the Eucharistic prayer.
The danger is in over-emphasizing one side of the eschatological coin to the neglect of the other. This does not mean that we are obliged to find the same personal satisfaction in both rites, of course. But I do hope we can appreciate that each is an authentic expression of Christian faith. I am privileged to serve in a parish that encompasses the fullness of both these expressions, and it is my intention to see to it that each of my children receives the love and attention they both deserve, however worthy or unworthy they may prove to be in one respect or another!
Yours in Christ’s service,
N.J.A. Humphrey+
VIII Rector
P.S. I know this wasn’t the promised romp through heresy, schism, and the Creed, but that isn’t quite ready for prime time yet, so you will all just have to wait. I am sorry to disappoint my devoted readership.
P.P.S. For a deeper dive into eschatology, albeit from a Reformed perspective, Professor David Briones provides an excellent overview of the already–not yet tension here.