The Anglican Church in Sydney

      The abandoning of Anglican tradition throughout the diocese of Sydney and its replacement with a form of semi-charismatic celebration and people management, is unique to the Anglican communion. Even in the mission dioceses of Africa, English reformed catholic traditions are practiced to this day. Many mission dioceses still use the Book of Common Prayer as the basis of worship and pastoral ministry. Yet in Australia, in the diocese of Sydney, robes have gone, Prayer Books are gathering dust and occasional services are frowned on. In their place is power-point presentations, song leaders, bands, general informality and a strange mix of marketing and exclusion. So is traditional Evangelical ministry dead?

Did we really have to destroy liturgical worship?

      Jesus said "my Kingdom is not of this world." In the eternal scheme of things, how we do church doesn't even rate a mention. There is nothing eternal in the liturgy of the Anglican church, nor is there anything eternal in some other newly adopted form of worship. Christ realizes the Kingdom of God irrespective of the shape of Anglican worship. He does this through his Spirit-inspired Word. The preaching and teaching of God's Word is the crucial ingredient for growing the Kingdom. A church that focuses on a ministry of the Word, may not grow numerically, but it will certainly grow spiritually and in turn, will grow the Kingdom. Style, shape, form.... plays no part in this spiritual exercise. The Spirit is neither limited nor advanced by worship form; all that matters is truth proclaimed.

      So the imposition of relevance on Anglican form to expedite nurture and evangelism is a rather foolish exercise. Not only does the light-touch lessen gospel impact, it may well serve to promote pseudo belief. Of course, it could be argued, from a pragmatic viewpoint, that a "dumbed-down" attractive pop-culture worship-form will build numbers and so help with institutional survival. Yet even this argument is questionable. The adoption of an informal semi-charismatic pop-culture worship-form inevitably erodes product identification and therefore, consumer loyalty. Having weened the tea drinkers off tea and moved them onto a generic cola drink, they inevitably move onto the "real thing."

      The truth is there was really no need to move from a weighty worship form. Liturgy must always be contextualized, adjusting to Australian culture, but we didn't have to abandon it and join the cluttered market of the semi-charismatic pop culture entertainment crew. There will always be Australians wanting a gentle, intelligent, reflective, substantial worship model. We should have stayed with what we were good at and what was uniquely ours. Some say it no longer had a place in the new multicultural Australia, but we forget that anglo-celts are in the majority and it is really not foolish offering a worship model that fits with the psyche of the majority of Australians. Others suggest that liturgy and color in worship is somehow offensive, less than holy. There is of course, no scriptural warrant to such a claim. Others suggest that liturgical worship actually interferes with gospel ministry. In the Australian context, where some 4% attend church, all the "relevance" in the world has done nothing to reach the 96% who don't attend church. In our heart of hearts we know that the gospel is really not something we should confine between four walls on Sunday, but rather proclaim in the "highways and byways" of our broken world.

      Although we can argue back and forth over the damage or otherwise of abandoning Anglican ritual and order, there is one demonstrable damage which cannot be denied. Evangelicals once played a prophetic role in the Australian Anglican church. We constantly called our brothers and sisters back to the fundamentals of our faith preserved in the Articles. Given our disregard for the ritual and order of our church, we have greatly weakened the authority of this call.

Did we really have to destroy pastoral ministry?

      Evangelical ministry in the Anglican church respected the ritual and order of the church, while using it as a platform from which to present the gospel. This loyalty to form enabled Evangelicals to minister in both Low and High Church dioceses. Bishops put up with our "Methodist" leanings, knowing that the ritual and order of the church would not be compromised. In fact, up till some 30 years ago, Evangelicals from Sydney were often invited to minister in difficult High Church parishes throughout Australia. Some went on to become highly regarded in their Anglo catholic dioceses.

      Traditional Evangelicals happily sat with Cranmer's principles of reform. They willingly accepted "catholic" traditions that were not opposed to Biblical teaching, using them for both nurture and evangelism. The Parish system served as an excellent framework within which to nurture believers and reach out to the lost. Size was never the issue. The smaller the congregation the more time there was to interact with the local community and to bring to bear on that community the good news of Jesus Christ. Rather than trying to get people along to church so that they can "come under the sound of the gospel", time was spent scratching where it actually itched. It was all about maintaining a presence in the local community, visiting the sick, school scripture, occasional services, church fete and clubs...... The Anglican church, as a community based church with a wide open front door, maximized interaction with the local community and so provided opportunities for the gospel. Yet today Evangelical churches tend to be "congregational" and therefore isolated and preachy. Although "accessing" is the buzzword, the church doors are closed, not open.

      The new wave of Evangelical ministry, whether it be accessing, purity or that strange mixture of both, has dislocated the Anglican church from the local community. Not only do normal Australians find foreign a minister in an open shirt, projector screens hanging over the cross and holy table, unsingable choruses .........., but they cannot fathom why they are now refused Baptism, fobbed off as if there is something wrong with them.

      The new wave may uncover an untapped resource in the Australian community, although it is probably a resource well worked over by the Charismatics and their imitators. The truth is, all we have really succeeded in doing is alienating nominal Anglophiles who, as it turns out, are a majority in the community.

How bad is the bad news?

      As congregations grow smaller, some see hope in amalgamating parishes and branch churches. Most branch churches have already been closed in the Sydney diocese in an attempt to bolster finances and attenders at the mother church. It is believed that when a congregation reaches 200 attenders it can accelerate growth. Such moves often fail, as most of the branch church members join the "churched out" crew or link with another local church. While we struggle to adapt to a "club" model, regional protestant churches, better suited to the club cabaret format, grow stronger. Are parish amalgamations the next step as congregation numbers continue to decline? Centralization is a doubtful experiment given that the local corner shop approach survived, through ups and downs, for hundreds of years.

      For the majority of Evangelical churches in the Sydney diocese, the existing pattern of ministry seems set to continue. When it comes to the services, the evening youth service will inevitably have to face societal change even now affecting Australian youth. It could easily go the same way as Sunday School. The mid-morning family service will increasingly have to struggle against the big family orientated regional churches with their Tenpin bowling allies etc. The simple fact is that churches which come out of a Charismatic/Pentecostal tradition do the "immanence" thing better than we do, given that our tradition was the "transcendence" thing. At least we once had the jump on them in our "thinking man's" approach to our church services and Bible teaching, but the easy-listening format has seen an end to that. As for the early morning traditional Anglican service, it is tending to wane because the younger clergy no longer understand the art of taking a liturgical service. Older members are not being replaced and this because of the lack of enthusiasm to maintain liturgical worship. "I will keep it going until they die out" said one minister. Many clergy, particularly in the Sydney diocese, don't even favour, let alone can handle a liturgical service. Many have never been trained in the art of reading liturgy, functioning by the church year, using symbols, or even the proper way to consecrate the elements. For many, the art-form is lost and this only frustrates those who attend the early morning traditional service. The "great to see you here this morning, say g'day to the person next to you", usually destroys the attention of the liturgically inclined for the rest of the service. Their response is to muse to themselves, "why am I here?"

      When it comes to pastoral ministry our dislocation from the wider society is all but complete. Increasing irrelevance is the inevitable consequence of our "holier than thou" tack. Too many people have been refused baptisms, weddings and funerals for us to be seen as having any place in the life of normal Australian families. We work hard at cultural relevance through media releases, Anglicare, etc., but the personal insult of a refused christening undoes it all.

What can we do?

      The Evangelical Anglican clergy who came out of the "Great Awakening", used the Anglican church as both a sheep fold and a fishing boat, and did so retaining the given form of the church. Their ministry was focused on the sovereign grace of God, but shaped by the framework of the church. They were neither puritans nor pragmatists, rather they were loyal to the gospel of God's grace in Christ, and loyal to the ritual and order of the Anglican church.

      A minister today, wanting to step out as an Evangelical, should accept the given and accept the lost. In the Sydney diocese most Anglican churches now have three separate congregations: Anglican, Baptist/Presbyterian and semi-Charismatic. The majority of Sydney Anglicans are trained in free-form worship and to return to liturgy would empty our churches. An Evangelical accepts the given, for the actual shape of worship does not impact upon the Kingdom of God. Also, most Anglican churches still have some credibility with their local community and this can be strengthened if we open our doors again. An Evangelical accepts the lost, for of such is the Kingdom of God.

      Evangelical ministry is a word-centered ministry and focuses on nurture and evangelism. Substance in worship and acceptance of the lost are two areas we need to do some homework on. There are two specific projects worth pursuing, and these are the revitalizing of the early morning traditional Holy Communion service and a willingness to perform pastoral services for the "unwashed".

  i] The "Trad." 8am Service
      Worship (in the sense of congregational adoration) can be either vertical or horizontal; it can focus on the transcendence of God or the immanence of God. Pentecostal worship focuses on the immanence of the Spirit of Christ and it was the influence of the Charismatic movement, along with the congregational influence of Broughton Knox, that shaped the new horizontal nature of the main morning and evening services in most Sydney Anglican churches, while the trend to "dumb-down" these services was due to the influence of the Church Growth movement. Interestingly, Sunday School was the initiator of this change. In the 1950's we took the children out of church and churched them as "Baptists". Today, the structure of the Sunday School assembly is easily recognizable in our "accessing" service forms. We wind it up with a few songs and off we go.

      Of course, God is both transcendent and immanent and so both styles of worship are valid (although banality is never valid!), with advantages and disadvantages. For example, transcendence easily leads to ritualism, while immanence to manipulation. The issue that concerns us here is that in moving from a vertical form of worship to a horizontal form, and a shallow version at that, we have abandoned, not only those who relate to an English liturgical form that focuses on the transcendent, but those many believers and seekers who are looking for something more substantial than "toe tapping times." We should not forget that as believers mature they often move toward quality, nor should we forget that many seekers are more at home with devotion than celebration, also that "what goes round comes round", and nor should we forget that generation X + Y are into magic and mystery.

      So there is real value in providing a niche for those believers who appreciate substantial liturgy. They make a loyal supportive congregation able to assist in the maintenance of parish ministry. Rebuilding the liturgical strength of our early morning Holy Communion service needs to be a ministry priority.

  ii] Pastoral ministry
      For centuries Anglican practice required the minister to seek out the unbaptized and baptize them (a practice quickly shaped into a gospel initiative by Evangelical clergy). It is hard to believe that in a single generation the majority of Sydney Anglican clergy have withdrawn from this open-door policy and adopted a policy more in keeping with the Presbyterian Reformed church. As it has become a "holiness" issue, the hatches, matches, dispatches, the fete worse than death, the gossipy Parish Paper, and all the other threads of a once established church, are not easily stitched back into the old ladies gown.

      Sharing in the life stages of the wider community, interacting, participating,... may rebuild some of the links we have so carelessly thrown away. Rebuilding our place in the village community needs to be a ministry priority.

Rebuilding our liturgical niche

      Reclaiming a liturgical niche for Sydney Anglicans is by no means easy, particularly for those clergy who have never really experienced beautiful liturgical worship, let alone been trained in the art. Still, rebuilding the liturgy of our early morning communion is not beyond any of us, and doing it does not impact in any way on the main morning and evening services. The art of liturgical worship can be learned. and when applied, is greatly appreciated by many Australians. Get a feel for the transcendence of The Holy Communion, visit with good liturgists and head toward "The Lord be with you" rather than "G'day crew".

      Although many who attend an Anglican liturgical service feel comfortable with a Book of Common Prayer service or a conservative revision (AAPB 1st Order), there is more to be gained in using the modern and widely used revised services (2nd Order). These services combine Holy Communion and Morning Prayer and therefore have greater depth. In Australia, the 2nd Order Holy Communion (AAPB, but especially APBA) is commonly used in every diocese outside of Sydney and is similar in form to the majority of revised services used throughout the Anglican communion. There is a wide variety of resources available for this service form, particularly with music. It is the obvious service form to use other than in Lent when the 1st Order is better suited. The Sydney "Sunday Services" "dumb down" worship resource book is next to useless in that its 2nd Order is shallow to say the least and the 1st Order has altered such classics of liturgical worship as the Prayer of Preparation and the Prayer of Humble Access. Sadly our Sydney liturgists have failed to give weight to familiarity. If it's not broken, don't fix it!

      There are many books available which explain the props and stage directions necessary for leading a liturgical version of the Lord's Supper. For the Australian setting "When We Meet for Worship" by Gilbert Sinden is still a useful manual for leading a worship service from AAPB (and it still works for APBA). The book is no longer in print, but second hand copies are plentiful. Such manuals rarely reflect Low Church Evangelical traditions, eg. Celebrating at the Northward position; cassock, surplice and scarf rather than vestments; bread rather than wafers, pure wine rather than intinctured with water; refraining from crossing, bowing or genuflecting; etc. The preservation of such traditions are appropriate for Sydney Evangelicals, although it must be remembered that Evangelicals have tended not to make such matters of form an issue when working in a more "catholic" diocese.

      Don't forget the basics. Robes and collar should be worn, hymns rather than choruses, proper manual acts, minimum interference with the liturgy, notices at the end of the service (before last hymn and blessing), follow the lectionary readings, days and colours, sermons 15 minutes, lay assistants robed, ...... and above all prayerful preparation and performance. Remember, "a dance without spirit is a dead thing." Dead liturgy is just as vile as banal entertainment.

      Rebuilding the liturgical strength of our early morning traditional communion service not only demonstrates a loyalty to a church handed on to us by a previous generation, but it has both spiritual and practical benefits that can only enrich the life of our parish.

Rebuilding the village

      The sense of church as a corner shop in the local village still has a place in our urban society. We just have to be willing to stand with the community in its journey though life. Such interaction does not really interfere with inhouse activities like Bible Studies, Life Works, Emmaus Walk, etc. Take christenings for example. Our Evangelical forebears would baptize believers/regular attenders during Morning Prayer, while nominal members / non-attenders, were baptized after the morning service or on a Sunday afternoon. The unchurched actually love their own individual family christening. It doesn't impact on the church family and provides a wonderful opportunity to explain the gospel and interact with the wider community at a very intimate level.

      It's actually quite easy to become an open-house church again. First, declare yourself on the notice board. "Pastoral services happily performed: Ring the Rector/Office for Christenings, Weddings, Counseling, Funerals......." Produce a Parish Paper and letterbox it to every house in the Parish. Make it open, friendly and evangelistic. Of course, don't forget "the fete worse than death."

      So, rebuilding pastoral contact with the wider community is at least partly achievable and is worth the minimal compromise we have to make. Remember, it is only this present generation of Evangelical clergy who have felt occasional services somehow undermine holiness.

Conclusion

      Religious form neither gathers nor nurtures God's remnant people. Only truth saves and edifies. When believers gather under the Word they respond to Christ's presence in adoration - in confession, praise, prayer, thanksgiving and listening. Adoration can take many forms, from silence to celebration. The Sydney Anglican move from weighty liturgical devotion to a "dumbed-down" semi-charismatic celebration is anything but honouring to God. It may better access middle-class young people, but it may also breed a generation of psychologically dependent pseudo Christians.
      The lost are always unwashed and yet our Lord had no problem mixing it with them in the face of the "righteous" of his day who felt these "sinners" somehow polluted pure religion. While we are busy protecting the purity of our religious form we easily forget the line "suffer little children to come unto me." The sad truth is, the parents we reject most probably know the line.