Day 1
Liturgical Advisory Committee Highlights Busy Year in Synod Report
Liturgical Advisory Committee Highlights Busy Year in Synod Report
The Liturgical Advisory Committee has had a busy year with almost a dozen resources being worked on, General Synod heard today (Friday May 12). Over the last year, the Church’s new liturgies have covered a range of areas including how to respond to situations of sudden or unexpected death, marking the Season of Creation, materials relating to the war in Ukraine, and the succession of King Charles III following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. A major new resource for daily prayer in the home with families is planned.
Proposing the report of the LAC, the Revd Adrian Dorrian said that the committee had enjoyed a close working relationship with the Historical Centenaries Working Group over the past 10 years and the committee had been glad to respond to requests for specific materials to mark centenary events.
Over the last year the committee also worked alongside the Church and Society commission to develop prayers for use with a specific focus on social justice. Mr Dorrian encouraged other committees of Synod to make use of the years of experience and expertise on the LAC when they wish to produce liturgical resources to complement their work.
Mr Dorrian welcomed the appointment of the LAC’s new Honorary Secretary, the Dean of Cork, the Very Revd Nigel Dunne following the retirement of Dean Gerald Field last year.
Seconding the report, Dean Susan Greene (Cork Cloyne and Ross) said that committee had a wide range of topics to focus on in the future. These include a welcome card introducing people to Church of Ireland worship in both English and Ukrainian. There is also a resource for daily prayer in the home, he said. She also commended the recent printing of resources which had previously been available online.
Speaking to the report, George Woodman (Connor) thanked the LAC for its work which he had found useful and supportive in his own prayer life. He welcomed the extra prayers which he said were useful and covered topics central to the concerns of society. He noted that not all the topics were easy to verbalise so the LAC had enabled the Church to pray together. He also commended the website for the clarity of the font in its resources.
Dean Paul Bogle (Meath and Kildare) commend the work of the LAC and thanked them for the resources they provided for neonatal and still birth. He said that the structure of the liturgy was very helpful in providing pastoral support.
Canon Mark Harvey (Dromore) also commended the resources produced. He questioned the inclusion in future resources of a focus on gender issues. He asked that the proposer and seconder would provide clarification.
Joc Sanders (Killaloe) focused on future plans and said it was wonderful that the LAC would be focussing on prayers and resources for younger people. But he said it was also important to focus on the older age group.
In reply, Mr Dorrian thanked Synod members for their support. He said that he could not elaborate on the future plans as they would have to consult widely before the creation of resources and the conversations were yet to be had.
Mr Dorrian proposed two motions from the LAC.
Motion 3 is the first stage in a Special Bills procedure which is required to make alterations to the Book of Common Prayer. It involves a clarification relating to Remembrance Sunday which aims to bring clarity to the table of readings stating with the inclusion of the following line: ‘Remembrance Sunday is observed on the Second Sunday in November’.