This article appears in the March 2005 Bellringer

How We Worship
Sharon L. Rodgers,Liturgist

       The entire How We Worship series two years ago focused on the service of Holy Eucharist and is now available in booklet form.  For that reason I would like to focus here simply on some of the differences between the Rite I and Rite II services of Holy Eucharist found in the Book of Common Prayer.

       The Rite I service uses a style of speech no longer in use in the United States.  Thee, thou, and thy replace you and your in Rite I, and some verbs have a "th" ending that they do not have in everyday speech today.  The Summary of the Law which follows the Collect for Purity in Rite I has been omitted from Rite II.  The Nicene Creed, which appears in only one form beginning with "We believe in one God," in Rite II, appears in two forms in Rite I, the second and older version beginning "I believe in one God."  Similarly there are two forms of the Confession to choose from in Rite I.  Both Rites offer multiple Eucharistic Prayers, though more choices appear in Rite II.  Moreover, Rite II requires the intercessor to choose from one of the six intercessory forms found between pages 383 and 392.  The Prayer for the Whole State of Christ's Church found in the 1928 Prayer Book is part of the Rite I liturgy, though the intercessor does have the option of replacing it with one of the intercessory forms normally used in Rite II services. 

  Perhaps more important to some people than the style of language or number of prayer choices found in the services is the fact that Rite II was written in more inclusive language than Rite I.  The Gloria, for example, begins "Glory be to God on high and on earth peace, good will towards men," in Rite I, while in Rite II it says, "Glory to God in the highest and peace to his people on earth."  So while God is still referred to with exclusively male pronouns in both Rites, humanity is not described in solely masculine terms in Rite II.

     Clearly offering Morning and Evening Prayer, Holy Eucharist, The Burial Office, and the Collects in both traditional and contemporary language in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer was an attempt by those who compiled it to make that Prayer Book meaningful to as many people as possible.  Without a doubt worship will continue to evolve over time if it is to remain spiritually meaningful.  Additional liturgical texts have been approved by General Convention since 1979 in which God is referred to with more gender neutral pronouns.  We make use of these in the service booklets we follow at the 9:30 service during Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, and Easter seasons.