On What the People Do in Worship
Abstract
This paper is a response to, and a further refection on, an article by Professor Stephen Burns in the June 2024 issue Uniting Church Studies entitled “Manual Acts: Mass Confusion?” Burns argues that while the expression “manual acts” is not readily known among Uniting Church congregations and ministers, their unconscious variety of use leads to confusion in our celebration of Holy Communion. A consequential focus on what is done with the hands at the Lord’s Table may lead to an over emphasis on the role of the presider (clericalism) and a diminution of the central role of the baptized people of God in the sacrament. As Uniting in Worship 2 (2000) says, “the congregation is not an audience.” In response, this paper explores the complementary charisms of both congregation and presider in Uniting and ecumenical contexts. The author offers his own critique of worship in the Uniting Church at the present time and offers some ways forward.
Author Biography
Robert Gribben
Robert Gribben studied liturgy at Wesley House, Cambridge, UK under the Methodist scholar, Raymond George. He succeeded the Rev. Dr Harold Leatherland as Director of the Ecumenical Liturgical Centre at Kew, served on the Council of the international scholarly body, Societas Liturgica, and was a President of the Australian Academy of Liturgy and Editor of its Journal. He served on the Liturgical Commission which produced Uniting in Worship and its successor. He is Emeritus Professor of Worship and Mission of the former United Faculty of Theology