Paschal, baptismal, ecclesial

I was looking through some old files from seminary and came across this paper I wrote for my liturgics class back in 2005.

I like it pretty well!

Not too bad, 23-year-old self. You had a lot of growing up to do (well, still do, I guess … ), but you could write a decent paper on the 1979 Prayer Book.

First, it is paschal: more than any previous Anglican prayer book, it is grounded in the pasch, the central Christian mystery of the suffering, death, and resurrection of Christ.  Second, because it is paschal, it is baptismal; it sees baptism as the foundation of the Christian life and community.  Third, because it is baptismal, it is ecclesial; it is not a book for individual contemplative devotion but a book for a congregation of the priestly people of God.

I’d probably write it a little differently today but I think I still pretty much agree with everything in here. If only that were the case for everything else I’ve ever written … 🙂

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