Fr. Tony’s Letter to the Trinitarians
June 2014
“Priesthood Voice,” Authenticity, and Liturgy
I had a somewhat troubling moment of clarity a few years ago
while living in West Africa. As a
cultural counselor at a U.S. Embassy, I worked with traditional healers and
faith leaders in a newly democratic country. Once, when the “Pope of Voodoo”
was a guest in my home, I noticed something very familiar in the tone of voice
he used in his local language: a quiet,
calm, soothing voice, slightly lower-pitched than normal discourse, exuding
authority, kindness, and humility at the same time, and demanding respect. It was the same tone I had learned to call a
“priesthood voice” in dealing with hierarchs in the church of my youth as well
as Evangelical leaders and Roman Catholic bishops. This made me realize that the “voice” was
not, as I had thought for years, so much a sign of a particular “spirituality,”
but rather a kind of affectation and way of manipulating others.
The non-liturgical church in which I was raised stressed community
and how we felt in our hearts about God and community. Sunday services were
comprised mainly of accessible emotional hymns and the spoken word aimed at
building in each person a firm faith and resolution to work harder and follow
“the commandments,” all within a context of a loving, family-like community. It was only much later that I realized that, for
me at least, there was something missing in what they called “worship”: the act of worship itself, where the focus is speaking and listening to God
rather than each other, and where we praise God and make an offering out of love,
awe, and gratitude.
I came to realize that Community Religion is a package deal: if being in the community is the main point of community gathering, then
defining who belongs to the community, and more importantly, who does not belong, is part and parcel of that
gathering. Close, family-like religion
comes at a cost: the marginalization of
those who do not fit the mold, who are on the edges or outside of the
boundaries by which the community defines itself.
This eventually led me to the Episcopal Church. Members of warmer, more community-focused
churches with more spontaneous worship styles may make fun of us as “the frozen
chosen,” but Prayer Book liturgy has this one great strength: by its intentionality and form, it tends to
limit the occasions for the minister to manipulate their flock. Homilies must be kept short when you have
prayers, confessions, creeds, and Eucharistic rites to get through. Using the rich treasury of BCP written prayers
limits the opportunity for the glib to show off their “prayin’ skills.” When liturgy is chanted, the minister loses most
of the chance to use a well-turned dramatic voice to produce an intended
effect.
Now, the church of my youth works for some people. And sincere faith on the one hand, and
manipulation on the other, can be found in all denominations, whether
spontaneous or liturgical, or focused on God or on each other. I am sharing this simply to explain some of
my own tendencies given my background and experience of having been beaten up
as a young person by a “just plain folks” approach to Church. I am not saying that fervency, spontaneity,
and open emotion are in and of themselves manipulative. On the contrary, we need these things if our
worship is to be authentic.
The variety of forms and styles in our Prayer Book allow
each worshiping community and worshiper to find their own real voice. Our
dear Trinity Church, with its fine family-like character and blended worship
styles has found over the years an authentic voice all its own. But, still, there are occasionally those who
come to me expressing a sense of having been marginalized and excluded. Again, community religion seems to be a
package deal, and we need to be vigilant in maintaining welcome.
Regardless of whether we use more traditional rites and
music, or a more free-wheeling style with “Praise” songs, we must focus our
worship on God, while being accessible and as inclusive as possible. The variety,
structure and format of Prayer Book rites call us to a more authentic worship
and community interaction than if we were simply to focus on community itself
and our own artifice and skill.
Grace and peace.
Fr. Tony+
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