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To: sionnsar
Understood. We have an almost infinite variety of manner in the Anglican church, even in the 1928 BCP churches -- and even in our church we have to harmonize practices with new servers...

The Orthodox are very traditional and keep the manner of the worship very similar. I was fortunate enough to see Orthodox churches in Europe, America and the Far East. They are all Orthodox. The different manner of worship is subtle. For instance, the Japanese tend to kneel and bow down to the ground, but the Orthodox worship should be considered a rite and as such uniform within reason in all churches of that rite, just as Catholic Latin rite is characterized by a certain manner of worship.

What you are describing is any lack of uniformity or rite in the Anglican Church, and that is certainly not the case with the the Church of the East or the West. A rite is a tradition, but not holy; it is not a fad, or fashion.

13 posted on 01/19/2005 8:09:18 AM PST by kosta50 (Eastern Orthodoxy is pure Christianity)
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To: kosta50
What you are describing is any lack of uniformity or rite in the Anglican Church, and that is certainly not the case with the the Church of the East or the West. A rite is a tradition, but not holy; it is not a fad, or fashion.

I think you're taking my statements rather a bit far. I certainly did not describe "a lack of uniformity or rite." In fact there is a lot of uniformity, even between the 1928 and 1979 BCP rites. The same elements are observed in the exact same order (with one exception, the horrid "Peace" of the '79).

And they are uniform across the spectrum of low church to high church. When I attend a '79 BCP service, I know exactly where we are in the service even if I have to read from the prayer book because the (modern) language is unfamiliar.

But it's the manner, the subtle, subtle, manner that differs. What is sung, what is said, varies from church to church, for example; the rubrics spell out the options. Bells or not. Smells or not. The number of candles on the altar. The lighting order. When one crosses one's self. Terminal prayer. These sorts of things vary, and many would not be easily discerned by somebody who did not know the traditions.

14 posted on 01/19/2005 9:20:58 AM PST by sionnsar († trad-anglican.faithweb.com † || Iran Azadi || Kiev County: http://www.soundpolitics.com)
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