Beyond Common Worship

The introduction of Common Worship services from 1997 onwards has gone remarkably smoothly, considering the immensity of the task. But all is not well. Despite its overall success, the sheer variety of material has meant that for many parishes, clergy and Readers, Common Worship has come to feel complicated, technical and cumbersome. Furthermore, the increasing focus in the Church of England on a missional approach to parish life (including worship) and the growth of 'Fresh Expressions' and other more radical approaches to church life has raised a further question: how does an Anglican church produce worship for missional contexts which is connected both to the particular context and to the wider Anglian tradition and the Church of England structures on particular.In many parishes this is becoming crucial: a question such as, 'How do we use Common Worship for a Eucharistic service in Messy Church?' focuses the issue - but it is a question being asked in different ways in lots of different places. The answer thus far from the Fresh Expressions movement itself has been, 'All the flexibility you need is in Common Worship' - but this answer is looking increasingly naïve in the light of actual practice.Read less