Lift Up Your Hearts
Liturgies and Ceremonies of the Episcopal Church
By David R. Pitts
Crown Communications, 484 pages, $30
David Pitts loves the historic Christian liturgy, particularly as it has been received by the Episcopal Church in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, and he understands it—though he is sometimes at pains to deny this—through the lens of the Catholic end of the Anglican spectrum. This love of corporate worship shines brightly on every page.
The author is neither a cleric nor an academic—his professional career was in healthcare administration—and he disclaims either historical or theological expertise. Yet he has several decades of experience in overseeing the planning and execution of complex liturgical events, including the ordinations of several deacons and priests, and at least one consecration of a bishop. (I found myself wishing I’d had access to his material on episcopal ordinations when I was planning my own 15 years ago.) Pearls of practical wisdom from this long experience are scattered throughout the pages of his book.
Pitts’ work is encyclopedic in scope, requiring well over 400 pages, and is exhaustively annotated. It features an extensive discussion of the liturgical year, including the proper liturgies of Holy Week, and the full panoply of liturgical occasions, from the Eucharist in its various forms and styles, the Daily Offices, baptisms, confirmations, weddings, funerals, and less familiar devotions such as Stations of the Cross and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.
As Anglicans are notoriously fond of processions, there is a wealth of practical advice on their planning and performance. There is very helpful material on forms of address and general liturgical decorum. And I would be very remiss if I did not flag for special attention the quite fine prologue by the Rt. Rev. J. Neil Alexander, emeritus liturgy professor at Sewanee’s School of Theology—it is a gem of an essay.
Liturgy is a subject about which a great many interested parties hold a seemingly even greater number of strong opinions—regarding best practices and historical “origin narratives.” Anyone brave enough to write on the subject risks stepping on a few landmines, and this effort is not immune from that dynamic.
The Rt. Rev. Daniel Martins is retired Bishop of the Diocese of Springfield in the Episcopal Church.
