93 - Baptism and Eucharist: Ecumenical Convergence in Celebration

Baptism and Eucharist:
Ecumenical Convergence in Celebration
Edited by Max Thurian and Geoffrey Wainwright
Geneva, World Council of Churches, and Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1984. 258 pp. $11.95.

This is a collection of the chief historical and important contemporary texts on both Baptism and the Eucharist (209 pages) together with reflections on the pastoral setting for these sacraments as varied as those of the Orthodox Churches, the Mass in Latin America, the Eucharist in Sri Lanka, the Lord's Supper in an African Independent Church, Proposals from a West German Kirchentag, all climaxed with the ecumenical Eucharist celebrated in Lima (32 pages). The texts are introduced with brief, clear, and always relevant notes on the respective forms of worship, and it is immensely useful to have all these liturgies, old and new, in a single book. The selection, as might be expected from Thurian, the Reformed liturgist of the Taizé Community, and Geoffrey Wainwright the Methodist liturgiologist and liturgist now at Duke University Divinity School, is judicious and comprehensive, including Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, Reformed, and Radical Reformed types of worship.

The only question is whether the element of convergence has been overdone in the selection. Certainly, the divergences between the ceremonial of Roman Catholic and the various Reformed Churches are acknowledged by the editors. Evidently, too, there has been a remarkable convergence in the understanding and celebration of both sacraments theologically. But in the contemporary situation, where churches have several alternative eucharistic prayers, such as the Church of England and the American Episcopal Church and the United Church of Christ, the variant chosen has been the one converging towards the editorial norm. This is occasionally contrived.

Furthermore, the convergence is at the top ecumenical level; it is admirable to show the liturgy of the British Baptists, but how typical is this of the actual practice in the local Baptist churches of Britain, not to mention the mode by which the Lord's Supper is practiced by the large and growing denomination of the Southern Baptists. Denominations such as the Pentecostalists are virtually excluded in this convergence, and the gap between the instructed liturgiologist and the local minister who has been taught that proclamation of the Word is all that matters is as vast as the Grand Canyon and anything but beautiful.

What is most promising, however, is that the convergence seems to be increasing, while the traditionally liturgical churches now stress preach

94 - Baptism and Eucharist: Ecumenical Convergence in Celebration

ing and the less liturgical churches now stress the doxological importance of ordered worship, having already won the battle for variety in their own denominations. What I found most fascinating was "New Orders of the Mass in India" which has not only the attraction of relevance and novelty, but also the fascination of the danger of syncretism. Here a serious attempt has been made to include in the Mass the profound meditations of the Hindu religious philosophers in the Rigvedas and the Bhaqavadgita, in both a long and a short version. The 110 concise footnotes are themselves an introduction to Hindu thought, with surprising parallels to Christian theology in some cases.

The editors hope "that the book will prove useful for teaching purposes in seminaries and parishes, for it is now possible to learn and grow ecumenically in this matter." Its arrival is timely for it will illuminate the "long-matured text" of the World Council of Churches' Commission on Faith and Order on Baptism, Eucharist, and Ministry (1983) and the more popular discussion guide, Growing Together in Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry (1982). This valuable book is a handbook to the work of the Holy Spirit in the world today.

Horton Davies
Princeton University
Princeton, New Jersey