From the Vicar

A few months ago I wrote in this magazine about position - whether or not to kneel or stand for various parts of the Parish Eucharist on Sunday mornings. I remember stating that such matters are personal choice and that I'm very happy to see some people kneeling whilst others remain standing. Since then, however, I've been regularly asked what I think worshippers ought to do, so a few weeks ago I preached the following sermon.

On the last Saturday in April, at some incredibly early hour, I was part of a group putting up gazebos in Park Wood for its open day. You can imagine the scene. Five men, one gazebo. Easy. The poles went up and came down again. They were turned round and went up again. Still there were some odd poles left on the ground. No worries - on went the roof. Down it came again - in fact it went up and came down several times - either because it was taken down or because it fell down. I needn't go on I'm sure. In the end, the instructions were followed, and the gazebo stood erect and ready for use.

The moral behind that tale is that with a gazebo there is only one way of putting it up.

Now that's not true with everything in life. Sometimes there's more than one way of doing things. Do you put the milk in your coffee before or after the hot water- Do you drive through Purbrook to get to Portsmouth or do you go down the motorway- Personal choice is the key.

I've been asked several times now whether you should stand or kneel for the Eucharistic Prayer. I've not said much about it before because it's a matter of personal choice, but may be some guidance might be sensible. Now I can understand the argument for kneeling - that we should approach God and the altar with reverence and humility. That's fine, and is exactly the view expressed in the Book of Common Prayer. We're "sinful worms" and we need to appeal to God for his mercy and forgiveness.

Our view of God has changed however. In more modern services, the role of Jesus is stressed more - namely that he came to forgive us and make us worthy to be called his brothers and sisters. The collect for Easter 6 may help us a bit here:

"You have delivered us from darkness... brought us into the Kingdom... recalled us to life... in Christ's continual presence."

So, if we are worthy; if we are brothers and sisters; if we are brought out of darkness; if we are raised to eternal joy - then I believe we should be standing to welcome Christ as he comes among us in the form of bread and wine. That's especially so when we respond to the prayer: "Alleluia! Alleluia!" as we have done throughout the Easter season. We can't shout Alleluia! on our knees any more than we can sing the Gloria sitting down ™ the very words demand that we get up and praise God.

When something really exciting happens, or when someone really important comes into the room, the most natural thing in the world is to stand and cheer, or wave flags or shout out. For us as Christians, not only the most exciting thing, but also the most wonderful thing that can happen is Jesus coming to us and giving himself to us in the breaking of the bread.

All this is summed up in that phrase just before Communion - "Lord I am not worthy" - that's the Old Testament view, and the view expressed in the Prayer Book, but it doesn't stop there does it- It goes on "But only say the word and I shall be healed". Jesus has said the word - we are healed at every Eucharist, and we stand with confidence to receive him into our lives.

So when do we kneel- It seems appropriate to me that we should kneel for the Our Father, because in that prayer we're offering ourselves to God and laying ourselves at the feet of Jesus.

At the end of the Eucharistic Prayer, you're invited to pray - we'll take a pause at that point to allow time for kneeling down.

Gazebos can only be put up one way, as I discovered. Worship of Almighty God however, is not something done according to instructions. Personal choice is relevant. If you wish to kneel or feel you must sit for the Eucharistic Prayer, please do so. If, however, you're not sure and want some guidance, I suggest that standing expresses our belief that Jesus died to make us worthy and is the right posture for proclaiming with the universal Church: "Alleluia! Alleluia!"

Fr Mike Sheffield