New Horizons: The Celebration of Oneness based on the Eucharist by Jon Robinson. Libertas Publishing, 2020. Pamphlet. 26 pages. £6.
Your imagination is the limit with the New Horizons liturgy which follows the structure of the Eucharist, but seeks to bridge the divide between inherited religious expression and the open-minded, free of religious control place many people find themselves in today.
This liturgy clearly understands its context: a society of declining church attendance, where most young people have grown up outside church and now find its institutions, language, culture and practice to be alien and uncomfortable. Jon Robinson has identified and responded to an opportunity: that many of those people outside the church are still looking for something to satisfy their spirituality.
I heard several discussions at our SOF Network conference in July about the rising popularity of new-age spirituality among young people, and they are the prime audience for the New Horizons liturgy. The Church can try to fulfil these needs, but can this ‘New Age Mass’ compete with the existing market of new-age experiences and paraphernalia? I worry that the target audience may think, ‘why drink diet cola, when you can have the real thing?’
New Horizons is full of fresh images and a wide range of symbols. It appeals to the senses and the ancient riches of natural theology. Awkward personification and the more implausible parts of the Mass are pared back. Terms such as ‘Lord’ and ‘Almighty God’ are often replaced with calls on ‘eternal light’, ‘life giving spirit’ and the symbols of earth, air, fire and water.
In his foreword, the Rt Revd. John Pritchard, formerly Bishop of Oxford, warns: ‘Some people find sustenance in a slowly evolving tradition. Others long for wider horizons and new angles. This liturgy is written for the latter.’ I think that New Horizons also has something to offer for the former group. I doubt my church would use this liturgy ‘as a whole’ – and I will admit I giggled when imagining the Gospel reading at my church being followed by a ‘contemplate circle dance etc.’ But there are many passages and ideas that I will be taking from New Horizons to adapt for my own parish. Just reading this liturgy has prompted interesting thoughts and challenges to my comfortable habits.
The Mass is the only reason I continue to attend a liberal Anglo-Catholic church rather than joining the Unitarians, Quakers or other non-conformists which would better reflect my beliefs and values. I like to sit and let my mind wander, with incense wafting over me and the words of the Sanctus tumbling from my lips on auto-pilot. Sermons or, even worse, extemporaneous prayer, can distract me with disagreement. The words and rhythms of the Eucharist are so familiar that your mind can safely – and fruitfully – wander.
When I use an inherited liturgy, I feel that there is less expectation that they are an accurate statement of my beliefs on metaphysics or ethics, because I didn’t choose the words. A new liturgy makes me nervous, because that defence is no longer open to me. I’m happy using the traditional words so long as I know what non-theist understanding of them is. My role in my parish is limited to prayers of intercession. I still refer to a personified Lord but I have tried to translate this into human terms in my opening words:
‘In offering our prayers, we raise our consciousness of the needs of our world, our communities and ourselves. We focus our minds on your mission to us, to be a community of love and to yearn for your Kingdom on earth, and we worship God, affirming and celebrating life.’
I wish I had an atheist annotated Book of Common Prayer – with non-supernatural readings of the liturgy, its history and meaning for today. I know Ben Whitney has done this for some gospel readings and the creed.
I am sure that Jon Robinson has thought about these questions when writing New Horizons. I would love to read more about the ‘making of’ this liturgy, the thought process behind his choices of words and symbols. Churches brave enough to use New Horizons will push boundaries and reach new audiences, but even the more cautious amongst us can find much to gain from this rich and inclusive liturgy.
Edward Nickell works in NHS management and joined the SOF network last year. Copies of the pamphlet are available at £6 from Jon Robinson, 3 The Beeches, Beaminster, Dorset DT8 3SL.