Wednesday, the First Sunday after the Epiphany
Morning Prayer
Richard Meux Benson and Charles Gore
Leader
From the rising of the sun to its setting my Name shall be great among the nations, and in every place incense shall be offered to my Name, and a pure offering: for my Name shall be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts. Malachi 1:11
O Morning Star, how fair and bright
thou beamest forth in truth and light.
O Sovereign meek and lowly!
Thou Root of Jesse, David's Son,
my Lord and Master, thou has won
my heart to serve thee solely!
Thou art holy,
fair and glorious, all-victorious,
rich in blessing,
rule and might o'er all possessing.
Singers: One Accord
Words and Music: Phillip Nicolai
Leader
Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor.
Silence may be kept.
Everyone together, all kneeling:
Most merciful God,
we confess that we have sinned against you
in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart;
we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.
For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,
have mercy on us and forgive us;
that we may delight in your will,
and walk in your ways,
to the glory of your Name. Amen.
Leader
Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us all our sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life. Amen.
Lord, open our lips.
And our mouth shall proclaim your praise.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia.
God is the Rock of our salvation:
Come let us worship.
Be joyful in the Lord, all you lands;
serve the Lord with gladness
and come before his presence with a song.
Know this: the Lord himself is God;
he himself has made us, and we are his;
we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and call upon his Name.
For the Lord is good;
his mercy is everlasting;
and his faithfulness endures from age to age.
God is the Rock of our salvation:
Come let us worship.
119:1-24 or
Coverdale
Aleph Beati immaculati
1 Happy are they whose way is blameless, *
who walk in the law of the Lord!
2 Happy are they who observe his decrees *
and seek him with all their hearts!
3 Who never do any wrong, *
but always walk in his ways.
4 You laid down your commandments, *
that we should fully keep them.
5 Oh, that my ways were made so direct *
that I might keep your statutes!
6 Then I should not be put to shame, *
when I regard all your commandments.
7 I will thank you with an unfeigned heart, *
when I have learned your righteous judgments.
8 I will keep your statutes; *
do not utterly forsake me.
Beth In quo corrigit?
9 How shall a young man cleanse his way? *
By keeping to your words.
10 With my whole heart I seek you; *
let me not stray from your commandments.
11 I treasure your promise in my heart, *
that I may not sin against you.
12 Blessed are you, O Lord; *
instruct me in your statutes.
13 With my lips will I recite *
all the judgments of your mouth.
14 I have taken greater delight in the way of your decrees *
than in all manner of riches.
15 I will meditate on your commandments *
and give attention to your ways.
16 My delight is in your statutes; *
I will not forget your word.
Gimel Retribue servo tuo
17 Deal bountifully with your servant, *
that I may live and keep your word.
18 Open my eyes, that I may see *
the wonders of your law.
19 I am a stranger here on earth; *
do not hide your commandments from me.
20 My soul is consumed at all times *
with longing for your judgments.
21 You have rebuked the insolent; *
cursed are they who stray from your commandments!
22 Turn from me shame and rebuke, *
for I have kept your decrees.
23 Even though rulers sit and plot against me, *
I will meditate on your statutes.
24 For your decrees are my delight, *
and they are my counselors.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Ghost:
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and ever shall be.
World without end. Amen. Amen.
Reader
A reading from the Book of Genesis 4:1-16
1Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have produced a man with the help of the Lord.” 2Next she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground.
3In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4and Abel for his part brought of the firstlings of his flock, their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.
6The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? 7If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.”
8Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out to the field.” And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him.
9Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” 10And the Lord said, “What have you done? Listen; your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground! 11And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12When you till the ground, it will no longer yield to you its strength; you will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.”
13Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear! 14Today you have driven me away from the soil, and I shall be hidden from your face; I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and anyone who meets me may kill me.” 15Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! Whoever kills Cain will suffer a sevenfold vengeance.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, so that no one who came upon him would kill him.
16Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
The Word of the Lord.
Everyone
Thanks be to God.
Silence may be kept after the Reading.
Arise, shine, for your light has come, *
and the glory of the Lord has dawned upon you.
For behold, darkness covers the land; *
deep gloom enshrouds the peoples.
But over you the Lord will rise, *
and his glory will appear upon you.
Nations will stream to your light, *
and kings to the brightness of your dawning.
Your gates will always be open; *
by day or night they will never be shut.
They will call you, The City of the Lord, *
The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
Violence will no more be heard in your land, *
ruin or destruction within your borders.
You will call your walls, Salvation, *
and all your portals, Praise.
The sun will no more be your light by day; *
by night you will not need the brightness of the moon.
The Lord will be your everlasting light, *
and your God will be your glory.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
Reader
A reading from the Letter to the Hebrews 2:11-18
11For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, 12saying, “I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters, in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.” 13And again, “I will put my trust in him.” And again, “Here am I and the children whom God has given me.”
14Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death. 16For it is clear that he did not come to help angels, but the descendants of Abraham. 17Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people. 18Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.
The Word of the Lord.
Everyone
Thanks be to God.
Silence may be kept after the Reading.
Luke 1:68-79
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; *
he has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty savior, *
born of the house of his servant David.
Through his holy prophets he promised of old,
that he would save us from our enemies, *
from the hands of all who hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our fathers *
and to remember his holy covenant.
This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham, *
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
Free to worship him without fear, *
holy and righteous in his sight
all the days of our life.
You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, *
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
To give his people knowledge of salvation *
by the forgiveness of their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God *
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the
shadow of death, *
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
Reader
A reading from the Gospel according to John 1:(29-34)35-42
29The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ 31I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.” 35The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, 36and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!”
37The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. 40One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41He first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed). 42He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).
The Word of the Lord.
Everyone
Thanks be to God.
Silence may be kept after the Reading.
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
Leader
God be with you.
Response
And also with you.
Leader
Let us pray.
Everyone
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your Name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on Earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those
who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial,
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours,
now and for ever. Amen.
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
Leader
Show us your mercy, O Lord;
Response
And grant us your salvation.
Leader
Clothe your ministers with righteousness;
Response
Let your people sing with joy.
Leader
Give peace, O Lord, in all the world;
Response
For only in you can we live in safety.
Leader
Lord, keep this nation under your care;
Response
And guide us in the way of justice and truth.
Leader
Let your way be known upon earth;
Response
Your saving health among all nations.
Leader
Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten;
Response
Nor the hope of the poor be taken away.
Leader
Create in us clean hearts, O God;
Response
And sustain us with your Holy Spirit.
Leader
Father in heaven, who at the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan proclaimed him your beloved Son and anointed him with the Holy Spirit: Grant that all who are baptized into his Name may keep the covenant they have made, and boldly confess him as Lord and Savior; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
O God and Father of all, whom the whole heavens adore: Let the whole earth also worship you, all nations obey you, all tongues confess and bless you, and men and women everywhere love you and serve you in peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
We pray for the people of the United States.
We pray for our sisters and brothers, members of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion).
Eternal God, in whose perfect kingdom no sword is drawn but the sword of righteousness, no strength known but the strength of love: So mightily spread abroad your Spirit, that all peoples may be gathered under the banner of the Prince of Peace, as children of one Father; to whom be dominion and glory, now and for ever. Amen.
Richard Meux Benson (1824 1915) was a priest in the Church of England and founder of the Society of St. John the Evangelist, the first religious order of monks in the Anglican Communion since the Reformation.
Born into a wealthy family of London in 1824, Benson was taught at home by a private tutor and entered Christ Church, Oxford. After his degree and ordination and a curacy at Surbiton, in 1850 he became vicar of Cowley, Oxford. He was considered High Church. In 1858 Benson conducted a retreat for priests using material taken in part from the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola. In 1859, having erected a new parish church dedicated to St. John the Evangelist, Benson planned a mission to India but abandoned the plan at the request of his bishop.
At the time there were convents of Anglican women in England, and in 1865 two priests joined Benson in Cowley to begin community life under the name of Mission Priests of St. John the Evangelist with Benson as Superior.
The form of religious life instituted by Benson was not purely contemplative its members engaged in active external ministry but they recited the Divine Office together daily in choir, and Benson emphasized contemplation. The brothers were to get an hour's meditation daily if possible, and he gave the community a summer retreat of four weeks, later reduced to fortnight. He prescribed other retreat days and silence days. As a religious founder, he concentrated on essentials, among which he reckoned life-vows, taken with precautions as to maturity; regular confession; choir office, prayer and meditation; and priestly ministry. He fully recognized the authority of his bishop over the priests of the community, who were clergy of the diocese, but not as extending to their private life together.
From 1870 to 1883 the Society spread to the United States, India, and South Africa. Benson himself made an American mission tour. In 1884 the society adopted a Constitution and Rule drafted by Benson.
During the creation of the Society, Benson had maintained his duties as a parish vicar. In 1886 he resigned this charge to devote all his attention to the Society and its mission.
In 1890 Benson stepped aside for another to be elected Superior. He spent one year in India, and eight years at the American house in Boston.
The last sixteen years of Benson's life were lived at home again. He celebrated the Holy Eucharist as long as he could stand at the altar, and then was wheeled in a chair to his Communion every morning. He died on January 14, 1915.
from Wikipedia
More information on Richard Benson is available from Project Canterbury.
Charles Gore was born in Wimbledon in 1853. His father's grandfather was the Earl of Arran, his mother's grandfather was the Earl of Bessborough, and his brother Spencer was England's first National Tennis Champion.
Gore attended Harrow Prep School (during which time he became dedicated to weekly Communion), and Balliol College, Oxford (where he became a supporter of the trades-union movement). He took First Class Honors in Classical Moderations and in Greats (philosophy), and was elected a Fellow of Trinity in 1875. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1878. In 1880 he became Vice-Principal of Cuddesdon Theological College, founded by Edward King. During the three years he spent there he did a great deal of outside preaching and lecturing. After the death of Edward Pusey, a library and study center was established at Oxford in 1883, known as Pusey House, and Gore became its first Principal, a position he held until 1893. His appointment raised some eyebrows, since Gore was known to be friendly to what was called the Higher Criticism, which favored non-traditional views on the authorship of some books of the Old Testament (Lower Criticism means attempting to establish the original text of the Scriptures by diligently comparing the existing copies and analyzing their variations), while Pusey had firmly opposed the Higher Criticism.
In 1888 Gore wrote The Ministry of the Catholic Church (or The Church and the Ministry my sources differ), a book on the origins of the Christian Ministry and its development in the first two centuries of the Christian era. In the same year, he wrote Roman Catholic Claims, a reply to assertions that the Anglican Church was not the true successor of the New Testament Church. In 1889, he helped to found the Christian Social Union (he was one of the two Vice-Presidents), dedicated to promoting the view that Christian principles as applied to the political and economic organization of society demanded reform along trade-unionist and moderate socialist lines. His political views aroused some public protest.
Considerably more protest was aroused, however, by the publication, also in 1889, of a book called Lux Mundi (meaning "Light of the World"): A Series of Studies in the Religion of the Incarnation. The book was a set of essays by various writers. Gore was the general editor, and contributed one essay. Overall, the book expressed the belief of many educated Christians that Biblical and archaeological studies and scientific discoveries had made it necessary for the Church to re-examine and perhaps restate some of its traditional formulations. The book was a sensation, and considered by many to be less a restatement than an abandonment of traditional doctrines. Gore's essay was called, "On the Inspiration of Holy Scripture." He distinguished sharply between the Old and New Testaments, saying that the New Testament accounts were either eye-witness or close to eye-witness accounts of the events described, while we had reason to suppose that some Old Testament accounts were written centuries after the event, and were not reliable sources of factual detail. Their value is not as a revelation of historical of scientific information, but as a revelation of God's nature and His dealings with us. Thus, the point of the story of Adam and Eve is not that the human race is less than ten thousand years old, but that obedience to God makes men happy, and disobedience to God makes them unhappy. Gore wrote: "It is of the essence of the New Testament, as the religion of the Incarnation, to be final and catholic: on the other hand, it is of the essence of the Old Testament to be imperfect, because it represents a gradual process of education by which man was lifted out of the depth of sin and ignorance." Some objected: "But you are on a slippery slope! If Genesis is not reliable history, how can we be sure of later books?" To this, Gore might have replied: "Consider the history of ancient Rome. The history begins with stories about the flight of Aeneas from Troy, and continues with Romulus and Remus, and with the story of Lucretia, and Horatius at the bridge, and Mucius Scaevola thrusting his hand into the fire, and the secession of the plebs, and the treason of Tarpeia, and Curtius leaping into the abyss, and so on. Yet the same books that tell us these stories about early Rome also tell us about the First and Second Triumvirates, and the battle of Actium, and so on. No one says that, if we reject the story of Dido and Aeneas as legend, we cannot trust the later accounts as history."
What chiefly outraged Gore's critics, however, was his adoption of what is called the Kenotic Theory of the Incarnation. The Greek word Kenosis means "emptying," and is used in Philippians 2:7, where we read that Jesus,
having the nature of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, and took the nature of a servant.
Gore put forward the suggestion that Jesus, when He took upon Himself the limitations of our human nature, accepted the limitations of human knowledge, and that therefore, when He spoke (for example) of the Flood, He was simply accepting the common assumptions of His culture, and we are not bound to accept these assumptions as correct.
Not surprisingly, many readers found this view completely unacceptable. The book was widely read and disputed over, and cheap, popular editions were soon available.
Two years later, Gore was invited to deliver the annual Bampton Lecture Series. He welcomed the opportunity to make clarify his position and reassure his listeners of his fundamental orthodoxy. The Lectures were delivered in Lent, 1891, in the University Church of Oxford, St. Mary the Virgin, to capacity audiences. Listeners filled the pews, stood in the aisles, and sat on the steps of the chancel and the pulpit. A few months later, the lectures were published in book form as The Incarnation of the Son of God.
Earlier, in 1887, Gore had founded the Society of the Resurrection, an association for priests, aimed at a deepening of the spiritual life. In July 1892 this became the Community of the Resurrection, a religious order for priests, beginning with six members. The members declared their intention of remaining celibate for life, but took vows of celibacy for only one year at a time, rather than taking a vow binding for life. (In technical language, they were monastics of the Simple Profession rather than of the Solemn Profession.) The Community first lived at Pusey House, but soon (1893) moved to Radley, near Oxford, and in 1898 to its present headquarters in Mirfield, Yorkshire. Many Americans (and perhaps others) will know the Community best through the work in the 1950's and early 1960's of the priest Trevor Huddleston, author of Nought For Your Comfort, a book discussing racial animosities and inequities in the Republic of South Africa and elsewhere, and calling Christians to a ministry of justice and reconciliation.
Gore, while retaining his office as Senior of the Community of the Resurrection, was made a canon of Westminster late in 1894, where his preaching attracted great crowds. When it was known that he was scheduled to preach, would-be listeners gathered outside the Abbey well in advance, and when the doors were opened the building filled like a lock in flood-time. In minutes, not even standing-room was to be found. In addition to his Sunday sermons, he also gave weekday lectures, many of them later collected into books, such as The Sermon On the Mount (1896), The Epistle To The Ephesians (1897), and The Epistle To the Romans (1898). In 1901 he wrote The Body of Christ, dealing with the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, asserting and defending the doctrine that Christ is objectively present in the Sacrament, and that the Sacrament is a sacrificial offering, but repudiating certain late mediaeval innovations in worship, such as Processions of the Sacrament, unknown to the Primitive Church.
As tension increased between the British government and the Boer republics of South Africa, Gore denounced British Imperialism, and when war began in 1899 he denounced the British policy of rounding up Boer civilians in detention camps, where the mortality rate was very high. He wrote a fierce letter on the subject to The Times. The next day, there was a fierce reply by a canon of Worcester (pronounced "Wooster") Cathedral. The Worcester area was the political base of Joseph Chamberlain, the Colonial Secretary whose policy Gore was denouncing. A few days later, Gore was appointed Bishop of Worcester. He was consecrated in February 1902. The diocese included the city of Birmingham, which had been tiny or non-existent when the dioceses of England were organized, but which had grown to become a large industrial city. Gore saw that the needs of Birmingham and of the surrounding rural areas were quite different, and immediately began to urge a division. Chamberlain, who had come to respect and admire Gore, helped steer the necessary legislation through Parliament. In 1905 Birmingham was organized as a separate bishopric and Gore became its first bishop. Things went well for him there. Under his leadership, church attendance increased considerably, new buildings were erected, and many priests brought into the diocese to minster to the growing congregations. In spite of his adherence to views widely regarded as tending toward Roman Catholicism, he established strong bonds of courtesy and affection with the Protestants of Birmingham.
In 1911 he was transferred and became Bishop of Oxford instead. This was a sprawling, largely rural diocese, but Gore traveled about, regularly visiting the parishes under his care, and on most Sundays preached in at least two different pulpits. Since college days he had been committed to educational and economic improvement for the working class, and he gave an annual lecture to the Workers' Educational Association at Reading. In 1911 a major labor dispute arose in Reading, and Gore publicly sided with the workers, giving them money, and pressing for a panel of inquiry into the living conditions of the workers. The report of the panel favored the workers' cause, and won for Gore a great deal of gratitude and affection among working-class people in his diocese and elsewhere.
In the next few years, several Anglican clergy publicly declared that an Anglican might reasonably deny the Virgin Birth and the physical Resurrection of Christ and remain an Anglican. Gore was horrified, and proposed to resign his bishopric so as to devote himself to contending against a position that he believed to be destructive of all Christian faith. His friends persuaded him to reconsider.
In 1914, WWI broke out. Gore dutifully travelled to France twice to preach and administer the sacraments to men in uniform. In June 1918 he went to the United States to speak on the Church and the post-war world. He spoke in New York, Washington, Chicago, Cleveland, various cities in Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama, then on to Milwaukee, Nashotah, Detroit, Boston, Washington, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York, and then back to England as the war ended in November. He spoke chiefly on reconciliation and the necessity, once the war had been won, of restoring Germany as soon as possible to the family of nations.
After the war, Gore resigned his bishopric and retired in July 1919, being 66 years old. He was flooded with invitations to speak or preach, and had a supply of postcards printed reading, "Sorry, Can't. C.G." for immediate response to most of them. The invitations he did accept were quite enough to fill his calendar. Later that year he became a lecturer in theology at King's College, and was made a Life Governor. From 1924 to 1928 he was Dean of the Faculty of Theology in the University of London. He also served on the Council of Christian Ministers on Social Questions, the Christian Social Crusade, the Industrial Christian Fellowship, the General Council of the League of Nations, the Oxford Mission to Calcutta, the Universities' Mission to Central Africa, the Board of Governors of Pusey House, the World Conference on Faith and Order (of the World Council of Churches), and the Archbishop's Eastern Churches Committee. Not bad for a man in "retirement."
During these years he also completed his Exposition of the Epistles of Saint John (1920), and then wrote his trilogy, Belief in God (1921), Belief in Christ (1922), and The Holy Spirit and the Church (1924). These three works were re-issued in a single volume called The Reconstruction of Belief, intended as an exposition and defense of the faith of the Catholic Church, as stated in the Holy Scriptures and codified in the Councils of the first five centuries of the Christian era, and now restated in modern terms--"the faith once delivered to the saints presented in conformity with twentieth-century categories of thought and scientific methods of reasoning." [Rice] The book prompted many objections, chiefly from Modernists, and Gore dealt with many of these objections in a sequel called Can We Then Believe? In 1928 the SPCK (Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge) published A New Commentary On Holy Scripture, which contained notes on every book of the Old and New Testaments and of the Apocrypha, together with many general articles. Gore was the general editor. Gore also wrote Christ and Society (1928), dealing with the social and economic applications of Christian ethics; Jesus of Nazareth(1929), dealing with the person and work of Jesus; and The Philosophy of the Good Life (1930), the Gifford Lectures, dealing with answers offered by various philosophies and religions to the question, "How ought I to live?" (The Gifford Lectures are lectures in Natural Theology, in which the lecturer is barred from asking his listeners to accept the authenticity of any revelation. Perhaps the best-known Gifford Lectures are William James's The Varieties of Religious Experience.) Gore's last book, Reflections On the Litany, was published the day after he died.
In November of 1930, he began a six-month tour of India, preaching and lecturing pretty much in every district in the country, "speaking whenever he was not walking, riding, or sleeping." He returned home totally exhausted. From then on his health deteriorated. In January 1932 he acquired a severe cough, and then pneumonia. On Friday 15 he was still able to write a few postcards to friends. Then he fell into a coma, and died on the morning of Sunday 17 January 1932. His influence remains great.
[Note: This Bio is based largely on the book The Bridge Builders: Biographical Studies in the History of Anglicanism, by Hugh A. Lawrence Rice (1961, Darton, Longman & Todd, London; Longmans, Green & Co, New York).]
written by James Kiefer
More information and links to many of his works are available from Project Canterbury.
Gracious God, who kindled in your servants Richard Meux Benson and Charles Gore the grace to lead a revival of monastic life: Grant us also the resolve to serve you faithfully in contemplation and prayer, ministering to the world that you have made, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, ever one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
Leader
Let us pray now for our own needs and those of others.
Hymn: To my humble supplication
To my humble supplication
Lord, give ear and acceptation
Save thy servant, that hath none
Help nor hope but Thee alone. Amen.
Free intercessions may be stated (or prayers from the Book of Common Prayer).
Almighty God, who has given us this good land for our heritage: We humbly beseech you that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of your favor and glad to do your will. Bless our land with honorable industry, sound learning, and pure manners. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion; from pride and arrogance, and from every evil way. Defend our liberties, and fashion us into one united people. Endue with the spirit of wisdom those to whom in your Name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that, through obedience to your law, we may show forth your praise among the nations of the earth. In the time of prosperity, fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in you to fail; all which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
O Lord our Governor, whose glory is in all the world: We commend this nation to your merciful care, that, being guided by your Providence, we may dwell secure in your peace. Grant to the President of the United States, the Governor of this State (or, Commonwealth), and to all in authority, wisdom and strength to know and to do your will. Fill them with the love of truth and righteousness, and make them ever mindful of their calling to serve this people in your fear; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.
Jesus, where'er thy people meet,
there they behold thy mercy-seat;
where'er they seek thee, thou art found,
and every place is hallowed ground.
For thou, within no walls confined,
inhabitest the humble mind;
such ever bring you where they come,
and going, take thee to their home.
Here may we prove the power of prayer
to strengthen faith and sweeten care,
to teach our faint desires to rise,
and bring all heav'n before our eyes.
Lord, we are few, but thou art near;
nor short thine arm, nor deaf thine ear;
O rend the heav'ns, come quickly down,
and make a thousand hearts thine own!
Words: William Cooper
Almighty and eternal God,
so draw our hearts to you,
so guide our minds,
so fill our imaginations,
so control our wills,
that we may be wholly yours,
utterly dedicated unto you;
and then use us, we pray you, as you will,
and always to your glory and the welfare of your people;
through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Almighty God, Father of all mercies,
we your unworthy servants give you humble thanks
for all your goodness and loving-kindness
to us and to all whom you have made.
We bless you for our creation, preservation,
and all the blessings of this life;
but above all for your immeasurable love
in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ;
for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory.
And, we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies,
that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise,
not only with our lips, but in our lives,
by giving up our selves to your service,
and by walking before you
in holiness and righteousness all our days;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit,
be honor and glory throughout all ages. Amen.
Almighty God, you have given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplication to you; and you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in his Name you will be in the midst of them: Fulfill now, O Lord, our desires and petitions as may be best for us; granting us in this world knowledge of your truth, and in the age to come life everlasting. Amen.
Leader
Let us bless the Lord.
Everyone
Thanks be to God.
Leader
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen. 2 Corinthians 13:14
God be with you till we meet again;
By his counsels guide, uphold you;
With his sheep securely fold you.
God be with you till we meet again.
Till we meet, till we meet,
Till we meet at Jesus' feet,
Till we meet, till we meet,
God be with you till we meet again.
Officiant
O God, make speed to save us.
People
O Lord, make haste to help us.
Officiant and People
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia.
A suitable hymn may be sung.
1I lift up my eyes to the hills; *
from where is my help to come?
2
My help comes from the LORD, *
the maker of heaven and earth.
3
He will not let your foot be moved *
and he who watches over you will not fall asleep.
4
Behold, he who keeps watch over Israel *
shall neither slumber nor sleep;
5
The Lord himself watches over you; *
the Lord is your shade at your right hand,
6
So that the sun shall not strike you by day, *
nor the moon by night.
7
The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; *
it is he who shall keep you safe.
8
The Lord shall watch over your going out and
your coming in, *
from this time forth for evermore.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
Officiant
If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. 2 Corinthians 5:17-18
People
Thanks be to God.
Officiant
Lord, have mercy.
People
Christ, have mercy.
Officiant
Lord, have mercy.
Officiant and People recite the we pray to you, O Lord Prayer.
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your Name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those
who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial,
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours,
now and for ever. Amen.
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
Officiant
Lord, hear our prayer;
People
And let our cry come to you.
Officiant
Let us pray.
Officiant
Blessed Savior, at this hour you hung upon the cross, stretching out your loving arms: Grant that all the peoples of the earth may look to you and be saved; for your tender mercies sake.
Officiant and People
Amen.
Free intercessions may be offered.
Officiant
In peace, let us pray to the Lord, saying, "Lord, have mercy"
For the holy Church of God, that it may be filled with truth and love, and be found without fault at the day of your coming, we pray to your, O Lord.
People
Lord, have mercy.
Officiant
For our Presiding Bishop, for our own Bishop(s), for all bishops and other ministers, and for all the holy people of God, we pray to you, O Lord.
People
Lord, have mercy.
Officiant
For all who fear God and believe in you, Lord Christ, that our divisions may cease, and that all may be one as you and the Father are one, we pray to you, O Lord.
People
Lord, have mercy.
Officiant
For the mission of the Church, that in faithful witness it may preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth, we pray to you, O Lord.
People
Lord, have mercy.
Officiant
For the peace of the world, that a spirit of respect and forbearance may grow among nations and peoples, we pray to you, O Lord.
People
Lord, have mercy.
Officiant
For those in positions of public trust, that they may serve justice, and promote the dignity and freedom of every person, we pray to you, O Lord.
People
Lord, have mercy.
Officiant
For all who live and work in this community, we pray to you, O Lord.
People
Lord, have mercy.
Officiant
For a blessing upon all human labor, and for the right use of the riches of creation, that the world may be freed from poverty, famine, and disaster, we pray to you, O Lord.
People
Lord, have mercy.
Officiant
For the poor, the persecuted, the sick, and all who suffer; for refugees, prisoners, and all who are in danger; that they may be relieved and protected, we pray to you, O Lord.
People
Lord, have mercy.
Officiant
For our enemies and those who wish us harm, and for all whom we have injured or offended, we pray to you, O Lord.
People
Lord, have mercy.
Officiant
For all who have commended themselves to our prayers; for our families, friends, and neighbors; that being freed from anxiety, they may live in joy, peace, and health, we pray to you, O Lord.
People
Lord, have mercy.
Officiant
For all who have died in the communion of your Church, and those whose faith is known to you alone, that, with all the saints, they may have rest in that place where there is no pain or grief, but life eternal, we pray to you, O Lord.
People
Lord, have mercy.
Officiant
For yours is the majesty, O Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, now and for ever.
Officiant and People
Amen.
People
Thanks be to God.