The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1872-08-05
THE HIGH CHURCH.
A PASTORAL LETTER FROMsBLsHOP.
HOWE.
RubrIcaI Authority for the Choral Ser
vice--Want OF Fesyor I'm the spaken.
Responses. - zfz.st - sss.s2

Responses.
The Rt. Rev. Bishop Howe has addressed
the following pastoral letter to the Episcopal
Churches of this diocese, In which, in fulal-
ment OF his promise, made at the Church Of
the holy Communion last spring, he reviews
the subject Of the llturgIcal innovations that
have been introduced at that church by Its
rector, Rev. A. Toomer Porter, and; as VIII be
seen by the letter, decides that they are not
without the sanction of the rubrics of the
Episcopal Church:
To'the Clergy and Congregations of THE Diocese
of South Cdr0lind:a 8.s'.A ~ q Z '.5ssi
DEAR BRETHREN Some time ago, on n
public occasion, said, in reference to the
Choral Service, that desired, before 10 became
a settled usage 10 any of our congregations,
that 1t might receive from ne,;as your bishop,
some examination, 80 as togddetermine
whether, and how far, 1t might be ;a:lawfnl
use. eald,. moreover, that until our General
Convention gave a rubrical construction In
this m after, each diocese, through fts ecclesl-
astlcal head, must reach It's own conclusions; :,
and II different dloceses arrive atsdifsrent re-
dioceses until the whole church In this coun.
try pronounced upon them, either by way OF
Interpretation Of old, orrintroducton .ot new
rubrics. 5,,,s..'s;t.5 :;a.l...
The conclusions which I reached, after q
somewhat careful and Il trust; impartial con-
sideratlon, were submitted. las Il tntfmated
they should be, TO the standing committee OF
this diocese, which Is my council OF advice. :
provided by the Canons; and i Begged the
commitlee that siti would intimate either tie
concurrence With, Or Its dissent from, the re-
suits arrived at by me; and was prepared, In
the event of the committees dissent, to give
that dissent the FULLEST consideration and
after full investigation and the treest discus
sion, in which individual Views were present!
ed In the most adrnra BILE spirit, arrived, as g.:
body, at the same conclusions as myaelf, and.Is
now beg to lay cur united and aecordanG
Judgment before you: ,s.sssss -;
"Read" embraces both musical and a nom
musical rendering of that portion Of the. ser
vice to which 1t is preHxed. Thus the Psalter.
which is ..appointed to be read,7 can be sung
or pronounced without musical nole. .@Es;;;;:.: E;;;;:
Where the rnbrical direction Is ssSny,n there
q musical rendering Is excluded, az, Tor in
stance in the Lords Prayer and the Apostles
sing Is not In the rubric. Moreover, IN ad-
dILion to above results, and in accordance with
them, I decide that rubrical directions other5
than '"say" do not forbid singing. Thus the
Amens, the Lttany, the Responses tothe Deca-r
logue may be sung as we'll as said. .,tis. .es.,
In stating these results, would advise,
however, that the liberty, which they give: be
not exercised unless the music OF the church
can be rendered In q competent manner, and
in order to Introduce simple, hearty and oon-
gregaIional singing. A choral service which
Is ineffectively rendered, either from want OF
proper training or otherwise, Is az Msppro-
pirate to the worship Of God as is the arhsuc
music which Is sometimes amDluousiy al
tempted by small choir.
Moreover, where the choral service can be
well rendered, but the congregation, or 9
large part OF 1t, is ayerse to It, advise against
It's Introduction, inasmuch as the apostles pre-
cept lie, that all things should be done unto
edifcation that is, personal upbuilding In
faish and love. e.-,,.-r,,,,r1-o-r
congregation unite In wishing q musical ser
vice to the extent above sanctioned by the
ecclesiss stical authority OF the diocese, In such
case beg their liberty may not be evil spoken
OF, as Ii il symbolIzed false doctrine, OF. as II
not In sympathy with the position OF our
branch oil the Church of Christ. 1t Ia not like
IL that such service will be at all common In
this diocese, and those who cannot bring
themselves to like 1t will easily find an oppor-
tunily to attend The services of tue church
And now that am addressing you upon the
public worship oil the church, let me say one
Or TWO words more, my dear brethren, In con-
nectlon therewith. have been over large
part OF our diocese and visited many OF our
churches, and regret to find, too frequently,
that there is negligence and ack or rever-
ence In Divine service. I beg particularly to
call your attention to the responst Tney
are too feeble and tame, and when Will given
in parts, as in the Psalter, often fall short In
other parts, as in the Creed. the amens and
| the petitions in the Litany. Ours is common
| worship, or processes TO be, but too often you
| leave the service almost exclusively 70 tne
officiating minister. regard 1t as sacrea
duty that the congregation, as well as the
minister. min should be heard, and heard distinct
ly. in time of public worship. Each one ougnt
TO contribute bis quota of voice to sound
forth Gods praises, and to give warmth and
animation to our services. beg our congre-
cations to give attention to this my sugges-
tlon, and to make a distinct and permanent
effort In this direction.
Let me bring to your notice one or TWO
points more. The House OF Bishops, some
wears since, recommended that the congrega-
lion should rise when directly addressed by
| the minister In words beginning with "dearly
beloyed.n Accordingly, suggest that, when
warning Is given Of the holy Communion on
the Sunday or Holy Day preceding its celeora-
I tion, the congregation will hear the announce
Again the rubrlc before the Prayer for the
church militant directs that the priest shall
'tthen" Il. e., after the alms) ''place upon the
| table 80 much bread and wine as he shall think
sufficient. This rubric is neglected Where
/ The elements are placed upon the Holy Table
before Divine Service. In many, perhaps ten
| of our parish churches, the table commonly
called "Credence table" is already provided,
on which the Eucharistic elements may be
| laid until the time appointed In the rubr1c Tor
/ their removal to the LORDS Table, i recon-
mend that such tables be provided In all
/ churches where there's are none. s...51 ~
For the sake of uniformity, would suggest
to the clergy that the proper time Tor the
withdrawal or those who do not commune is
at the close Of the Prayer for the Churcn MILL
liant. and that brlet space before proceeding
with the office OF the Holy Communion DC
given for that purpose.
would call attention here, also, to the habit
which some persons fall Into, In time Of com.
munion. OF leaving the church as soon as they
have communicated, and before the conclu'
sion of the Post Communion Service. Let me
say, that delicate health can alone excuse
such practice. Who would withdraw, thu
from the table of q friend and desert his othel
guests Rather let us "tarry one for th'
other" and not depart, except from necessity
till all have partaken and the blessing ma
been pronounced. .a.s.,,...s
One suggestion more only, and i Will en-
this Communication. Very many are mos
painfully struck with the abrupt breaking n
| nf the conoreoation at the conclusion OF III