Our Thanks and Praise: The Eucharist in Anglicanism Today

A.J. Pell is rector of Christ Church in Hope, B.C., and a lecturer in
the Anglican Studies Programme at Regent College in Vancouver.

Our Thanks and Praise arises from the fifth International Anglican
Liturgical Consultation, which took place in Dublin in 1995. This book
opens with Louis Weil’s keynote address, which defines the issues
surrounding liturgical revision of Anglican eucharistic rites. Next come
the five preparatory documents, with authors from Australia, Canada, the
Czech Republic, and the United States. Six study documents by authors
from Australia, Canada, England, and Nigeria are followed by 10 essays
that give voice to representatives from all majors areas of the Anglican
Communion. The book ends with “The Dublin Documents,” accompanied by
a study guide and the papers of the five working groups at Dublin.

This comprehensive volume touches on most issues surrounding the
Eucharist in world Anglicanism at present. In particular, the divisive
(and often emotional) issue of the meaning of “sacrifice” in the
sacrament is addressed in three of the six study documents, but even
music and church buildings get their share of attention. While the
volume as a whole is a valuable resource for Anglican clergy, the
working-group papers may well prove to have the greatest impact because
they define and refine the principles that the liturgical commissions of
most national Anglican churches will use to guide their work in the
coming years.