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[5] The Greeting of Peace


I was raised in a Pentecostal Church (AoG) where we used to practise (sometimes with American preachers) the 'turn around and tell at least five people that God loves them!' ritual with variations. (I never much liked this 'carry on' but then I was socially introverted so that may account for my attitude.)

However, one good thing about the Pentecostal American ritual was that it was limited to five or so people. Anglicans who are usually conservative in their approaches to other things seem to go overboard at the Greeting of Peace for some reason. Unfortunately, the Greeting has degenerated into a 'hello' session in services when it was never intended to be so.

Some congregants seem to think that it's the right thing to try and shake hands with as many people as possible. Others while doing this don't even look at the people they are shaking hands with! Still others are a delight to receive the Peace from because they do it with a focussed joy. Because the Spirit is with us, because we have been reconciled by One Spirit into one body of Christ we have peace with God and therefore, we can joyfully extend this peace (shalom) to others.

See here for a well-written article on the nature of the Greeting and its foundation in the early church.

In my humble opinion, I think Anglican congregations need to be taught about the purpose and nature of The Greeting to avoid its becoming a social fellowship time.
 
§24 The Greeting of Peace
We are the body of Christ
His Spirit is with us.
or
Christ has reconciled us to God in one body by the cross.
We meet in his name and share his peace.

The peace of the Lord be always with you.
And also with you.

Congregational members then exchange a sign of peace: handshake, kiss, and say, Peace Be With You.

A hymn is then sung while the Offering is received.

§25 Gifts of the People brought to the Lord's Table
These gifts may be presented in silence or the following prayer used:

Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation,
Through your goodness we have these gifts to share.
Accept and use our offerings for your glory
and for the service of your kingdom.

Blessed be God for ever.

For those of you who are still with me I hope you can hear in the cadences of the Liturgy echoes of the Holy Scriptures for the Liturgy is said to contain about 80-85% Holy Scripture.

However, as I have said before and here repeat, you can have all the most doctrinally pure liturgy in the world and faithfully say it service after service and yet your heart be far from God.

That was exactly the problem with Israel over which the Lord said: 'This people honour Me with their lips but their HEARTS are far from Me' (Isa 29.13; Matt 15.8).

Next Time: The Great Thanksgiving (which is a precursor to the Breaking of the Bread and Communion, and the Sending Out of God's People [into the world]).
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