(8) The Sending Out of God's People

The sending out of God's people into the world to work and witness for him is the last movement of the drama involving the people of God hearing the Word and receiving the sacrament which are at the heart Anglican Sunday worship.

Five short subsections comprise this main movement which are numbered §21 to §25.

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§21    Priest:

Gracious God, thank you for feeding us,

with the spiritual food of the body and blood

of our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Thank you for assuring us of your goodness and love,

and that we are living members of Christ's body.

[How do we know that we are 'living members of Christ's body' (Rom 12.5; 1Cor 6.15; 1Cor 12.12; Eph 5.30 & etc.)? An important question because some Anglicans at least seem to waver on whether they are destined for God's presence or not. Yet, the apostle John in his 1st letter said that he had written in order that his hearers might know that they had eternal life (1Jn 5.13). The whole epistle might be understood as distinguishing between those who are truly God's from those caught in various first century heresies. Certainly just attending an Anglican Church does not make us true disciples of Christ! God has always been interested in the transformation of hearts even under the Old Covenant. Only those divinely born 'from above' (Jn 3.3,5; 1Peter 1.22-25) will enter into the Kingdom of God.]  

§22    All say together:

Father,

we offer ourselves to you

as a living sacrifice [Rom 12.1]

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Send us out in the power of your Spirit

to live and work to your praise and glory.

I have always found this 'sending out' to be a remarkable part of the Anglican service for it denotes the fact that the congregation has once again been spiritually fed by word and sacrament and equipped to continue to 'shine as lights in the world to the glory of God the Father' [to quote a piece from the baptism service].

The congregation should not have come to the service to receive only but to receive from God so as to give to others which redounds to the praise and glory of God.

 

§23     A Hymn of Praise may be said (depending on size of service) or sung (more usual for services I've been in).

§24    Priest says the following or an appropriate seasonal* blessing 

The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord; [Phil 4.7]

and the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always.

Amen.

   

§25   The deacon (lay reader) may say

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord:

In the name of Christ. Amen.

By seasonal the Prayer Book is referring to the Church Calendar which sets out for every year a certain yearly pattern for Sunday worship. It starts with Advent then to Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Eastertide, Pentecost and finally 'Ordinary Time'. The latter time, between Pentecost and Advent, is counted and hence called 'Ordinary' from the word 'ordinal'.