Ex-Church of Christ Support Board

I know this not exclusive to the CoC, but it is something I do not miss at all. When certain men went up to lead a prayer I wanted to slip out to escape their rambling and repetitive missives.

This was brought to mind by this article, Learning to Pray with the Church], written by an evangelical on how the Book of Common Prayer has taught him to organize his prayers.

There are a number of pluses to having a proper 'prayer book': it gives people a 'language' suitable for prayer, it suggests themes, it teaches doctrine/theology to the group in a relatively painless fashion, and it supplies a prayer PLAN for the clueless 'prayer leader'.

I personally despise extemporaneous prayer, other than in the quietude of one's own heart. Here's food for thought, offered in a spirit of gleeful spite:

Related to "EXTEMPORANEOUS"

Synonyms ad hoc, ad-lib, impromptu, improvised, offhand, off-the-cuff, spur-of-the-moment, unconsidered,
unplanned, unprepared, unstudied

Antonyms considered, planned, premeditative, prepared


"The most ignorant are the most conceited. Unless a man knows that there is something more to be known, his inference is, of course, that he knows every thing. Such a man always usurps the throne of universal knowledge, and assumes the right of deciding all possible questions. We all know that a conceited dunce will decide questions extemporaneous(ly) which would puzzle a college of philosophers, or a bench of judges. Ignorant and shallow-minded men do not see far enough to see the difficulty."

~ Horace Mann, in Lectures on Education (1855)

That was one of the many things I had to adjust to when I switched denominations. I had never before heard "planned" prayers. Sometimes I think they sound artificial, but much of the time I really find them meaningful.

The prayers over the crackers and grape juice used in the "Lawrd's Supper" nearly always ended with "...please help us to do this(or partake) in a manner which will be well pleasing in thy sight."

Prayer at the end of the service didn't seem "correct" unless included "guard, guide, and direct us..." at the end.

C o C will bash Episcopalians,etc. over their prayer books or written prayers, but it uses the same trite phrases in many of its prayers all the time.

I know I heard direct quotes from The Book of Common Prayer.

It's interesting that the COC has no issue whatsoever with pre-written songs but will 'bash' the denominations that use books of pre-written prayers. Neither is 'authorized' under CENI but only the prayers attract COC accusations of 'vain repetitions.'

Lev

I have thought about this thread a good bit over the past few days...I am glad the topic was raised

musicman wrote:The prayers over the crackers and grape juice used in the "Lawrd's Supper" nearly always ended with "...please help us to do this(or partake) in a manner which will be well pleasing in thy sight."

Prayer at the end of the service didn't seem "correct" unless included "guard, guide, and direct us..." at the end.

C o C will bash Episcopalians,etc. over their prayer books or written prayers, but it uses the same trite phrases in many of its prayers all the time.

It's simple

Anything the CoC does is right and acceptable. Anything a denominational church does is wrong and unacceptable.

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