Percy Dearmer Revisited: Discerning Authentically Anglican Liturgy in a Multicultural, Ecumenical, Twenty-First-Century Context

As the worship of the Episcopal Church approaches a new period of renewal and innovation, important questions must be explored about what exactly does constitute an Anglican approach to liturgy. Simply doing what we have always done (or coming up with new and exciting ideas) will not suffice to nourish the people of God. It seems to be an appropriate time for a reclamation of the work and ideals of Percy Dearmer, noted liturgical scholar from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Though his work is often dismissed as “British Museum Religion,” the truth is that his “English Use” approach to liturgy contributed significantly to the growing Liturgical Movement in the Church of England. Further, the ideals of his work—often misunderstood—persist as worthwhile ideals in contemporary worship, offering a correction, perhaps, to some of our own practices. Authentically Anglican liturgy is still a goal worth pursuing—it is just a more difficult one than the setting up of riddle posts and the wearing of amices. By engaging in a careful reading of Dearmer’s work and identifying the nine ideals he used for Anglican liturgy, we will find our own approaches to worship enlivened and invited into greater truth, faithfulness, and beauty.