March 2025

On one of my “sorting out” sessions at St. Nick’s, I came across a little A7 book intitled “In His Presence – Series 2 & 3 Edition’s from 1973 by the Rev’d Denis E. Taylor a former Dean of Brisbane, Australia, as a prayer book and guide to “Confirmation, Communion and Church Teaching”. It made me thing that in the fifty years since this book was first published, of how much has changed in the Church of England and what hasn’t changed.

The first part of the book explains what is Prayer, What is the Church and What is the Holy Communion. It goes on to explain about prayer and the parts of prayer being modelled on ACTS Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication

Adoration – First love, adore and praise God in whom we live and move and have our being. Praise him for his noble acts, praise him for his excellent greatness. Adore him for Jesus Christ. Love him because he first loved us and gave himself for us.

Confession – A sense of all that God is, and all he does for us at once brings home our own unworthiness, how often we fail to live up to our own ideals, how poor our fight against temptation, how weak our efforts to pray better, how uncostly our work for others and for our Lord. So we confess our sins and ask for forgiveness.

Thanksgiving – is the knowledge that when we are truly sorry, and mean to do better, we are forgiven.

Supplication – Having adored God, having confessed our sinfulness. Having thanked him for all his goodness and loving kindness, then we ask him for more blessings.

It then goes on to give various prayers suitable for Morning & Evening prayer.

Looking just at “Prayer” over these 50 years reminds me that how much religion has changed, in those days’ religion played a bigger role in our daily lives than it does today, which is borne out in the notable change in the sizes of our congregations.

This book made me think of my confirmation training, back in the days of Fr. Boyes. Next month, I will reflect on “What is the Church?”