A058 Resolution on Official Liturgical Website for The Episcopal Church

Resolved, the House of Deputies concurring,

That the 80th General Convention establish www.episcopalcommonprayer.org, which is already owned by the DFMS, as the official liturgical website of The Episcopal Church; and be it further

Resolved, That www.episcopalcommonprayer.org continue to include a complete list of and links to official digital copies and hard copies of all liturgies authorized for use in The Episcopal Church; and be it further

Resolved, That www.episcopalcommonprayer.org continue to include a summary of and link to the relevant Act of Convention authorizing each liturgy; and be it further

Resolved, That www.episcopalcommonprayer.org continue to include a distinct area for submitting new/alternate liturgical material from the wider church; and be it further

Resolved, That www.episcopalcommonprayer.org continue to include a distinct area for reviewing new/alternate liturgical material; and be it further

Resolved, That www.episcopalcommonprayer.org include other relevant liturgical resources and materials as determined by the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music; and be it further

Resolved, That the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music oversee and maintain www.episcopalcommonprayer.org; and be it further

Resolved, That the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music form a subcommittee to maintain operation of www.episcopalcommonprayer.org whose membership shall include: The Chair of the SCLM or an authorized deputy who is a member of the SCLM; The Custodian of the Standard Book of Common Prayer; at least one other SCLM member; The Secretary of General Convention or an authorized deputy of the Secretary; A representative from Church Publishing; At least two volunteers chosen by the chair of the SCLM from among the many gifted coders and website designers in The Episcopal Church; and be it further

Resolved, That the 80th General Convention amend Canon I.1.2.n.2 to add a new subsection:

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I.1.2.n.2

x. Oversee and maintain the official liturgical website of The Episcopal Church through a subcommittee whose members shall include the Chair of the SCLM or an authorized deputy who is a member of the SCLM; the Custodian of the Standard Book of Common Prayer; at least one other SCLM member; the Secretary of General Convention or an authorized deputy of the Secretary; a representative from the publisher affiliated with the Church Pension Fund; at least two members with skill in website design and coding, to be appointed by the Chair of the SCLM.

 

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I.1.2.n.2

x. Oversee and maintain the official liturgical website of The Episcopal Church through a subcommittee whose members shall include the Chair of the SCLM or an authorized deputy who is a member of the SCLM; the Custodian of the Standard Book of Common Prayer; at least one other SCLM member; the Secretary of General Convention or an authorized deputy of the Secretary; a representative from the publisher affiliated with the Church Pension Fund; at least two members with skill in website design and coding, to be appointed by the Chair of the SCLM.

Explanation

The Task Force for Liturgical and Prayer Book Revision determined that online (mobile as well as desktop) platforms would be essential for gathering and distributing new or revised liturgical texts and resources. Since The Episcopal Church already has a significant online presence and infrastructure in place, we felt that it was necessary to survey the state of the digital landscape as it related to liturgical resources to see whether we could use an existing platform or would be better served creating a new one for our particular needs.

We detailed the various liturgical resources that were available in early 2019 on a variety of official and unofficial websites. We discovered that though many liturgical texts were available online in a variety of official and unofficial websites and mobile apps, there was no single online place where someone might easily (and freely) find and browse which liturgies were currently authorized by The Episcopal Church. (Note: RiteSeries online is a pay/subscription platform that serves a narrow purpose, primarily bulletin building and music licensing.) None of the existing official or unofficial liturgical resource websites provided background information on how liturgical texts were authorized. In many cases authorized liturgical texts and resources were side-by-side with unauthorized texts and resources without distinction. Some of the available liturgical material was out of date. There were also inaccuracies and errors in terms of sources and whether something was official and/or authorized or not. For more detailed information, see Addendum: Survey of Episcopal Liturgies available online (as of April 30, 2019), which may be found at www.episcopalcommonprayer.org

We determined that there was no single, official, free, access point for browsing and comparing liturgies and liturgical resources authorized for use by The Episcopal Church. We did not originally intend to build a website that provided a library of authorized liturgical resources, but we felt that it was impossible to consider liturgical and Prayer Book revision without first having a clear understanding of which liturgies were already authorized for use in The Episcopal Church.

We created and built www.episcopalcommonprayer.org, which we hoped could serve as the single, official access point for all authorized liturgies and liturgical resources and include information on how each liturgy is authorized by General Convention.