Intercessions

Abstract Intercession was an integral part of early Christian worship. By the fourth century, however, and persisting to the end of the medieval period, intercession shifted to the body of the eucharistic prayer. Anglican liturgies of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries included a ‘prayer for the church militant here on earth’ in services of Holy Communion, usually before the prayer of consecration, with set prayers to end Morning and Evening Prayer. The twentieth century saw the beginning of the recovery of ‘the prayers of the people’ and increasing freedom not to be confined to authorized texts. Examples of such revision from the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, and Africa are examined in this chapter. The question arises, ‘what do we think we are doing?’ in corporate intercession. Possibilities and theological positions are discussed, along with the place of lament, ‘corporate’ prayer, and the place and purpose of the Lord’s Prayer.