Customer Reviews
In the best sense, the Delia Smith guide to presiding - By: R. S. Stanier, 09 Jul 2007 
As someone about to be ordained priest & wondering how to preside (in a broadly catholic tradition) & what was the theology underlying different possibilities, I absolutely fell on this book.
You won't agree with everything they say but they are clear, informed, concise & surely right about most things: certainly, (as with a Delia Smith recipe) you would vary at your peril, as these guys have probably thought about most things more than you.
It's mainly a "how to" & "why to" guide, that combines liturgical knowledge with good sense. For example, "However the confession is introduced, it should be followed by a time of seilence which should never be shorter than the time taken to introduce it." (p34) Obviously, there's no authority for this, but it's good sense, isn't it?
Cruciallly, they are bang up-to-date & they make helpful reference to "Common Worship", including page references, & they also make comments of relevance that note the Roman Catholic tradition, & ARCIC documents.
Every now & then, they stay awhile on a topic: for example, there's a balanced, well-informed discussion on concelebration in the light of Vatican II & the House of Bishops' own "Eucharistic Presidency". All this is great.
However, there are a few weaknesses. For example, it's noteworthy that neither author is involved in parish ministry. Thus, the silence after communion should be "a minute at the minimum" because "silence takes time to settle". In a parish, where babies & toddlers have been silent for an hour already, it's asking a lot to have a clear minute's silence, however well that may work in Mirfield or Merton College chapel. Or again, after the service, they say the President should give thanks at the altar before going to tea or coffee. That's a lovely idea, but what will the congregation think? And how's he/she going to welcome the newcomers in that crucial minute before they leave the church? Gordon-Taylor & Jones would I guess say that that's not as important as completing the sacrament with reverence. Well maybe.
Also, there are a few omissions e.g. what gesture would you use for "Send the Holy Spirit on your people..." Are we still in "orans" or should we make a gesture? They don't say, let alone specify.
Yet that's a cost of keeping the book short & concise, which is to be welcomed. I would definitely recommend this to people about to preside for the first time, or who just want to rethink how they currently preside, & why they do what they do.
It achieves what it sets out to do brilliantly.
