Buried in the Blue Book (pp. 131-225) is a series of collects and liturgies that address times of passage. They were designed to be inclusive and culturally diverse, and are proposed to be published on a par with the Book of Occasional Services.

There also are funeral liturgies for Enriching Our Worship. They would be available for provisional use, and only with the permission of the bishop. The funeral liturgies are thoughtful and well-crafted, if you allow for the predicable prejudice against language mentioning men.

Reading the liturgies of passage, however, I was reminded of the joke about why you’d rather meet a terrorist than a liturgist in a dark alley. The punch line: “You can reason with a terrorist.”

For children, there are collects for moving from crib to bed, riding a bike, going to school and “For Reaching Puberty.” Somehow, potty training was omitted. There’s also a clutter of uneven collects for dating, divorcing, joining the military and getting out of jail. By contrast, there are good attempts for celebrating special birthdays like Quinceaneras and one for celebrating, say, an 80th birthday.

Some of these liturgies are not ready for use, due to an excess of sentiment and infelicitous wording. Some phrases are hyper-sweetened Hallmark: “May God join together all of the pieces of your lives into a fine and sturdy quilt to cover your days.” Others are odd and unmelodic: You’ll find, “as we walk, run, dance, crawl, stumble, leap, and fly,” in the prayer for pilgrims. The liturgy for betrothals sounds like a do-it-yourself wedding, and could be mistaken as such by unchurched friends.

Let’s approve the birthday and elder rites, and the funerals for provisional use, and hone them. Return the rest to the Standing Committee on Liturgy and Music with the following questions: Are they necessary? Are they well-crafted? Are they likely to be used to God’s glory by real people going through real transitions in life?