Volley # 62

JARGON

Every profession and every human interest has jargon, a specialized vocabulary that separates the insiders from the outsiders, with resulting ego nudges in one direction or the other. Church groups are no exception, Protestant, Catholic, or in- between. Charismatics have jargon (“slain in the Spirit,” “speaking in tongues,”). Evangelicals have it (“born-again,” “walk the aisle,” “Christ-centered”). How odd that we Episcopalians, who began with the radical reformist principle of using the vernacular for “common” prayer, should be among the worst offenders when it comes to exclusionary terminology, much of it Latin!

All our Psalms continue to be identified by their Latin first lines, as do our service music selections. Parts of the church are referred to in Latin terms (Narthex, Sacristy, Ambo), and service on the Altar Guild is first of all a language class (corporal, chasuble, thurible, etc.). Surprise: I’m not going to criticize those uses of terminology. They serve as markers of our identity. They help give us group cohesion. We feel a sense of belonging and accomplishment as we master them.

It is when we use those terms blatantly in the presence of non-members, without translation, that we err. We are setting ourselves up as superior, as insiders, and emphasizing the ignorance and alienation of the other when we sling such terms around as if everyone ought to know them. That means that for church bulletins and announcements, jargon is verboten. We need to use the ordinary language, the vernacular, instead. There is time enough to indoctrinate new members once they become actual members.

Anyone seen my biretta?