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    Occasional Offices
Church of the Province of Papua New Guinea

 

Papua New Guinea (PNG) is a former Australian / UK dependency which occupies the eastern half of the island of New Guinea, plus a number of smaller offshore islands. Anglicanism there began with the arrival of a small group of missionaries in 1891. It continued through the focused work of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel and the Australian Board of Missions well through World War II, during which missionaries and their congregations suffered imprisonment and death at the hands of the Japanese military.

The Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea came into existence as a separate province of the Anglican Communion in 1977 following PNG independence in 1975. Today, there are five dioceses in Papua New Guinea: Aipo Rongo, Port Moresby, Popondota, New Guinea Islands, and Dogura.

This collection of services was published by the PNG provincial council in 1976 in typescript, mimeographed format of 130 pages. A companion book in the same format was also published at the same time, including daily offices. The pastoral and occasional services reproduced here are noticeably Anglo-Catholic in character, including full modern-language texts for Holy Week rites. Although Papua New Guinea is a country of extremely high linguistic density, with biblical and liturgical publications in many local languages, English serves as a lingua franca across the province. This group of liturgies, along with the 1970 Niugini Liturgy, are predecessors to the current official prayer book of the Church of the Province of New Guinea, which was published in 1991 under the title Anglican Prayer Book. Further information on this book and its development may be found in The Oxford Guide to the Book of Common Prayer.
 


  

 

flag of Papua New Guinea

 

Thanks are due to David Kalvelage for loaning a copy of this rare book, and to Richard Mammana for digitizing the text.

Occasional Offices.
Church of the Province of Papua New Guinea.
Madang, Papua New Guinea:
Provincial Council, 1976.

1. Form of admission of catechumens
2. The baptism and confirmation of those who are old enough to answer for themselves
3. Baptism of babies and young children
4. The confirmation of those already baptized some time ago.
5. Christian marriage service.
6. Laying on of hands on the sick.
7. Burial of the dead.
8. Service for making deacons.
9. The ordination of priests.
10. A litany.
11. The commissioning of a lay worker or councillor.
12. Service for the dedication of a church.
13. Christmas blessing of the crib.
14. Ash Wednesday blessing of ashes.
15. The Sunday before Easter. Palm Sunday.
16. The Thursday of the Last Supper commonly called Maundy Thursday.
17. The Day of the Passion and Death of the Lord known as Good Friday.
18. The Easter Vigil commonly known as Holy Saturday or Easter Eve.
19. Rogation procession.
20. Notes on some diocesan customs.

 
   

 

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