Matthew Lawrence's article, "It's Time for a New Kind of Reformation" [TLC, March 18] notes that one of the key elements to making worship effective for visitors is simplicity. In his response [TLC, April 22], Thomas W. Peebles' insistence that bulletins refer people to the prayer book begs the question. Such bulletins are bewildering for people who did not grow up in a liturgical tradition. Mr. Peebles' argument for the more "traditional" bulletin-with-prayer-book-page-number- references is that it "would preserve use of the prayer book and introduce the book to newcomers," and that "if one never worships from the prayer book, will he/she ever know the book and use it in daily life?"

Sadly, I doubt very many Episcopalians use the prayer book in their daily lives. I wish they did. I encourage it. But I have no reason to believe that large numbers of my parishioners (or anyone else's) are using the book in their daily devotions. Like most other spiritual disciplines, daily prayer book usage is limited to those who are seriously dedicated to being disciples (disciplined people) of Jesus.

The most important issue is not "introducing a book to newcomers." The most important issue is introducing Jesus to newcomers. The book is only a tool. If people can't find their way around worship, they probably will not be back a second time.

There are several things we can do to increase the probability of return (and the opportunity to continue their spiritual nurture). Comprehensible worship is essential. There should also be a warm welcome which is not embarrassing. Greeters should provide simple directions to the places in the building we all take for granted (bathrooms, fellowship area, nursery and Sunday school, etc.). And a prompt follow-up call on visitors is essential (studies indicate the most effective follow-up with a visitor is a personal home visit the afternoon of the first Sunday morning church visit. When follow-up visits by lay people are made within 24 hours of the parish visit, 70 percent of those visited return the following Sunday).

I spent many years resisting any efforts to make worship less threatening to newcomers. I felt they should learn to use the prayer book, just like the rest of us. Sadly, visitors are often treated like plebes at the Naval Academy. And we wonder why they seldom come back a second time. I gradually began to realize that there was a kind of arrogance in my attitude about the prayer book. Surely God is unconcerned whether a person is following a service in a thoughtfully arranged bulletin or the Book of Common Prayer. I've come to recognize that clinging to the need to have THE BOOK opened to the correct page in the hands of every person during worship was akin to the fundamentalism some of the evangelical protestants cling to. Different book, but the same rigid insistence that it be done this way, or it isn't really Christian (or Episcopalian).

Yes, it's more work to organize effective worship. It takes time to put those bulletins or worship books (whichever you use) together. But that's what ministry is. If we think it inconvenient or not worth the effort, then maybe there is some confusion about what our purpose really is.

I think the liturgies printed in the Book of Common Prayer are magnificent. I also think they may provide an experience of worship that cannot be found in any other place. I think if they are used in a sensitive manner, they eventually can make converts out of people who are completely unfamiliar with our particular style of worship. The key, however, is not whether worshipers are following along from a book or a bulletin. The key is that they are able to do it comfortably and with a minimum of confusion. The gauge of comfort and simplicity ought not to be set by people for whom the prayer book is second nature. Those who hold our venerable Book of Common Prayer for the first time -- as well as juggling a hymnal, bulletin and lectionary insert -- are bound to feel like the occasional jogger who has unexpectedly found himself in a pack of seasoned marathon runners. They may keep up for a while, but it's unlikely they will be back any time soon.

The measure of our faithfulness as Christians is not how adroit we are in using the Book of Common Prayer. It has to do with how effective we are in restoring people to unity with God and with each other in Christ. The book can be obstacle or a tool. We get to choose.

The Rev. James O. Cravens is rector of Trinity Church, Lincoln, Ill.