Tomorrow's Free Church?
At a recent meeting of the Edinburgh Presbytery a large document commissioned by their Strategy Committee and written by our former Professor of Practical Theology, the Rev Alasdair I. Macleod, was circulated to all the ministers in pastoral charges to be implemented as they saw fit. It is entitled "Notes on Improving our Worship", and obviously sets out the direction in which some would like to see our Church develop. To be fair there are many good and challenging points raised but there are other points which are very disturbing. As the subject of worship is going to be considered at the forthcoming Assembly it is important to know what is taking place in other parts of our Church.
The document opens with a quotation from Professor Duncan Forrester of New College: "The smaller Presbyterian Churches, and particularly the Free Church and Free Presbyterians, have allowed their worship to ossify....it is tedious, didactic and sombre". But we cannot expect a liberal spokesman such as Professor Forrester to love either our evangelical faith or our Reformed worship. Below we will give selected quotations from the document and allow them to speak for themselves.
Atmosphere in Church before the service? quiet, for personal prayer? or music over the speakers, in vestibule and / or church, Bach sonata or Psalm tape?
Freedom. Many are in a rut. There should be no absolute order. Need more local flexibility, for freshness and relevance. Dramatic change in order on occasion, with a reason.
Variety of types of sermon. E.g. Morning a family service, evening a teaching one followed by discussion. Or morning more formally liturgical, evening informal with opportunity for testimony and the like.
Encourage opportunities for others to lead parts of the service. Involvement of elders, members both men and women, young people. Women used to be able to pray and prophesy, and everyone could bring a Psalm or a word (1Cor.12:5, 14:26)
Solos or Choir pieces. Meditate while others are singing.
A variation for the intercessory prayer. Prepare four or five topics, introduce one, pray briefly, congregation "amen", introduce next....People have a real sense of involvement.
Read prayers. In our corporate prayers, congregations pray with words supplied by minister, so why not use words supplied by saints of other ages? Magnificent prayers available, in Book of Common Prayer and other collections.
Women and readings. An obvious beginning point for participation of women.
Mimed and dramatised readings.
Christian Year. There are reasons for seasons, remembering the major events in the biblical story of redemption. Christmas and Easter can be valuable evangelistically. Pentecost Sunday followed by Trinity Sunday are helpful reminders for Christians.
These holy days, it will be remembered, are the very things which our godly forefathers refused to bring into the worship of God on the grounds that they have no warrant in the Scriptures. But here they are after a lapse of so many centuries of purity of worship! Where are the Jenny Geddeses of today?
Any comments or questions please E-Mail me or Rev William Macleod the editor.
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