Planning Worship with a Worship Directory

Modern options for worship range from fixed liturgical practice at one end to “free church” liberty at the other. The directory approach, common among Presbyterians, falls in the middle. Modern directories are adaptations of the original directory of the church of Scotland (first published in 1645). In recent years many Presbyterian denominations have adopted new directories with the intent of using them to reform and renew worship. A directory not only guides worship, but also is useful as a teaching tool for pastors, leaders, and members.

A Directory for Worship combines law with liturgical theology and gives practical guidance for planning and leading worship. The Presbyterian tradition’s official texts deal with doctrine (the set of catechisms and confessions), government (the Form of Government and Rules of Discipline), and liturgy (the Directory for Worship). Such documents are the constitution of a Presbyterian denomination. The liturgical standard or Directory is found in the Book of Order, with the governmental and disciplinary parts of the constitution. A Directory is a strategy for ordering worship in a tradition that seeks to be evangelical, catholic, and Reformed.

Three Approaches

A directory approach may be contrasted conveniently with three other classic strategies for ordering worship. To the right of the spectrum is the prescribed liturgy such as the Roman Sacramentary, the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer, and the Lutheran books of worship. To the left is the Free Church tradition, which historically insists upon the local liberty to be governed by the Bible alone in ordering worship. The middle ground is represented by the Reformed churches, which have books for discretionary use by the pastor. A directory, such as that used among Presbyterians, is a fourth strategy, closely related to a discretionary liturgy. In fact, contemporary worship renewal displays more a continuum than a set of discrete alternatives among these strategies: Their characteristic features are blending together in the last quarter of the twentieth century.

American and Irish Presbyterians have repeatedly revised and rewritten their directories. The Church of Scotland, on the other hand, has never reworked the original directory (The Directory for the Public Worship of God or Westminster Directory of 1645). While other national traditions have also adopted the directory approach, the Presbyterians of the United States have maintained the model most consistently as their constitutional provision for worship.

Directory Contents. All directories for worship have dealt with these topics: the principles of worship, parts of the Sunday service, the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, pastoral ceremonies and ministries (weddings, burials, and visiting the sick), daily (family) worship, and special times of worship (fasting and thanksgiving). American Presbyterian directories have added topics such as offerings (systematic giving), Sunday school (or “catechism”), and the prayer meeting (or “social worship”). The aim of the directory as a strategy has been to guide worship by the Word of God in Scripture, balancing liberty and liturgical tradition.

History of Directories. The notion of an abbreviated summary or outline of liturgical practices has a long history. The church orders of the ancient church (third to the sixth century) described the practice of worshiping communities with varying detail. Many sixteenth and seventeenth-century Puritans tackled the definition of essentials for evangelical church life and order. By the time of the Westminster Assembly in England (1640-49), various “directories” (such as that of Thomas Cartwright, 1574-90, reprinted 1644) expressed what the different parties favored in reforming church order.

Scotland. The first generations of the reformed Church of Scotland, as well as the Reformed churches on the continent, adopted liturgical documents derived from the ministry of Calvin and other reformers. John Knox represents this extension into Scotland of the worship of the continental Reformed churches with the Book of Common Order (or “Psalm-Book”), which was printed continuously for Scotland from 1564 until 1644. But by the seventeenth century, English Puritanism and similar forces in the Church of Scotland demanded further reform in liturgy and polity.

The Westminster Directory. The Directory of Worship derived from the efforts of Puritans in England, and Scottish Presbyterians, to reform the British church at the Westminster Assembly of the 1640s. Westminster thus supplied Scotland with the first Directory for Worship, along with the doctrines (the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms) characteristic of later Presbyterianism.

The Westminster divines sought a basic uniformity in doctrine, favored plainness of ceremony, and insisted on the freedom to obey Scripture and the Holy Spirit in worship. Disputes over liturgical customs necessitated measures of compromise between the Scots and the vocal minority of Independent Puritans. The Directory for the Public Worship of God proved both too radical for Puritans willing to tolerate a prayer book, and too restrictive for Separatists and many Independent Puritans. Though briefly enacted, the Assembly’s Directory for Worship was virtually ignored in England.

Only the Church of Scotland replaced its liturgical book (the discretionary liturgy from Knox’s book) with the new Directory. It became the distinctly Presbyterian liturgical strategy, adopted by the General Assembly along with the second document of 1647 known as the Directory for Family Worship. The ideal of liturgical unity in an English-speaking Reformed church resulted ironically in another new approach to liturgical order, alongside Free church liberty and the Anglican prayer book.

The Westminster Directory provided the order for the Sunday service and guidance for every part (“ordinance”) of worship. An outline or schedule was given for each of the prayers. At least a full chapter from both the Old and New Testaments was to be read in every service. An eloquent treatise on the “plain style” preaching typical of Puritans and Scots provided edification for the pastors. Both baptism and the Lord’s Supper were outlined with the ceremony, exhortations, and prayers in detail just short of a full wording.

The Directory demanded spiritual discipline and skill for the ministry of leading worship. The Bible was to be expounded through a continuous reading in public worship and was to be read systematically in family worship. The prayers were comprehensively outlined to guide the pastor through confession and petition for grace, intercessions, and thanksgiving. Considerable attention was given to marriage and visiting the sick, with an eye to civil law and pastoral theology. Other matters addressed included the Lord’s Day, fast days and days of thanksgiving, burial (a civil event), and a brief mention of the singing of psalms. The Directory for Family Worship dealt with the daily worship of the church in its households.

The first Directory was a failure, both as a tool for guiding worship and as a means to reconcile different liturgical customs. The ideal of evangelical rigor in the worship of a comprehensively national church proved to be too demanding for the context in which it appeared. But it provided a precedent for later Presbyterians to pursue the same goals: guidance for worship that is broad enough to include diversity and hold a changing communion together while excluding unacceptable deviations and providing specific helps for prayer and worship. The Presbyterian Directory bore fruit in later generations of liturgical renewal from the mid-nineteenth century through present efforts to revise resources and develop skills for worship.

Current Directories

The directory strategy currently is flourishing among American Presbyterians, as separate denominations shape their liturgical and doctrinal idiom. The largest denomination, the Presbyterian Church (USA), adopted a complex new directory in 1989 while it was also publishing a series of supplemental liturgical resources (1984-91). This latest directory was significantly influenced by the revisions of liturgical forms and books for voluntary use in worship. A new service book (projected for 1993) will share a partnership with the Directory in guiding worship. A similar relationship now exists in the Reformed Church in America (Worship the Lord, 1987). A service book for the Presbyterian Church (USA) will not have the constitutional authority of the Directory, but this option now clearly includes discretionary liturgical book(s) for the use of those who plan and lead worship.

The Presbyterian Church (USA) Directory for Worship (1989) gives constitutional requirements for worship, but its role is shifting to primarily a teaching document. The change began in the 1960s, as a century of liturgical recovery and creativity once again inspired directories designed to guide reform of worship. This latest directory speaks more in permission and suggestion than as law or regulation; it is also by far the longest, most complex directory ever adopted.

Other Presbyterian denominations are revising and adopting new directories. The Cumberland and the Second Cumberland Presbyterian Church adopted in common a new directory in 1984. The Presbyterian Church in America reclaimed the nineteenth-century tradition in its new directory of 1975. The Evangelical Presbyterian Church adopted in 1981 a directory based on the directories from the 1960s. In 1975, the directory of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church reduced its scope essentially to the sacraments and acknowledged that many resources will be employed for assisting public worship. Both the Reformed Presbyterian and Orthodox Presbyterian Church are refining their directories from the 1940s to conform with their confessional priorities. An unofficial but general experiment seems in progress among American Presbyterians to discover how best to guide worship. Both the fracturing of the tradition and fresh ferment within it can be seen in the state of directories for worship in the United States.

Advantages and Disadvantages

The advantages and disadvantages of a directory approach tend to be the same features. Considerable authority is given to, and skill expected from, those who plan and lead worship. Principles and guidance must be translated into words, actions, and ceremonies. A directory can communicate the essentials of worship and define a denomination’s liturgical tradition, while still encouraging local creativity. A directory (in contrast to a prescribed liturgy) may risk allowing poor liturgical discipline because it requires self-discipline on the part of both leaders and worshipers. A directory can be a mirror of unity in the midst of diversity and also a tool for liturgical training.

The current generation of Presbyterian directories all tackle the educational task to a greater extent than previously. More of a background in theology of worship is given, as well as more practical guidance. These directories also assume the use of other resources in the manner of the Presbyterian Church (USA) service book, the official Reformed Church in America liturgy, or the relatively new tendency to borrow liturgical forms and texts of other denominations. The blending of strategies is taking place as one result of ecumenical sharing in scholarship and resources.

A directory approach expresses the truth of Christian worship that liturgy must be appropriated individually and adapted to the local community. Many churches involved in liturgical renewal are struggling to move beyond the stage of preparation of new books to this deeper level. A directory for worship can be a teaching tool for ministers, leaders, and members. It can also affirm the nature of true liturgical unity within the variety of styles and missional requirements created by evangelization and change in denominations. A directory for worship is helpful when both training and resources are available, and pastors are committed to the ministry of leading and teaching worship. The directory strategy for ordering worship holds up the ideal of a comprehensive catholicity, combined with an evangelical fervor and Reformed obedience to the Word of God.

An Anglican/Episcopal Theology of Worship

Anglican worship emphasizes the incarnational and sacramental motifs of the Christian faith. God was embodied in Jesus Christ. Thus, in worship, the church incarnates in a visible and tangible form the embodiment of God in Jesus Christ for the salvation of the world.

The Episcopal Church, like the other national and regional churches which comprise the Anglican Communion, does not have an official theology of worship. It does have an official practice set forth in The Book of Common Prayer in its various editions from 1549 until the present. Anglican theology of worship is derived from its official liturgical practice.

In The Book of Common Prayer of 1979 the American Episcopal Church says, “The Holy Eucharist, the principal act of Christian worship on the Lord’s Day and other major Feasts, and Daily Morning and Evening Prayer … are the regular services of public worship in this Church.” (Book of Common Prayer, 13). The pattern of worship there set forth is daily prayer, preferably in common, and the weekly celebration of a service of Word and Sacrament.

Anglican theology has often been described as incarnational or sacramental and this is especially true of its theology of worship which uses the words and actions of an “outward and visible” rite as the symbol and the means of entering into an “inward and spiritual” relationship with God in Christ (Book of Common Prayer, 857). Worship is therefore embodied. It is something that we do, not only with our minds but with our entire being. We stand, we sit, we kneel, we bow, we lift our hands and our voices. We look, we listen, we sing, we speak, we remain silent. We smell and we taste. What often appears to be an undue concern with the external aspects of worship by Anglicans, however badly it may be expressed in particular cases, derives from this central theological conviction that it is by entering into the symbolic activity of the liturgy that we are drawn by the action of the Holy Spirit into the very center of the divine mystery, there to lay all that we have and are and hope to be before the throne of grace as members one of another in Jesus Christ.

It is in the coming together of the people of God to hear the Word and celebrate the sacraments that we become the body of Christ, that Christ our Head becomes present in our midst, and that we participate in his Paschal victory over death. Christ’s promise to be present in the midst of the assembly “where two or three are gathered in my name,” (Matt. 18:20, RSV) stands as the primary foundation of worship, which is a corporate activity of the Christian people in which we encounter the living God. Its principal parts include the reading and proclamation of the Word, prayer in Jesus’ name, and the celebration of the sacraments, of which baptism and Holy Communion are the chiefs.

In worship, we as a gathered community remember the mighty acts of God in Christ by which we are saved, in all their power, virtue, and effect, and offer our lives—“our selves, our souls and bodies” (Book of Common Prayer, 336) to God in praise and thanksgiving. This very act contains elements of penitence for sin, acknowledgment of our own unworthiness, and fervent petition and intercession for the needs of all humanity, including ourselves and those we love, for it is only as we are spiritually united to Christ in the power of his risen life and through the activity of the Holy Spirit that we are emboldened to make this response to the divine initiative.

In baptism we are reborn by water and the Spirit to a new life as the children of God, passing over with Christ through death to life, and in holy Eucharist, the anamnesis (commemorative celebration) of the sacrifice of Christ makes us partakers of the benefits of Christ’s death and resurrection. As our bodies are fed by the bread and wine over which we have given thanks in obedience to Christ’s command, “Do this in remembrance of me,” (Luke 22:19; 1 Cor. 11:24), so our souls are nourished by the body and blood of Christ and we are united with Him and with one another in his mystical body.

From this theological center, worship moves out to the celebration of this saving mystery in the daily praise of Morning and Evening Prayer and its application to the critical moments in the lives of individual Christians in pastoral offices such as marriage, ministry to the sick, rites of reconciliation, and burial services, drawing every aspect of life into unity with God in Christ through the church, so that all may be offered in union with the perfect self-offering of Christ. It is from this center that we receive, in turn, the power of Christ’s victory, so that we may become what St. Paul declares us to be (1 Cor. 12:27)—the body of Christ in the world.

First Christian radio broadcast

In 1920 the first radio station in the country, KDKA in Pittsburgh, began broadcasting. One of the station’s engineers was a member of a local Episcopal church. Since the station needed programming it agreed to air the church’s Sunday services. The response from listeners was so positive that fledgling stations around the country made church services an integral part of their weekly programming.

Impact: From these humble beginnings, religious broadcasting became a multi-billion dollar industry by the end of the century.

Influence of Thomas Cranmer

Henry made Thomas Cranmer, who was sympathetic to Lutheranism, Archbishop of Canterbury. His first task was to produce the Ten Articles of Religion. Five of them were doctrinal in nature including authorizing the use of the Bible, reaffirming the three great creeds, and setting the decisions of the first four ecumenical councils as standards. The other five articles were ceremonial. The Articles were published in the king’s name and with them a set of Royal Injunctions, directing the clergy in the use of the Articles and the Bible. The Injunctions gave practical advice to the parish priests about conducting worship services and instructing the people in religious fundamentals. Henry authorized the public use in the churches of a recent Bible translation which Matthew Coverdale had made on the basis of Tyndale’s translation. Yet, the people were not satisfied with the Ten Articles or the Bible so Henry and Cranmer tried again with Thirteen Articles, and this time the influence of the Augsburg Confession was apparent.

Impact: The death of Henry in 1547 made it possible for Cranmer and King Edward VI to carry the ecclesiastical changes further. Cranmer directed the clergy to read the Ten Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer weekly in the churches, together with a chapter from the Old Testament and another from the New. A new edition of the Bible, known as the Great Bible, was placed in every church, and the priests were supplied with homilies for popular instruction. The organization of the church was left virtually unchanged, however. The two archbishops of Canterbury and York remained under the pope, and the Episcopal arrangement of bishops was not abolished. The king continued to be the head of the Church and made the appointments of bishops and archbishops.

SHOUT THE GLAD TIDINGS

Refrain
Shout the glad tidings, exultingly sing,
Jerusalem triumphs, Messiah is King!

Zion, the marvelous story be telling,
The Son of the Highest, how lowly His birth!
The brightest archangel in glory excelling,
He stoops to redeem thee, He reigns upon earth. Refrain

Tell how He cometh; from nation to nation
The heart cheering news let the earth echo round;
How free to the faithful He offers salvation,
His people with joy everlasting are crowned. Refrain

Mortals, your homage be gratefully bringing,
And sweet let the gladsome hosannas arise;
Ye angels, the full alleluias be singing;
One chorus resound through the earth and the skies. Refrain

About the writer: William Augustus Muhlenberg, an Episcopal minister, was born in Philadelphia in 1796. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1814 and was ordained a priest in the Episcopal Church in 1820. Subsequently, he established St. Paul’s College at Flushing, Long Island. From 1846 to 1859 he was rector of the Church of the Holy Communion in New York City. In 1855 he founded St. Luke’s Hospital in New York City and was its pastor and superintendent until his death. Dr. Muhlenberg was one of the committees that edited Hymns Suited to the Feasts and Fasts of the Church, 1826. He died in 1871.

Key Verse: (B)ut the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news of great joy for everyone!” –Luke 2:10