Category: Liturgy

In light of my ordination next Wednesday evening (25th), our church is considering changing from the black academic robe to the white robe. In studying the issue I came across this quote from Harry Boonstra:

White seems more appropriate than black (at least in most cultures), because in Scripture white is often associated with celebration and black with mourning. In addition, one can accentuate the liturgical season by wearing a stole with liturgical colors and symbols.

Concerning the black robe, French Reformed liturgical scholar Richard Paquier:

The Genevan gown, this anti-liturgical, secular vestment, which appears in the color of the shades of darkness, this clothing which is comparable to the sack cloth and ashes of mourning in the old covenant, is the negation of the right of the church to rejoice and be consoled in the presence of the heavenly Bridegroom. Perhaps for the synagogue, in its tribulation, to wear such a vestment would be the normal thing. But in modern Protestantism it is a depressing sign that we are not more aware of the nuptial joy of the Eucharist and that we do not believe in the victorious struggle Christ led against the world. (Dynamics of Worship: Foundations and Uses of Liturgy [Fortress Press, 1967], p. 142).

Meyers has started a series of liturgical advices. I have never heard background music during the pastoral prayer, but I have head long pastoral prayers before.  I have a friend who was hired by a Presbyterian church and one of the requirements of the session was that every Lord’s Day he took 15-20 minutes in his pastoral prayer. Unfortunately, this is not uncommon. Jeff’s advice is valuable. The church has provided powerful pastoral prayers, or pastors can spend their time crafting their own prayers so that they are Biblically rich. We need to be intentional about how we pray during the worship service. If liturgical reformation is to occur, we need to consider every detail of our liturgy.

So here is my first piece of advice: don’t play background music during the long pastoral prayer. You know what I mean. The piano or synthesizer is playing some slow, nondescript muzak as the pastor begins to pray. The soft, simple music continues throughout the prayer. Sometimes the music is meant to conjure up “heavenly” thoughts or even “outer space.” Oh yes, I’ve heard synthesized “space music” played as the prayer is being made. I don’t know what else to call it. It’s the kind of music you might hear during a presentation at your local planetarium.

This practice is pure cheese. It is so incredibly annoying and ridiculous. I suspect that it comes directly from televised church services and other televangelistic “ministries.” Don’t do it. Just pray. If people are having a hard time following your prayers, pastors, then shorten them. That’s right. Most pastoral prayers are way too long. Better yet, use a form of prayer—a litany or a bidding prayer—that actually incorporates the congregation in the act of prayer. Now, there’s a novel idea. No, actually, it’s an ancient practice that treats the congregation as participants in the liturgy rather than simply as an audience that is being manipulated by emotive music.

James Grant writes:

In this Christianity Today article, Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra points out that the Vatican has made a decision to excise the name Yahweh from worship. John Witvliet, director of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, says that evangelicals have been debating this point concerning not only the word Yahweh, but also Jehovah. In fact, “both Yahweh and Jehovah have been removed from the Christian Reformed Church’s Psalter Hymnal, turning “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah” into “Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer.” Are we letting superstition get in the way of a proper use of God’s revealed name?

A dear brother in Christ shared with me recently his amazement at the diversity within the PCA. Coming from a baptistic tradition and settling in a PCA congregation that is committed to the means of grace and a God-honoring liturgy that reflects a covenantal worship, this brother believed that other PCA churches would reflect the same commitment. His first experience in another PCA congregation revealed the shocking lack of harmony and commitment to a distinctly Reformed covenantal worship.

Author Jeff Meyers touches on this subject when he writes that his visit to a local Lutheran church brings him freedom that he does not “experience in Presbyterian churches that are constantly fiddling with the order and content of their liturgy (The Lord’s Service, pg. 10).” Indeed the fact is that most of the PCA is enamored with modern worship services that are largely framed around the ever-changing mega-church techniques rather than the unchanging pattern of holy writ.

In a common Presbyterian order of worship, the congregation will move from reflection, confession, singing, and hearing. What is consistent about this liturgical movement is the tone of somberness that contextualizes these steps in worship. And when the sermon is over, these steps tend to repeat themselves in the Lord’s Supper and final hymn. The Eucharist becomes a moment of deep confession and self-examination and the final hymn tends to be Cross-centered, which adds another dimension of mourning. My contention is that these movements are excessively somber, not reflecting the triumph of the Resurrection and Exaltation. While parts of the liturgical process must include reflection and self-examination, joy and triumph are to adorn the liturgy of the church. I am advocating a more Resurrection-centered worship. Though our worship reflects Christ’s atoning work, it must reflect with greater emphasis Christ’s present resurrected estate at the right hand of the Father. Death has been defeated; a new age of joy and victory has arrived.

One of the most captivating lectures at the Auburn Avenue Conference came from Pastor Douglas Wilson. Wilson entitled his talk: Against Liturgy. This was a play on Leithart’s classic: Against Christianity. In his book, Leithart is opposing the “ism” of Christianity, not Christianity itself. Wilson’s argument against Liturgy was an argument of caution. He noted that many have pursued liturgical reform to the detriment of other elements of worship. Some in the Anglo/Catholic tradition have emphasized liturgical structures so much that they have lost sight of the preached word. The Biblical proclamation is nothing but an added footnote to the worship service. In this case, we are to be against liturgy.

I have long read Jeff Meyers’ blog. He has always been an insightful voice in an age of liturgical phobia in our Presbyterian tradition. Seven years ago, Jeff Meyers, Leithart, Jordan, and others were part of a Reformed Liturgical Conference. This series, which, he has started is an updated version of his lectures in 2001 (I believe he is referring to these lectures, though it may have been in 2000). In this first article, he writes on why Conservative Presbyterians fear Liturgy. This is a promising series.

Incidentally, I have started to listen to the Reformed Liturgical Conference in 2001 before I knew about this series. The first lecture I listened to was by Peter Leithart on the Lord’s Supper. I shall write about these instructive and profound lectures.

Why Some Conservative Presbyterians Don’t Like Liturgy – Part I