09-Liturgical Service
CHAPTER IX LITURGICAL SERVICES
THERE are occasional services of such nature and importance that the church has prescribed in great detail the lessons, prayers, and addresses which shall be used. Of course these are not commanded in the sense that a minister would be brought to trial for disregarding them, but it is expected that he shall use them in conducting the services for which they are designed, and any unauthorized departure therefrom is more likely to offend than commend itself to good taste. The originality of the minister may better show itself in filling these forms with life and power than by changing them. The ritual is for the most part adapted from the Book of Common Prayer of the Anglican Church. Its history carries back directly to the First Prayer Book of Edward VI, which was generally used for the first time on June 8, 1549. This book was the work of the English National Church under Archbishop Cranmer when the leadership of the bishop of Rome was repudiated. The aim was to compile a Service Book from materials long in possession of the church, which would be free from the false doctrines and superstitious practices which characterized the several Roman liturgies in common use in England, and which would be in the language of the people rather than Latin. The book has been revised a number of times, but the present Book of Common Prayer is substantially the same as the First Book of Edward. John Wesley admired this liturgy greatly. The “Sunday Service” which he prepared for American Methodists is but an abbreviation of the Prayer Book. In the preface to that service he wrote, “I believe there is no liturgy in all the world, either in an
IO2 LITURGICAL SERVICES 103 cient or modern language, which breathes more of a solid, scriptural, rational piety than the Common Prayer of the Church of England. And though the main part of it was compiled more than two hundred years ago, 1 yet is the language of it not only pure, but strong and elegant in the highest degree. Little alteration is made in the following edition of it.” In the use of these forms, crudities and carelessness of administration destroy their value, and every minister should learn to conduct them with such grace that the congregation will be impressed with a proper sense of their beauty and worth. i. BAPTISM. Baptism is recognized as a sacrament by all evangelical Protestant bodies except the Friends. Christianity adapted the rite from the Hebrews, who in common with other Semitic peoples used water freely in symbolic washings in worship. The act of baptism represents the Spirit of God as cleansing and renewing the spirit of man. At the same time it marks those who are included in the Christian fellowship, the church, and has done so from New Testament times. We do not believe in baptismal regeneration. The rite merely recognizes the inward action of the Spirit which takes place independently of the outward washing.
Three modes of baptism are recognized by Methodists as equally valid immersion, sprinkling, and pouring. Since one is admitted into the church once for all, this rite is to be performed but once in the lifetime of a Christian, though we have no patience with the extreme teaching that “the act can never be repeated without sacrilege/’ 2 Since it is a sign of admission into the church, the proper place for the service is in the church, though, of course, it may be performed elsewhere whenever the circumstances seem to warrant. The real church is found where two or more believers are met together in Christ’s name. Methodists make no attempt to justify baptism by unordained laymen because Wesley wrote this in 1784.
3 E. L. Temple, The Church in the Prayer Book, p. 247. io 4 THE PASTORAL OFFICE they do not regard the performance of the rite as essential to redemption. They find it impossible to believe that the guilt or innocence of the soul is determined by this outward washing.
Two forms of the service are provided one for infants and small children, and the other for persons of “riper years,” those who are capable of taking upon themselves vows. In the order for infants three great assumptions give character to the whole service. The first appears in the opening address to the congregation that little children are already within the kingdom of God and the church, and that God’s spirit is already given to them. The second is that the parents or legally appointed guardians are the natural sponsors of the child, and the major responsibility for his spiritual training cannot be transferred to godfathers and godmothers. Any number of persons may stand and take the vows with the parents, but no one can act as a substitute for them in this matter. In this respect our service contrasts notably with the Prayer Book. The third assumption is that the church publicly acknowledges its obligation to provide for the spiritual nurture of the child which belongs to it. Apart from these assumptions, the service is only a superstitious practice. He is a wise pastor who visits in advance the parents of children to be presented for baptism and makes sure that they understand the obligations which they are to assume.
Except when administered privately, the service is usually a part of the public worship of the congregation. The parents and other sponsors are invited to present the child (or children) near the baptismal font, generally during one of the regular hymns. The minister, standing before them, addresses the congregation, inviting their prayers on behalf of the child to be baptized, and leads in that prayer. The address to the parents follows, in which a promise is exacted that the child shall be instructed in the meaning of the rite and given such other religious discipline as shall bring it to spiritual consciousness in due time. After the pledge LITURGICAL SERVICES 105 is given, the congregation rises while a short lesson is read, and should remain standing during the act of baptism unless the number of candidates is very large. Immediately after the lesson the minister takes the child in his own arms and, asking, “What name shall be given to this child?” dips up a little water in his right hand and pours or sprinkles it upon the head of the child as he repeats the Christian name only (for example, Charles Edward not Charles Edward Jones} together with the baptismal formula. Returning the child to the parents, he leads the kneeling congregation again in prayer, concluding with the Lord’s Prayer, in which all participate audibly. Dignity and impressiveness may be given to the service if the congregation shall join heartily in those parts of the service printed in heavy type.
It is the habit of some ministers to kiss the baptized child before returning it to the parents. This affectation should be avoided since it adds nothing to the impressiveness of the service and is an unnecessary and sentimental assertion of the minister’s individuality. The minister should give the parents a certificate of baptism for the child and enroll its name in his own record of baptized children, whose status is that of probationers in the church. The order for persons of “riper years” differs from that for infants only in such respects as the difference in maturity and spiritual condition requires. The promises are exacted of the candidates themselves and have to do with matters of belief, ethical practice, and religious purpose. The baptismal formula is the same in both orders. Following the act of baptism the congregation kneels and repeats audibly the Lord’s Prayer, which may be followed by extemporaneous prayer. The answers to the questions are prescribed in the ritual, a copy of which should be in the hands of each candidate. If the candidate does not have the printed service, it is much better to let him frame his own answers than to tell him aloud what he is expected to repeat parrot-fashion. This inevitably produces a sense of unreality that jars upon the spirit of true devotion. It ap 106 THE PASTORAL OFFICE plies as well to the answers made to the questions asked of persons being received into the church. When performed privately, the service, in either of its forms, may be abbreviated according to circumstances, provided, of course, that the essential parts the interrogations and the formula shall never be omitted.
2. THE HOLY COMMUNION. The value of this sacrament depends largely upon the way in which it is administered. The administrant may put so little of his individuality into it as to make it purely mechanical. Or, he may show in word and action such understanding of the significance of the rite, such appreciation of its beauty, such a sense of joy tempered by humility and reverence at the privilege of participating in it as to make it the chief means of grace to believers. To administer in this way involves, of course, much more than the mastery of the technique of the service. On the other hand, it cannot be administered effectively without this knowledge, and the mastery of these details becomes an important part of the duty of anyone who undertakes to use a ritual. The more important instructions are printed in the order. Certain minor matters, however, are overlooked which have much to do with the impressiveness of the service. In the absence of specific direction, we are to be guided, in part, it is assumed, by the practice and ideals of the Anglicans from whom we received the service, and in other part, by the preference of those among us who possess the most discriminating taste in such matters. a. Ordinarily the service is made a part of the regular worship of the congregation once every two or three months, the communion being preceded by the usual hymns, prayers, a short sermon, and reception of members. Before the hour appointed for worship it is customary to cover the table which stands behind the rail and in front of the pulpit with a “fair linen cloth,” upon which are set plates of bread conveniently cut into strips or broken into small pieces, and a pitcher of unf ermented grape juice, together with an empty LITURGICAL SERVICES 107 cup or a number of small individual cups. These in turn are all covered with another white cloth awaiting the moment when they shall be used. b. Inasmuch as the service is a memorial of the sacrifice of Christ, it is fitting that it should begin with a special offering on the part of the congregation, which is received by the collectors while the minister reads a number of hortatory verses selected from the Scripture. This offering is generally used for the relief of the poor in the church and the community. If time permits, it is well to use the Ten Commandments as a Litany (see Hymnal, Number 738) before the offering or as a substitute for the offering in the event that, for a good cause, it is omitted. c. After the offering the minister removes and folds carefully the cover which is spread over the bread and wine, laying it conveniently near for use again. He should then take his place at the right side of the table as he faces the congregation, 3 which is the station from which he is to administer the whole service, and read the Invitation to the standing congregation. Those who are to assist him should come within the chancel at this time. Then follows the General Confession, in which ministers and people participate audibly as they kneel, the ministers about the table facing toward the elements, d. It is customary for the administrant to ask his assistants to read the prayers which precede the Prayer of Consecration. Lack of familiarity with congregational prayers may make it necessary to urge the people at the beginning of the service to join heartily in the General Confession, the Collect for Purity, and the Ter Sanctus. The Prayer of Consecration is made by the administrant himself, who should take the plate and cup in his hand at the appointed places. e. After the Prayer of Consecration, the minister him *So the Anglicans and Protestant Episcopalians. See Samuel Hart, The Book of Common Prayer, p. 167. io8 THE PASTORAL OFFICE self receives the communion in both kinds before administering the same to his assistants* A mistaken sense of courtesy has caused some protest against this practice as being inhospitable. It becomes singularly appropriate, however, once it is understood that this is a symbolic act which suggests that he who would minister grace to others must first receive that grace himself. After serving his assistants, he resumes his place at the right side of the table, leading in the prayer and the Ter Sanctus, which is to be said or sung by the people.
/. After the Ter Sanctus, the minister proceeds to serve the people “in order.” Presumably this means in an orderly manner. This must imply that only as many are to be allowed to kneel at the rail at one time as can be accommodated comfortably. Confusion and disorder result if the people kneel two or three rows deep. It is likewise in the interest of order that as the first retire, a second group shall come from the opposite side of the house. Ushers, properly instructed, may direct the movement of the congregation. The singing of devotional hymns and the playing of proper selections on the organ will do much to create an atmosphere of worship during this part of the service and stabilize the emotion of the congregation. The time may be most profitably employed in intervals of the service in meditation and introspection, for only as there is a conscientious endeavor to realize the spiritual aspects of the sacrament can one eat and drink worthily so that he “may live and grow thereby/’ In view of the ministerial character of their service, the choir probably should precede the congregation in communicating, though usually they are the last. On coming to the rail, each communicant should go to the farthest unoccupied space and kneel in an upright manner, the women with veils raised and hands ungloved. Persons may receive the communion, however, sitting or standing if there is good reason for not kneeling. It is the practice of Anglicans to break a small piece of bread from strips which LITURGICAL SERVICES 109 are held in the left hand, and drop this into the open palm of the right hand of the communicant. The prejudice which exists, however, in the minds of most people against handling food unnecessarily makes it more advisable to have the bread cut into small bits upon the plate and permit the communicant to help himself. For sanitary reasons individual cups too are to be preferred to the common cup. The empty cups may be collected in a tray provided for that purpose after all have been served.
It is the common custom “to repeat the administrative formula for each element a number of times as it is passed. This is not always edifying, and since we do not hold, as does the English Church, that each communicant has an inherent right to an individual repetition, it is probably better to repeat the formula clearly and distinctly once each time the elements are served, and then pass them to the communicants in silence.
There is no ritualistic authority for the time-honored practice of dismissing communicants with an exhortation. But some signal is needed for all to retire at once, and this may well justify the practice. Better than the impromptu exhortation, however, is a single verse of Scripture or a hymn, concluding with the formal dismissal: “Arise, go in peace. Amen.” Or, better yet, the dismissal itself is sufficient after a moment has been allowed for silent prayer and thanksgiving. g. As soon as all have been served and before the concluding prayers, the unused portion of the consecrated elements should be covered again with the cloth that was removed at the very beginning of the service. Then the minister and people kneel, joining together in the Lord’s Prayer and a Prayer of Thanksgiving, at the conclusion of which all stand to repeat or chant “Gloria in Excelsis.” The service concludes with the Benediction.
3. THE MARRIAGE SERVICE. Unlike Catholics, Protestants do not regard marriage as a sacrament. It is a most sacred service, nevertheless, and no minister should ever no THE PASTORAL OFFICE perform the rite without revealing in the manner of its performance his own sense of its deep sanctity. The form provided in the Methodist Episcopal ritual can hardly be improved, and the directions are too clear to need any supplementary statement. At a time when public opinion generally subscribes to a view of marriage contradictory to the teaching of the New Testament, the Christian minister should exercise scrupulous care lest he contribute to the destruction of the family by performing marriages where one or both parties have been divorced. At the most, Jesus allowed but one cause as sufficient warrant for breaking the marriage relation. And the Methodist Episcopal Church does not permit its ministers to remarry any divorced persons except the innocent party in a divorce on the ground of adultery. It may be embarrassing to refuse one’s services at times. This is a small matter, however, as compared with the stultification of oneself to avoid embarrassment or to earn a fee. Nothing is more significant of the power of the church in a materialistic age than the eagerness with which nearly all persons covet the blessing of the church in the hour of marriage and the hour of death. Marriages may be performed by civil magistrates. Most of them, however, are performed by ministers. And the church will keep the respect of the community by declining to adjust its views on matrimony to those of a gainsaying generation. He is no true minister of Jesus Christ who performs the marriage ceremony “for anyone who can secure a license.” In a courteous manner one may inquire whether either party has been divorced, should the license indicate a previous marriage, and why.
If a divorce has been granted for any other than the cause allowed by Jesus, the minister may simply say that the law of his church forbids him to perform the ceremony. Moreover, if for any reason whatsoever he may feel that the proposed marriage is ill-advised the youth of the parties, or a frivolous view of matrimony, or unsound conditions of health or mind he should decline to perform the service, LITURGICAL SERVICES in though a license from the State be presented authorizing it. To consent on the ground that “some other minister will marry them if I do not” is utterly contemptible. “If I ever dare to marry, I should want Dr. B. to marry me,” said a woman professor in a large women’s college. “It was a solemn thing getting married by Dr. B. Groom and bride had to have separate interviews with him. They used to say the brides came out of his study tearful and the grooms sober- faced; but his marriages always turned out happy ones/’ 4 All marriages should be recorded carefully in the official records of the church as well as certified to the State in the blank usually provided for that purpose. Needless to say, all marriages should be properly witnessed.
4. THE FUNERAL. In time of death, as in marriage, most families covet the help that religion affords. However critical men may be of the church, they do not care to have those whom they love lowered into the earth without the prayers and blessing of the church. In such an hour the pastor has a supreme opportunity to render a spiritual service.
If the deceased be a member of the church, the pastor will call on the family as soon as he is informed of the death, offering to be helpful in any way possible. In other cases he will call as soon as he knows that his services will be needed. On these occasions usually he may make preliminary plans for the funeral service, gathering such data concerning the deceased as he may care to use in the address. And within a few days after the service he should call again. In making these calls it is very much more important that he be a warm-hearted, sensible friend than an ecclesiastic doing and saying the professional things which he believes are expected of him. If the family is notably devout, it may be perfectly natural to offer the consolations of prayer. If they are not, or if there is confusion and distraction which would make the suggestion of prayer an embarrassment, he will render his largest service through being just humanly sympathetic.
’From an article in “The Christian Advocate,” July 6, 1922, p. 834.
H2 THE PASTORAL OFFICE As for the service itself, the Methodist Episcopal Church provides a ritual that is solemn and beautiful, adapted from that of the Anglican Church. Frequently the service will consist only of the lessons and prayers of this service and nothing can be In better taste! More commonly, however, one or two numbers of special music and an address in addition are expected. A “funeral sermon” is almost never in order, even in the rural districts to-day. The address should not take more than eight or ten minutes, and the whole service should be concluded in a half hour, as a rule.
Any biographical sketch of the deceased that may be desirable should be incorporated into the address, and while proper appreciation is ever in order, overstatement and eulogy are distinctly bad form. If the departed was a saint, that fact will be already widely known. If not, only embarrassment can follow from an attempt to “whiten a sepulcher.” Any effort to stir up the emotions of the company, particularly of the family, is reprehensible. Rather the service should soothe the harrowed feelings of those who mourn by its quiet tenderness. The proper material for an address at a funeral consists of the fundamental doctrine that God is love, and all other doctrines that are implied in it. Many things may happen that we cannot explain, but nothing can carry us beyond the reach of his love. Thus those who stay are safe, and those who go. “If we have such a Father in heaven as our Lord sought to reveal to us, then there are no sorrows that cannot be healed.”
It is a commendable custom of many ministers to insert blank leaves in their rituals on which they may write, from time to time, verses, sentiments, and poems, gathered in their reading which may be appropriately used on funeral occasions. Selections from this compilation may be read as a part of the address, or a substitute for it.
Methodist ministers are forbidden to charge a fee for burying the dead. Where one is put to considerable expense to render this service, it is assumed that the family will reimburse him. But if they should not do so, he could LITURGICAL SERVICES 113 hardly present a bill for it On the other hand, he is not forbidden to accept an honorarium if one is offered without solicitation. When the offer comes from a family not connected with the church, there is no good reason for declining it, if they can afford to make it. It is probably the only way in which they ever contribute to the support of the ministry. But if it comes from one of the families in the church, the minister will do well to return it with a brotherly statement that a good shepherd will not profit from the distress of one of his sheep. Undue readiness to accept gifts has ruined the usefulness of many ministers.
5. “THE LITURGICAL PERSONALITY/’’ It may appear that rather unusual emphasis has been laid upon the mechanics of public worship. But it has never been forgotten that “the best precepts with regard to liturgical matters run the risk of failing of their object unless powerfully supported by the liturgical personality/’ 5 Behind the pulpit decorum of the minister, the congregation must feel the throbbing of a heart that loves God devotedly and a spirit that is sensitive to the most appropriate means of expressing that affection. In free worship we speedily reach the point where no rule of action can be prescribed. The only safe guide is a sound liturgical instinct. In the development of such an instinct instruction in principles and methods of worship, the study of liturgical writings, conversation with skilled liturgists, all have an important place, but a place that is subordinate to the cultivation of the minister’s own spiritual life by private prayer and meditation. To give his life a “spiritual bent” must be the liturgist’s first concern. There should be “no day without special secret prayer, without definite reading and reflection on Holy Scripture, without, in a word, an inner laving in the refreshing and invigorating well-springs of a higher life/’ 8 In the interest of developing a “liturgical personality” we B Van Oosterzee, op rit. f p, 443.
“/<*, p. 445 ii4 THE PASTORAL OFFICE do well to heed Spurgeon’s exhortation: “We cannot be always on the knees of the body, but the soul should never leave the posture of devotion. The habit of prayer is good, but the spirit of prayer is better. As a rule, we ministers ought never to be many minutes without actually lifting up our hearts in prayer.”
BOOKS RECOMMENDED FOR FURTHER STUDY R. J. Cooke, History of the Ritual of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
C. C. Hall et al, Christian Worship.
W. P. Thirkield, Service and Prayers.
Discipline Methodist Episcopal Church, 1920, The Ritual.
SECTION II
ADMINISTRATIO