(The following letter appeared in the Parish Magazine of St. Martin’s Church of England, Tipton. The writer, who is attached to Reformed principles, is the vicar of that church. The letter gives an interesting insight into the effect which our Church services may have on those who are unfamiliar with our form of worship.)
“Visiting Scotland recently gave us an opportunity to worship with a congregation of the Free Presbyterian Church, to which our host belonged. It was an instructive experience, and may be of interest to any of our readers who are not familiar with this Church and its worship. It is one of the smaller denominations in Scotland, but does consider itself to be in direct line of descent from the Church of Scotland as reformed and established in 1560. All its ministers and office-bearers must give their wholehearted assent to the Westminster Confession of Faith, a very full and excellent statement of Christian teaching drawn up by order of Parliament in the seventeenth century, when a thorough-going attempt was made to reform and purify the churches in England to bring them into closer relationship with the reformed churches in Scotland, and on the Continent. Our equivalent standard is the 39 Articles of Religion, printed at the back of the Prayer Book, but the Westminster Confession is much more detailed.
“With reference to church services, we in the Church of England work on the principle that it is permissible to use any form of worship which is not contrary to the teaching of the Bible in any way. The Free Presbyterians take the stronger line that only what is positively taught in the Bible is lawful, and if it cannot be found there then it is wrong. Thus, while we feel free to use a prayer book and hymn books and instrumental music in our services, they have none of these things. There is singing, but only of psalms, and it is without musical accompaniment, being led by a precentor. The minister prays in his own words, and there is, of course, a Bible reading and sermon. The congregation stands for the prayers and sits for singing. Even with a very numerous congregation, of all ages, there is complete silence in the church before worship begins, and when it is over, all leave silently and only speak when they are outside. There is no visible personal prayer such as we are used to, on coming into church, or before leaving. This is because of our Lord’s words in Matthew 6:5. And there are no flowers!
“Now, however much we may raise our eyebrows at all this I think those who take worship seriously will realise that there is food for thought here. I myself am far from agreeing with all the practices mentioned above, but I am bound to say that here are people who manifest a wholesome fear of God, to whom worship is a very wonderful and solemn thing, and who count it of the utmost importance to conduct it in a way which will be pleasing to God. And wouldn’t we wish all that to be true of ourselves?
“To take just that small point, mentioned above, of kneeling or bowing the head for a moment when we take our place in church; it is so normal to us. We shouldn’t think of missing it. Yet has it become a formality? (One can’t help noticing how often, when two or more people kneel together, they usually get up together. Were their prayers exactly the same length? Or was it a formality?) If so, then it is simply for appearance’s sake and our Lord’s words in Matthew 6:5 do apply. Perhaps our Free Presbyterian friends have a point?
“There is a lot to be said, I think, for the way we read the Bible in the Anglican services. Both Old and New Testaments are always included. Readings are often consecutive from week to week, and the reader going to the Lectern helps to remind us of the solemnity of hearing God’s Word. We miss those things in other churches, such as the one we are speaking of now. But when it comes to the Sermon, the Free Presbyterians leave us in no doubt as to their reverence for the Scriptures. As with ourselves the sermon is designed to explain and apply a verse or passage or theme of the Bible. The difference is that in their service the minister preaches for anything from 45 minutes to one hour! And let me emphasise that he includes nothing in the way of elaborate language, padding or illustrations. It is all direct, closely reasoned, and detailed teaching and exhortation. And what you may think even more remarkable is that it is followed with the closest attention throughout by all the congregation. Incidentally, it is just the same at the mid-week meeting. At one of these which we were able to attend, the minister spent about 50 minutes explaining two verses of a psalm to a well-filled church hall, with many children and young people present. They clearly expect and want this kind of ministry.
“One of the secrets of this, of course, as you will no doubt be thinking, is that it all depends upon what you are used to. Yes indeed! And amongst the people of whom we are speaking the utmost importance is attached to worship and Christian teaching being given within the family circle. Any father who is a church member, and does not conduct daily worship in his own home, with all his family present, is regarded as being guilty of serious misdemeanour, and is likely to be rebuked by the church leaders. (The Free Presbyterians maintain godly discipline within their church unlike us where so often ‘every man does that which is right in his own eyes’).
“Likewise of course, it is normal for the entire family to be present at the Sabbath Service and the mid-week meeting. It is a truly fine sight to see not only the parents but the young people — some very young indeed — actually listening to sermons of the kind I have mentioned above. ‘Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old he will not depart from it.’ And many in our Church of England are telling us that we must have quizzes and pictures and models in our pulpits, to keep not only children, but adults, interested for 10 minutes or so!
“Yes, there is much about our Anglican way of worship which one feels is right and helpful. The more one sees of other churches, the more one realises the value of our Book of Common Prayer — provided we are always on our guard against formal and thoughtless use of it. Our hymns can contribute a real uplift and warmth in the service — so long as we remember that they are only human compositions, not to be placed on a level with the words of the Bible; and provided we do not utter words of profound devotion just because we enjoy the tune to which they are set. Music, flowers and other details can, each in their place, play a helpful part in making a suitable setting for spiritual worship. There can be, perhaps, a variety and fulness in our form of service which is harder to find in that described above.
“Nevertheless, one is left with the feeling that, if we are willing, there is still much for us to learn about worship; and that we still fall short of expressing as clearly as our friends above do, that, (to quote the Westminster Catechism which they use):
Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God,
and fully to enjoy Him for ever.”