"The first want of our day is a return to the old, simple and sharply-cut doctrines of our fathers"
JC Ryle
I'm currently re-reading Crown Him Lord of All - Essays on the Life and Witness of the Free Church of Scotland. It was published in 1993, 150 years after the Free Church Disruption. I was 21 and in the middle of a university degree in Aberdeen. I remember my father working on the production of the book as he settled into a new ministry in Edinburgh. The storm clouds were gathering on what would eventually lead to a split within the Free Church in 2000 but in the early 1990's, the Free Church felt like it knew what it believed. We didn't have the Healthy Gospel Church matrix but the gospel was preached and the ministers I knew were godly and faithful men. They were men of conviction. We may not have had the right DNA or culture, but we gathered at the Glasgow Psalmody Recital every year to sing the songs that Christians had sung without interruption for 2000 years. I don't remember feeling embarrassed or ashamed to sing unaccompanied Psalms. How things have changed in 30 years.
One of the many excellent essays in the book is Worship: the Heart of Religion by Rev Hector Cameron. Those of us who had the privilege of knowing Rev Cameron remember him with great fondness. He preached a big God and a beautiful Saviour. He held his principles gently and was a greatly loved preacher and pastor. As with so many of his generation, he held his convictions with compassion. Cameron reminds us in his brilliant chapter that the Westminster Divines believed that no worship is acceptable unless it is prescribed by holy Scripture. As reformed Christians we gently but firmly believe in Biblical principle not pragmatism. The issue in worship is not what is acceptable but what is Biblical.
In his essay, Rev Cameron reminds us that the Westminster Divines believed there were 6 parts or divisions belonging to public worship:
- Prayer
- The reading of the Word
- Sound preaching
- Conscionable listening to the Word
- The singing of Psalms
- The administration of the sacraments
The Priority of the Word
As reformed Christians, we believe that the word of God should be central to our service of worship. It is not man that is central in reformed worship but God and his word. We do not believe in idols, vestments, gimmicks, smoke machines, puppet shows or clowns. We believe that 'faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.' The pulpit, not the praise band should be central in reformed churches. The Bible not the drumkit give our service their power and focus. That is why we, traditionally, have given such a central place to the public reading of the word of God. As Cameron says:
'To give the Word such a status has practical implications for the style of religious service to be expected from churches which concur. Presbyterians tend to be viewed as dour and their services dull. There may well be Presbyterians who approximate to that description. Usually, however, the criticism has been prompted by the plainness of the church buildings, the subdued complexion of the services, the strictly basic character of the ritual, the conspicuous lack of activity up the front (apart from the preacher) or the less than picturesque attire of the church officials.'
As Cameron emphasises, reformed worship is simple, spiritual, God centered and Biblically rich. That is why we sing the Psalms, God's ordained hymn book of praise. New Testament worship is the worship of the Synagogue not the Temple. The early church could have easily adopted the Greek culture with its music style but it did not. Our worship is prescribed not by Hillsong and Bethel but by the Holy Spirit in the written word.
Pulpit versus Audience Participation
A very live issue in many reformed circles at the moment is who should participate in worship. While the congregation are to be involved, the Free Church have always maintained that an ordained and qualified preacher should lead, read and preach. We are not Cromwellian Independents. It is not the role of the service to display the priesthood of all believers. This is a spiritual status to be taught and lived out in our corporate church life but Presbyterians have traditionally believed that only those who are approved and appointed should lead in public worship.
Most commonly this has been manifested in recent years in the public reading of scripture which has been opened out to ordinary members both male and female. There was some debate at the Westminster Assembly as to who could publicly read the Scriptures and preach with the Scots Commissioners wanting the office of 'reader' to be retained from the Reformation as well as 'pastors and teachers'. The Directory allows for a divinity student to be involved to test his gift for the ministry. The Scottish church have generally interpreted 'teacher' to include lay preachers, missionaries and elders who need to be 'apt to teach' as part of their qualification. Presbyteries have, in the past, created lists of men (normally elders) who are qualified and able to preach so there is a recognition of their gifts.
The Bible seems clear about women leading in public worship in 1 Timothy 2. But those who promote the view of woman leading in worship quote verses such as Acts 18 v 26, Colossians 3 v 16 and refer to women being involved in worship in the Corinthian church. I would argue that Acts and Colossians are simply talking about private discussion at most in the context of a fellowship. The situation in Corinth was chaotic and is not to be taken as a model for church. As Cameron points out in his chapter:
'The Corinthian Church, instead of being seen as representing an early stage in the establishment of Christianity, and as a Church besides where many of the cannons of apostolic teaching and practice were being transgressed, is taken to represent the model Church service scene, normative for today.' The emphasis above is my own.
The Corinthian church was the embryo of the church where the charismatic gifts were still being used and people were involved that God had not ordained to be used at all times and in all situations. Hector Cameron quotes Dr James Bannerman and again the emphasis is mine:
'[These] formed no part of the ordinary equipment of the Church of Christ or the ordinary staff of office-bearers by which the affairs were to be administered. Their use and function ceased when the church of Christ through their instrumentality had been finally settled and fully organised and when it had attained to the condition of its ordinary and permanent development.' (The Church of Christ, vol 1, pp 215-16)
Aside from minor differences in the past over reader, pastor and teacher, the position of the reformed church in Scotland for the last 450 years has been that an ordained and qualified man leads the worship, publicly reads the scriptures, prays and preaches. The minster leads for the edification of the congregation. As Cameron says:
'This accords with the Reformation dictum that the ministry is for the sake of the Church, and not the other way round (Philippians 2 v 17). In any event wider leadership arrangements are seen neither to be needed nor valid for the normal service of worship. Among exceptional situations would be the Communion service where ruling elders assist the minister in distributing the bread and wine.'
The 8 short essays in Crown Him Lord of All is a reminder of a very different Free Church, one that still valued its distinctives and was not embarrassed to be different. It is hard to imagine a similar book being published today as the Free Church morphs its principles and practice in to mainstream evangelicalism. The chapter on worship would be an interesting read with reformed worship increasingly being driven by Nashville rather than Geneva.
We have a glorious heritage that we are in danger of squandering as we grasp at the trinkets and gimmicks of modern evangelicalism. We mustn't be frightened of suffering for principles that our forefathers fought and died for. They may not be popular today but if they are Biblical, they will stand the test of time. We forget that there have been many periods in history where reformed worship and practice have not been popular. We need to hold our nerve and trust the Lord and his unfailing word.
In his Moderators Address in 1920 entitled ‘The Outlook in Regard to the Maintenance of the Reformed Faith’ Rev John Macleod said;
‘Holding to the historic faith and worship of Scotland’s Reformed Church, she is content in a day of reproach to share the reproach of a despised Evangel, and look for her vindication not only to the day when the Church’s reproach will be forever removed; she also cherishes the hope that with a glorious revival of true godliness the people of the land of covenants and martyr’s will yet retrace the steps of which they strayed from the good way and that will be a vindication of her contendings.’
We are living in confusing and bewildering times. Many who love the Free Church feel lost and grieved at the changes and the innovations. Let me leave you with Hector Cameron's words:
'The temptation is always there to seek to short-circuit this foundation principle of worship and to seek pragmatic solutions to questions concerning worship which are strictly theological; or to shelter unthinkingly behind the views held about worship (on one side or the other) by some good man of former days. It is a better option to wrestle with the basic principles involved - every question being brought to the bar of Holy Scripture - and to apply the conclusions faithfully.'
For further reading on who should read the scriptures publicly you might find these articles helpful.