Christian History
A Post-Reformation Model of Worship: Baptist Worship
Baptists emerged from a variety of Separatist congregations in seventeenth-century England. While Baptists disagreed theologically on the issue of predestination, they eventually came to share the same form of worship. Like the Congregationalists, Baptists looked to the Bible for their liturgical guidance. At the same time, early Baptists strongly emphasized the leading of the Spirit in worship and avoided a strict structuring of the Sunday service. As the texts below make clear, Baptist liturgical patterns began to solidify on both sides of the Atlantic by the eighteenth century.
A Post-Reformation Model of Worship: The Westminster Directory
In 1643, following the outbreak of civil war in England between the Puritan-controlled Parliament and the Anglican King Charles I, Parliament commissioned 150 ministers and lay leaders to draft a new confession, catechism, worship service, and form of government for England. Although this body, later known as the Westminster Assembly of Divines, was predominantly Presbyterian, almost a dozen Congregationalists were invited. This body produced the first Westminster Directory.
A Post-Reformation Model of Worship: John Cotton’s New England Congregational Worship
In his book The Way of the Churches of Christ in New England, John Cotton, a leading Congregational pastor of the first generation of American colonists, provided a detailed description of worship practices in New England. Although conclusive evidence is lacking, it appears that English Congregationalists used the same basic order.
A Post-Reformation Model of Worship: American Puritan Worship
From the landing of the Mayflower through the American Revolution, the majority of free-church clergy probably spent more time interacting with worshipers around the Communion table than they did preaching from pulpits. The services that follow reflect Puritan worship as well as the general approach to worship in the separatist congregations—Baptist, Congregational, Independent.
A Reformation Model of Worship: Anabaptist, Balthasar Hubmaier’s “A Form For Christ’s Supper” (1527)
The liturgy below is of an Anabaptist group in Waldshut. Unlike other Anabaptists, this community was not on the run, but settled in a place where the people enjoyed greater freedom of worship. These Anabaptists were also led by a minister who was a liturgical scholar.
A Reformation Model of Worship: The Traditional Anglican Liturgy (1662)
The Reform of the liturgy in England began in 1540 under the leadership of Thomas Cranmer. The Book of Common Prayer was revised again in 1552, and a final revision was completed in 1662. The service below is from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer.