A Primer on Reformed Liturgics -- The Reformed Liturgies Take Shape
The Interior of St. Peter’s in Geneva — Where John Calvin Served as Pastor
General Characteristics of Early Reformed Liturgies.[1]
As the Reformation got underway and the Reformed churches began to develop their own distinct theological identity and practices, general characteristics of Reformed liturgical practice emerged. The following are found in the majority of Reformed liturgies in the Reformation era and can be summarized as follows: (1) The assumption that the church is the assembly of the covenant community. (2) The assembled people of God participate in worship in the common tongue. (3). Simplicity. (4). The centrality of word and sacrament. (5) A central role for Psalms. (6). Adaptability to need and circumstance.
Emerging Liturgical Forms and Practices
Given the stress upon congregational participation in worship as central among the changes brought about by the Reformation, the assembled worshipers sang, prayed, heard the word of God read and preached, and received the sacraments regularly. These things were not limited to the clergy, choirs, etc. Full congregational participation can be seen in the common liturgical practices adapted early on. Worship in the Reformed churches was grounded in a word-centered liturgy in the vernacular (the common language). This was a departure from pre-Reformation practices, amounting to a . . .
Far-reaching change . . . The whole service [was read] in a clear audible voice [not Latin] and in the vernacular tongue. Low mass had been the popular form of service for a considerable period before the Reformation, and this meant that the old service had been said in Latin and also inaudibly. Now, for the first time, the people both heard the words and understood them, while at one stroke the old secret prayers disappeared and the central rite [i.e., the mass] stood clear of medieval accretions.”[2]
Much of the Reformation era liturgical reform was adapted from the ancient church, in part, to demonstrate that Reformation churches were not schismatic–a charge often leveled against them by Rome. Because the goal was the reform of the true church, the following became mainstays of the Reformed liturgies: The Lord’s Prayer, the Creed, a confession of sin with absolution or declaration of pardon, and intercessory prayers.
Martin Bucer, for example, used the Apostles’ Creed as a bridge from the service of the word, to the service of the sacraments.[3] Often, the law was read or sung before the confession of sin was offered and the absolution/declaration of pardon was declared. Some liturgies included a confession of sin after the sermon, in addition to a confession of sin before receiving the sacrament (which was often tied to the fencing of the table).
Pastoral prayers were frequently taken/adapted from Paul’s first letter to Timothy (for all men, kings, and all in authority), and Peter’s exhortation in 2:13–16:
Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.
The Aaronic Blessing from Numbers 6:24-26 – “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace”—was often used for dismissal (i.e., the Benediction), as was the phrase “the peace of Christ, be with you.”
The Centrality of Word and Sacrament
The preached word and the two sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper were seen to be central to the church’s mission and its worship. Worship focused upon “the word heard.”[4] The preached word gives efficacy to sacraments (the “visible word”), which is why the recovery of the one (preaching of the law and gospel from the text of Scripture) led to the other (the proper administration of the sacraments as taught in the word of God).
The centrality of the word led to Lectio-continua (sequential) reading and preaching of the Scripture. Martin Luther retained the traditional Scripture lessons from the German Mass (1526) on Sundays, but practiced Lectio-continua reading of Scripture on Wednesdays (The Gospel of Matthew), Thursdays and Fridays (the New Testament epistles), and John’s Gospel on Saturdays.[5]
Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556) took the inherited church calendar and modified it for the English church (the Book of Common Prayer). According to Cranmer, “all things shall be done in order without breaking one piece of it from another.” Cranmer’s biblical lectionary (arranged into services of Morning and Evening Prayer, following the church calendar) covered most of the Old Testament (once annually), the New Testament (three times annually) and the Psalter (monthly).[6] Other Reformed liturgies ignored the church calendar and instead focused upon reading through entire books of the Bible.
The centrality of preaching can be seen in both Lutheran and Reformed churches from this period. Luther’s preaching emphasized repentance and forgiveness based upon the pattern of Luke 24:46-47 (“Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem”). Following Luther, Philipp Melancthon (1497-1560) focused upon the distinction between law and gospel as the basis for the Christian life.
The English Reformers published a Book of Homilies (1547) which included twelve gospel sermons (Cranmer wrote the preface), as well as sermons such as “of the salvation of all mankind,” “of the true and lively faith,” “on good works.” A second volume (edited by Bishop John Jewel in 1571) includes 21 additional sermons focusing on topics such as idolatry, repairing the church, gluttony, appropriate fashion, prayer, and proper use of the sacraments.
The Reformed liturgies focused primarily upon the reading and exposition of God’s word. The Psalms (read, sung, recited) were utilized in virtually all Reformed liturgies. The Psalter was understood to be the primary connection between public and private worship. Both the preached word and liturgical text focused upon the once for all sacrifice of Christ. “The most regular feature across the spectrum of Reformation liturgies was the great evangelical emphasis upon the completed sacrifice of Christ at Calvary.”[7] This is both a response to the centrality of the Mass in the Roman liturgy and an emphasis upon the five solas. This is especially the case with the confession of sin, in the declaration of pardon/absolution, and in preparation for partaking of the Lord’s Supper. The churches in Zurich, Strasbourg, and Geneva focused upon expositional preaching. Sermons were preached throughout the week in addition to Sundays (to accommodate the difficulties of life—weather, travel, etc.). Polish reformer John à Lasco (1499-1560) warned against preaching filled with stories, human traditions, or philosophical speculation.
A Stress Upon Simplicity and Adaptability
Reformed worship and liturgies focused upon the word preached, heard, and sung, not upon persons (saints, clerics, high offices such as Bishop and Cardinal) or objects (the high altar, church art and statuary, fixtures etc). Church furnishings and architecture increasingly began to reflect function (facilitating preaching and the administration of the sacraments), not decoration. The pulpit, font, and table became the focal points in church buildings and were stripped of all unnecessary decoration since these things were to serve the ministry of word and sacrament, which decoration obscured. If it did not facilitate the preaching of the word and the administration of the sacraments, it was removed.
There is no specific liturgical text prescribed in the New Testament, but there are specific liturgical elements which are prescribed in the New Testament (i.e., Acts 2:42 – “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers”). The absence of a specific New Testament liturgical text led to a fair bit of diversity in form and practice. The necessary elements (such as those mentioned in Acts 2:42) were central in Reformed practice, not a uniformity in the manner in which they were presented in the liturgy. Reformed liturgies were often adapted to particular circumstances (usually based on local political issues and circumstances, language, the threat of persecution, etc.). But distance, weather, disease were also factors in diversity in liturgical practice among the Reformed churches.
Next time, diversity in early Reformed liturgical practice
The Previous Installment in this Series: Development of Reformed Lliturgical Practice
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[1] Taken and adopted from Howard L. Rice and James C. Huffstutler, Reformed Worship (Louisville: Geneva Press, 2001), 6-7.
[2] William D. Maxwell, “Reformed Worship,” in The New Westminster Dictionary of Theology and Worship, (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1986), 458.
[3] Jonathan Gibson and Mark Earngy, Reformation Worship: Liturgies from the Past for the Present (Greensboro: New Growth Press, 2018), 29.
[4] Rice and Huffstutler, Reformed Worship, 7.
[5] Gibson and Earngy, Reformation Worship, 29.
[6] Gibson and Earngy, Reformation Worship, 29.
[7] Gibson and Earngy, Reformation Worship, 33 ff.