“A new Methodist hymnal, joint produced in 1935 by the Methodists, North and South, and the Methodist Protestants, contained 4 orders of Sunday worship…The trend was heavily in the direction of dignified order, in both liturgy and music. Church architecture and worship habits reflected the times. The trend everywhere was toward more formal structures….The Christian year was rediscovered, along with liturgical colors; candles joined the cross on countless communion tables….preaching also changed. Sermons were better structured and full of literary allusions, testimony to the “higher standards” set by seminary preaching classes. And these changes in worship reflected changes in the worshipers.” (from Untied Methodism in America by John G. McEllhenney p 113.)
When you attend worship how do you experience the “order” or “flow”? How is it for you to move from song to prayer to scripture and preaching? What, if anything, do you appreciate about knowing that there is an order to Sunday worship?
0 Comments