Re-Forming the Liturgy

Past, Present, and Future

Paul Galbreath

• Publisher: Cascade Books
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN:
  9781532650291
  9781532650307
• eBook ISBN:
  9781532650314
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Denominations

Christian worship is always undergoing change as it adapts to particular contexts and concerns. This collection of essays explores ways: 1) that liturgical change happened to address particular historical and theological concerns; 2) that worship and preaching are currently undergoing transition; and 3) that aspects of worship are in need of transformation in order to address primary issues of our time with a focus on environmental and ecological concerns. Spacial attention is paid to the role of the Sacraments and to preaching with an emphasis on the need to connect worship with daily life. These essays show readers ways that liturgical renewal worked in the past as well as offer a persuasive case for continual renewal that responds to key issues in our contemporary lives.

Part One

Liturgical Lessons from the Past

We live in an era of turmoil and change on nearly every front. In the midst of these significant transitions, congregations are searching for ways to embody the gospel that address the deep concerns in their own lives and in their communities. Of course, these challenges are not entirely new to Christian communities, which have frequently struggled to discover appropriate and faithful ways to live out the gospel in their own unique times and conditions. The history of the Reformed tradition shows an ongoing tension between the desire to embody a renewed understanding of the church in light of the guiding witness of communities that are portrayed in Scripture. In fact, the watchword of Reformed Christians captures this sense of the constant back and forth movement between biblical images and resources and their embodiment in particular communities of faith. As noted in the constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), “Ecclesia reformata, semper reformanda verbum Dei, that is, ‘The Church reformed, always to be reformed according to the Word of God,’ in the power of the Spirit.”1 At stake in this declaration is a lively balancing act of renewing the life of the church in light of the witness of Scripture and in accordance with the movement of the Spirit.

At times, Reformed communities have erred in the manners in which they have interpreted this adage. For some, the role of Scripture in defining the identity of the community has resulted in forms of biblical literalism that have demanded scriptural proof texts for any part of worship. A quick glance at The Book of Common Worship still shows how each movement in worship is connected with specific biblical citations. In this instance, the dynamic nature of diverse biblical communities has been overlooked as well as the need for communities to articulate and embody the gospel in their own particular contexts. For others, the Spirit’s involvement in the messy business of liturgical inculturation has provided a precedence for adopting that which is new, sometimes at the expense of any guidance from Scripture. The challenge remains to navigate these stormy waters by carefully and deliberately steering a course that takes its cues from the diverse witness of Scripture while exploring ways to faithfully embody the call of the gospel in our lives in our own circumstances. Here, the work of liturgical history can provide insights in ways that diverse communities of faith have addressed similar challenges in their own situations.

In the following three essays, we will explore themes and clues that can guide communities of faith to rediscover ways that can shape our gatherings and lives. In the first essay, we examine the role of a particular form of prayer, the collect, in order to identify the ways in which Reformed Christians have adapted this way of praying to express our own particular theological identity. At stake in this study is the chance to discover authentic ways of praying that articulate deep theological convictions that are part of our identity as followers of Jesus Christ. The second essay explores John Calvin’s theological interpretation of the role of the Law in order to ascertain the ways in which this can shape our own practices of Christian formation. Calvin’s broad perspective on the theological telos of the Law underscores the ways that deeply connect our baptismal and vocational identity and offer us suggestions of how to live out a vision of communal life. The final essay in this section surveys the historical development of the season of Easter in order to imagine how this liturgical season can be embodied in diverse communities of faith. Together these three essays demonstrate the ways in which liturgical and theological lessons from the past can guide us in identifying patterns for Christian living that draw on the wisdom of those who have gone before us while opening up possibilities for faithful responses that Christians can embody in our lives of faith today.

1. Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), F-2.02.

1

The Curious Case of the Collect

Between Form and Freedom

A deliberate tension between form and freedom lies at the center of liturgical practice in the Reformed tradition.2 Since the dramatic reform of worship practices in Strasbourg and Geneva during the sixteenth century, Reformed ecclesial bodies have drawn on the historic shape and pattern of liturgical forms while at the same time creating space for these forms to be articulated and embodied in distinctive ways. The history of the collect in the Reformed tradition includes a narrative of use, neglect, and transformation that enlightens not only the Reformed approach to this particular prayer, but also points to the broader liturgical practices within the Reformed tradition.

Before beginning this historical survey, the reader should be aware of two disclaimers. First, it is, of course, impossible to provide a full picture of the approach to any particular liturgical practice in a tradition as broad and diverse as Reformed congregations. As a result, this chapter looks briefly at historical snapshots of the use and adaptation of the collect at particular times and places in Reformed churches. Secondly, by its nature, the Reformed tradition is a highly varied and sometimes eclectic collection of congregations whose shared liturgical identity is grounded in particular readings and interpretations of Scripture and who exercise broad parameters for liturgical interpretation and adaptation to take place. This survey will pay attention to the use and adaptation of the collect particularly in Reformed bodies in the United States, with special attention to the practices of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).3 The purpose of this focus is not to overlook the significance of Reformed bodies around the world, but to illustrate the adaptive liturgical principles used in the collects in Reformed history.

The Historical Roots of the Collect

In his essay entitled, “The Collect in Context,” Patrick Regan describes the teleological aim of the collect as providing a “culminating point of all that comes before the service of the word.”4 Regan describes the place of the collect in the oldest extant account of a papal Mass, the Ordo Romanus Primus, which comes from eighth-century Rome. Here, the collect clearly fulfills the role of bringing the opening movement of the Mass to completion. The entrance rite includes the procession of the liturgical leaders of the assembly, a sung psalm, Gloria Patri, Kyrie Eleison, and Gloria in Excelsis Deo. Then, the presider offers the collect as prayer that closes this opening act of the liturgy.

Similarly, James White describes the development of the liturgy at an even earlier time of liturgical transition. White notes that the rapid expansion of Christianity in the fourth-century Roman Empire brought change to liturgical practice as a matter of necessity. The move to larger spaces for Christian assembly came with a need to adapt practices for the gathering of worshipers. Thus, White describes the expansion of the opening of the rite as providing traveling music to allow the procession of clergy to move to the front of the assembly and take their places in the liturgical assembly. Once gathered in this manner, the collect brings this opening act to a conclusion.5

Regan helpfully describes the collect’s summative nature in both the High Mass and the Low Mass as that which brings the entrance rite to full fruition. The collect offers the first occasion for the presider’s voice to be heard by the assembly and the completion of the opening movement in the service leads to a change in the assembly’s posture, who are seated following the “Amen.”6 This descriptive analysis leads Regan to conclude that “the collect shines forth in all its pristine splendor as both the culmination and conclusion of the entrance procession.”7

Reformation Transformations

I have underscored this analysis of the role and place of the collect in its historical development in order to contrast it with the liturgical development of the sixteenth century Protestant Reformation. In Germany, Martin Luther’s approach to liturgical reform has been characterized as conservative and evangelical.8 Luther describes the place of the collect at ...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Foreword
• Preface
• Part One: Liturgical Lessons from the Past
• Part Two: Present Experiences
• Part Three: The Earth as Guide for Our Future
• Postscript
• Bibliography