Congregational Churches

Congregational Church worship, while based on sixteenth-century traditions and influenced by a late nineteenth-century pattern, remains at the discretion of each congregation. The twentieth century has introduced new elements of worship. Nevertheless, there is a broad similarity of worship patterns from church to church.

Basic Forms. Freedom from imposed forms of worship and "man-made ceremonies" was the goal of sixteenth-century Congregational leaders like John Greenwood, Henry Barrow, and John Penry. But this freedom did not mean chaos. William Ames spoke for all when he wrote in his Marrow of Theology (1620): "Public worship, which is to be celebrated most solemnly, necessarily requires Scripture reading, meditation, prayer, holy discourse, and contemplation of the works of God wherein … worship may become truly effective in us." Ames's book was required reading for ministerial students in North America for more than a century. The worship he described first appeared in print in John à Lasco's 1555 order for the worship of the church he served in London under royal charter. When the first International Congregational Council assembled in London in 1891, the order of worship was invocation, hymn, Scripture reading, prayer, hymn, sermon, hymn, benediction. This order has remained a basic pattern for twentieth-century Congregational churches. At the same time, the twentieth century has brought change in Congregational worship through the advent of radio and television broadcasting, centralization/ecumenism, developments in church architecture, and the reentry of drama and dance into worship. Broadcasting. Charles E. Fuller's "Old Fashioned Revival Hour" was the most widely heard radiocast of its kind from 1930 to 1950. The format consisted of song, Scripture, response-letter reading, sermon, and prayer. (Fuller had pastored Baptist churches, but later became associated with Lake Avenue Congregational Church in Pasadena, California.) Television brought more fundamental changes. Churches that telecast their services had to reconfigure their chancel area for visual effect. An early example is the Oneonta Congregational Church of South Pasadena, California, which in 1950 dedicated a house of worship with an enlarged chancel with space for a sizable choir. Churches elsewhere made similar adjustments for television ministry. The order of service was also affected by the time constraints of broadcasting, especially with regard to extemporaneous prayer and sermon length. Centralization/Ecumenism. The centralization of Congregational Church agencies for mission, publications, education, and other work that occurred in the United States in the period 1936-1957 also affected the worship of the churches. In 1938 the General Council of the Congregational Christian Churches installed a Minister of the General Council. Few realized the scope and implications of this assumption of ecclesiastical authority that had hitherto been centered solely in each local church. A decade later, in 1948, the Minister of the General Council would take part with ecclesiastical dignitaries the world over in the establishment of the World Council of Churches. As a result of this ecumenical exposure, a steady stream of experimental worship materials flowed from denominational sources into local churches, youth conferences, and the like, leading to a greater diversity of worship within Congregationalism. Church Architecture. In the twentieth century, the classic, sometimes stark "meeting house" style of Congregational Church architecture has given way to new forms. Economic factors, plus the strength and flexibility of modern building materials, have led Congregational churches in North America to create buildings adaptable to multiple use. As a result, the fixed pews of older churches have been replaced by flexible seating arrangements, with implications for worship style. Similar developments have occurred in Great Britain, where Congregational churches erected since World War II have enlarged space around the pulpit and Communion Table and a more intimate size (150–200 people). Worship in these new structures has returned to the "family gathering" of early Congregational structures in Britain and New England. The new prominence of the Communion Table in some churches signifies the renewed emphasis on the service of the Lord's Table. Reentry of Drama and Dance. Around 1950, English Congregationalists began to publish a series of booklets on worship renewal, including material on Christian drama. When the International Congregational Council met in Hartford in 1958, both drama and choreography were used in worship. The role of these worship arts varies from congregation to congregation, with some churches having an outstanding ministry in this area. Plymouth Congregational Church of suburban Minneapolis, for example, erected a fine arts center in 1968 with a well-equipped two-hundred-seat theater; the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles has created a series of Sunday afternoon dramas enlisting Hollywood talent. Dance in Congregational worship was pioneered by Margaret Palmer Fiske in Hanover, New Hampshire, in the 1940s, and on the west coast by Helen L. Gray in 1948 at South Pasadena, California. In 1958 the Sacred Dance Guild was founded in Boston by a group of ministers' wives and education directors; by 1991 the Guild enrolled 770. Distinctive of the dance is the development of multigenerational dance choirs including adults, teenagers, and children. Worship dance in Congregationalism has not been limited to formal liturgy; periodic regional workshops held by Guild chapters span liturgical, educational, and evangelistic applications of the movement arts. In some instances, one finds clapping or lifting of the hands in Congregational churches. Sunday Worship. Each Congregational church is free to allow its own style and order of worship, and each minister is free to direct worship according to his or her own insights, subject to review by the congregation. It is striking, however, that despite this freedom there is an underlying unity and similarity of worship across Congregationalism. In the Congregationalist view, there is no authoritative liturgy, since the New Testament does not specify any order of service. The alternative to such a traditional liturgy is worship with simplicity, attention to Christian experience, and dignity, with all done "in a fitting and orderly way" (1 Cor. 14:40). Within these guidelines there is wide scope for creativity in Congregational Christian worship. The following are the orders of service from a smaller congregation, Mayflower Congregational Church of Laguna Hills, California, and from the larger (more than one thousand members) Oneonta Congregational Church of South Pasadena, in November 1991: Mayflower Congregational Church Oneonta Congregational Church Organ Prelude Organ Prelude Choral Introit Choral Introit and Call to Worship Pastor's Welcome and Announcements Processional Hymn Hymn Invocation and Lord's Prayer Invocation Gloria Patri Responsive Reading Church Concerns Duet Scripture Reading Call to Prayer Call to Prayer Morning Prayer with Choral Response Lord's Prayer Offertory Tithes and Offerings, with Offertory Prayer Doxology and Prayer of Dedication Offertory (Solo) Hymn Doxology Scripture Lesson Informal Greeting Sermon Sermon Prayer of Ascription Hymn Hymn Benediction with Choral Response Benediction and Choral Response Organ Postlude Organ Postlude