Some Old Universalist Thoughts on Worship

On the suggestion of Sue Mosher, I recently checked out services included in a 1909 Universalist worship services book. And then, wanting to see what an earlier generation had used I found the earliest edition of the book on Google Books. The services themselves were interesting for someone like me who is interested in more formal liturgy than most contemporary UU congregations are comfortable with. But more important was a brief discussion of the context into which the worship book, new in 1866, came and the issues it sought to address. It seems that concerns very related to those of today were part of what motivated liturgical reform then.

Here, from: Gloria Patri - Prayers, Chants, and Responses for Public Worship (Boston: R.S. Ballou, Agent, 37 Cornhill, 1866):

PREFACE.
__________

Much has been written and said against the forms of worship adopted by different religious sects; yet, as all sects have some form, we may safely conclude that the only important question which we need to consider, touching this matter, must relate to a choice of forms.

When John Knox discarded the ritual of the English church, saying, of certain prescribed ceremonies, "I canna use them wi' my conscience, an I would; and would na for their silliness, an I could," he still had a form, which others, with their conscience, could not approve.

He was doubtless right in part, for at that time the Book of Common Prayer had been, as Coverdale said, "Reformed Pope-wise," and worship in the English Church was little else than a form.

But the English Puritans, and after them the American Puritans, went too far in an opposite direction; not by being too spiritual, but by making their service too exclusive, bald, and unattractive.

The zeal of converts to a new faith, and the religious fervor which opposition and persecution awakened, kept the reformers from a realization of tis fact, and the people were willing to leave the acts of worship with their preachers, so long as such men as Hooper, Knox, Penry, and Lever, or Robinson and Brewster, or Whitefield and the Wesleys, filled the pulpit. But as the years have rolled on, and almost the whole service has been left for the minister to perform, all indeed, save only the singing, and that, in most cases, done by a quartet hired for that purpose, the people, in many instances, have come to feel that they are spectators, not worshipers, in church; and too frequently they go to hear, and return home to criticize the sermon, prayers, and singing, as they would a secular entertainment which they were pleased to patronize, and which, in their opinion, should be made to fit their tastes. In this fact, the cause now of unjust demands upon the pulpit, and of the restless and dissatisfied condition of many societies. we see the evil of that form of worship in which the people have nothing to do.

Many of our congregations already recognize the fact herein asserted, and are prepared to welcome some change which shall help them to become active participants in the services of the Lord's house. It is evident that the change desired must be in the direction of a liturgical service; and as no work has been published containing prayers, responses, and music, which the people seem disposed to adopt, this book of worship has been prepared in the hope that it will meet a want widely felt, and aid in making our public services more attractive, and helpful.

The forms herein proposed are, it is believed, sufficiently simple and so arranged that any one can understand and follow them without difficulty.

This book will afford to those congregations that may use it the advantage of the highest order of sacred music, containing, as it does, many of the best chants ever written, in connection with the psalms and hymns, selected with great care.

The compiler would gratefully acknowledge his indebtedness to those authors and publishers who have kindly allowed some of their choicest gems of music to reappear in this work. To T.P.I. Magoun, Esq., thanks are due for special favors.

A few chants have been appropriated, the authors of which were not known to the compiler of the music in this work, and if they are from the pen of any living writer, and the fact shall be made known, the omission will be corrected in future editions.

The suggestions of several clergymen and prominent musicians have helped to improve this work, and it is now sent forth with the sincere prayer, that it may be an efficient auxiliary in the devotions of those who shall seek to "worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness."

Surprise! The so-called worship wars are not new to the late 20th and early 21st centuries. I find the above preface to a Universalist book of worship from 1866 quite interesting for its concerns paralleling some of today's concerns. This book criticizes:

• Worship that is austere and exclusive in presentation and demeanor;
• Worship as performance by professional clergy and paid musicians;
• Congregants demanding that worship be designed to please them rather than to lift them into the presence of the divine, to translate into contemporary language; and
• Congregants picking apart every element of a service as its critics rather that using the worship service to draw near to the divine.

Interestingly, this critique calls for a lessening of the clergy's position within worship through the creation of a more formal liturgy aimed at bringing the congregation more actively into the worship. The services in this book reintroduce chants that had fallen from favor, use a choir, when available, include a sermon in every order of service, but include responsive parts spoken by the congregation, unison readings and hymns. It outlines worship that fits fully within the Protestant, non-sacramental, low-liturgical tradition of worship, while raising it up a bit, reaching back to some older forms that brought the people into the liturgy - which etymologically refers to the work of the people, not the work of the clergy.

Today's setting is different, the problems we need to overcome have unique characteristics, and people may be turned off or turned on by culturally different things. But yet some of the same issues swirl around the debate:

• How can we get the people involved - interested and participating rather than consuming and criticizing?
• How can we create worship that lifts the people up to touch what we share as holy, the divine?
• How can worship be structured and executed to be an expression of the congregation's experience of grace?
• How can we make worship again into the work of the people rather than something to titilate and please the consumer?
• How can we make worship something that is truly countercultural, refusing the paradigms of consumerist, professional society and moving it into the experiential, living Word of Life to be shared and through which society can be cleansed and renewed and the needs of the world met?

These are issues that could not be ignored in 1866. Nor can they be ignored today if we care to thrive as a worshiping community. It passes through matters of style but is so much bigger than that.