The practice of the first 600 years of the church and for the 200 years of Reformation is more ancient than the 18th and 19th-century revisions that his approach seeks to preserve. To the “contemporary worship” folk I say: Perhaps historic worship would interest you more if you saw how truly radical it is?

Jonathan Aigner has published an interesting piece at the Aquila Report sympathizing with those who lament the loss of what he describes as “traditional worship” and offering a way forward. He is exactly right that this is a deeply emotional issue about which it is difficult for both sides to hear criticisms. Aigner is right when he says, “It’s not enough to say ‘we like it.’ That doesn’t matter. The worst thing that ‘contemporary worship’ did was come on the scene, label itself as a viable choice, and then get away with labeling the liturgy as a choice…”. He’s right when he says, “The bottom line is this. We don’t keep tradition because it’s tradition, or because it’s old, or because it’s comfortable.” He’s right to remind us of the right reasons for keeping tradition and he’s right to encourage defenders of “traditional worship” to be reasonable, not to be sentimental or nostalgic, to be eschatological in their outlook, not to be elitists, to be intentionally theological, and to be open to new “material, language, and influence.”

Yet there are some considerations that both proponents of both “traditional” and “contemporary” worship should consider that Aigner does not mention. There is a third way that shares some of the concerns of both the advocates of “contemporary” and “traditional” worship.

It’s not certain from what tradition he writes so I won’t make any assumptions in that regard.¹ In the Reformed and Presbyterian confessions, however, we begin with a conviction that is not expressed explicitly in the article. In the Westminster Confession (21.6) we say:

the acceptable way of worshiping the true God is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshiped according to the imaginations and devices of men, or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representation, or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scripture.

This the very same doctrine confessed by the European Reformed Churches in Heidelberg Catechism 96, “[t]hat we in no wise make any image of God, nor worship Him in any other way than He has commanded us in His Word.”

In public worship, according to the Reformed and Presbyterian understanding of Scripture, a session or consistory may only require a congregation to do those things that God himself has required in his Word (sola Scriptura). This was our answer to the Roman Churches and even to those Protestant churches that permitted or required practices in public worship that God has not commanded. Where Rome and some Protestants asked, “Is it forbidden?” we asked, “Is it commanded?” These are distinct questions that produce different answers, as we shall see below.

The Reformed confession distinguishes between the elements of worship and its circumstances. In WCF 21.1 we say that the “light of nature” reveals certain things, that God is, that he sovereign over all, that he is generally benevolent, and that he is “therefore to be feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in, and served, with all the heart, and with all the soul, and with all the might.” We know this from nature. We also know from nature that “in general, a due proportion of time be set apart for the worship of God…” (WCF 21.7). These things that are known from nature are called circumstances. God’s Word does not stipulate the hour of worship. It does not stipulate in which language a service is conducted nor the place of worship. These things are deduced by reason and experience. Is most of the congregation Francophone? Then the language is French. Is the congregation set in a rural area where farmers have to tend to livestock before services? Then 11:00 AM is reasonable. We call what the congregation does in the worship service, however, elements and there are essentially two of them: Word and prayer. In his Word God speaks to us, in the call to worship, in the reading of the law and the gospel, in the Scripture text, in the sermon, in the sacraments, and in the benediction. These are all expressions of God’s Word to us. We respond with God’s Word in prayer whether said or in song. This call and response structure to worship is basic to the Reformed understanding of public worship.

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