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Chapter Nine - Worship on the Way: The Dialectic of United Church Worship
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185 Chapter Nine Worship on the Way: The Dialectic of United Church Worship William S. Kervin Introduction: The Challenge of Diversity The diversity of worship in The United Church of Canada presents significant methodological challenges for scholarly study. How does one study the history and theology of worship in a tradition where there is no fixed liturgy? It is like trying to describe something in motion. Fortunately, a few substantial efforts exploring this matter exist. The fact that they speak of “theologies ,” “practices,” “perspectives,” “patterns,” and “language” is testimony to complexity of the task.1 The purpose of this chapter is not to cover terrain already studied in other works, but to suggest a hermeneutic by which to organize, examine, and critique the history of United Church worship. Nevertheless, it takes a primarily historical approach. At the very least, this is to assert that United Church worship has a history– –one rooted in at least three founding liturgical traditions––giving rise to five generations of worship resources that have helped shape its liturgical identity. The history, character, and content of United Church worship can be seen as an ongoing dialectic, a dynamic process in which text and context interact with people and practices to produce a complex liturgical tradition. Textually, its liturgical resources have functioned both as a response to, and a source of, developing practices. Contextually , United Church worship can be seen as both a reflection of, and a window on, the theological and social spirit of each era––from the union pragmatism of 1925 to the pluralistic sensibilities of the turn of the millennium . This dialectic is summed up in the term “ordered liberty” and is manifested on many levels.2 186 W I L L I A M S . K E R V I N To explore this dynamic, we begin with a brief historical sketch to orient the reader to the larger story. The intention here is to name the existence of a unique denominational liturgical history, one around which scholarship has begun to gather and which invites continued research, reflection, and critique.In order to facilitate more detailed examination,select vignettes from United Church history will serve to focus attention on particular aspects of its worship. These have been chosen for their potential to uncover significant clues to the United Church’s liturgical origins and identity as well as particular insights into the content and process of its worship. Finally, the larger goal is to discern future directions by considering the complexities of the past.3 United Church Worship: An Historical Sketch The history of worship in the United Church to date can be organized around five “generations” of liturgical resources.4 However, as Harding and Harding have noted of a similar approach to United Church liturgical history : “The worship life of a church cannot, of course, be described in terms of its formal liturgical expressions alone. These...worship resources, however , arise from and have deeply affected the United Church worship journey ; they are symbols of what that journey has been about.”5 1. Liturgical Origins Sunday worship in the founding traditions consisted primarily of preaching services with, at most, quarterly communion. The first service book in the United Church, Forms of Service (1926), was a compilation of orders of service drawn from the uniting denominations, reflecting the ecumenical pragmatism of the times, the polity of the Basis of Union, and the liturgical roots in John Knox’s “forms of prayer.” 2. Coming of Age through Common Order The United Church came of age in the post–Second World War era with The Hymnary (1930) and The Book of Common Order (1932) finally gaining acceptance and giving shape and articulation to the meaning of “ordered liberty” and “common order” in worship. The focus shifted from denominational particularity to greater catholicity, supported by established resources like Statement of Faith (1940) and Catechism (1942). The legacy of The Hymnary was its gospel and children ’s hymns, responsive psalms, and select pieces of service music. The “First Directory of Public Worship” in The Book of Common Order, a hybrid of Anglican Morning Prayer and the Presbyterian Westminster Directory with the sermon as the climax, became the normative order of service across the nation. The cadences of the “Treasury of Prayers,” drawn from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer shaped the language of prayer in the United Church. However, seemingly unprecedented growth began to reveal signs of a clash of cultures in both worship and theology. [3.238.254...