October 2014 Ordained Servant

From the Editor. It seems like all of the magisterial reformers are turning 500. They’d be pleased to know they’ve lived this long. So the fiery, pulpit-splitting Scot is still sounding his trumpet. But one very clear note in his repertoire seems to be missing from our modern commemorations, his theology and practice of corporate worship. In my own journey with Reformed theology, worship and liturgy were my last discoveries—and that was fortuitous, because the pastor under whom I did an internship in seminary was a church historian, and we used an historic Reformed liturgy in worship. So I offer some thoughts on this important topic in “John Knox and the Reformation of Worship.”

On a narrower aspect of our liturgical heritage, Jeffrey Wilson tackles a neglected element of worship, “The Sursum Corda,” in a three-part article. While the topic may seem too limited for a three part article, it provides an example of the value of careful church historical study for the practice of worship. I also think the topic itself is of value.

It is always useful to rethink what we do by habit. This exercise both reinforces the value of what we do and sometimes helps us make a good thing better. Ryan McGraw offers some helpful thoughts on “How to Pray at Prayer Meetings.”

In the review department, don’t miss Dennis Johnson’s review of the final volume (7) of Hughes Old, The Reading and Preaching of the Scriptures, and David Booth’s review of Jerram Barrs, Delighting in the Law of the Lord.

John Donne reminds us of the grace by which we have been called to worship in “Holy Sonnet XV.”

Finally, after a long window nap Eutychus is back, addressing an important question, “Do Presbyterians Lack Joy?” “And a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer. And being overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead” Acts 20:9. I always have to remind myself that his joy came only after falling out of a window.

Blessings in the Lamb,
Gregory Edward Reynolds

FROM THE ARCHIVES “WORSHIP: LITURGY”

Subject Index

• “A Comparison of Some Historic Reformed Liturgies.” (Larry Wilson) 3:3 (Jul. 1994): 71.
• “An Examination of the Liturgy of the Westminster Assembly.” (R. Dean Anderson, Jr.) 3:2 (Apr. 1994): 27–34.
• “Re-Forming Presbyterian Worship.” (D. G. Hart & John R. Muether) 9:4 (Oct. 2000): 84–85.
• “What is a Worship Service?” (Larry Wilson) 10:3 (Jul. 2001): 53–54.

Ordained Servant exists to help encourage, inform, and equip church officers for faithful, effective, and God-glorifying ministry in the visible church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Its primary audience is ministers, elders, and deacons of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, as well as interested officers from other Presbyterian and Reformed churches. Through high-quality editorials, articles, and book reviews we endeavor to stimulate clear thinking and the consistent practice of historic, confessional Presbyterianism.