Reformed Presbyterian Minutes of Synod 1995 - Rparchives.org

166 MINUTES OF THE SYNOD OF THETHE DIRECTORY FORTHE PUBLIC WORSHIP OF GOD:Proposed as a Replacement for theReformed Presbyterian Directory of 1945Gordon J. Keddie(State College, PA)INTRODUCTIONThe following draft arose from the conviction that replacement of1945 Directory, rather than revision, would better serve the need of theReformed Presbyterian Church. The Synod's Committee worked hardtoward the former goal, and made some real advances. They could not, inmy opinion, quite escape the limitations of an original document that wasmore a manual of piecemeal helpful hints for worship, and a lot of otherthings beside, than a focussed offering of spiritual counsel for the publicworship of God.It seemed to me that a possible answer to this problem lay in the directionof a new Directory for the Public Worship of God in the tradition ofWestminster and presenting the most basic general outlines for the form andcontent of public worship, while affirming the positive principles of the RPChurch clearly, yet allowing the widest flexibility for implementation in thecongregations.There is nothing original in this draft. It leans very heavily on the work ofthe Synod Committee and incorporates as much of their material, and that ofthe 1945 Directory, as seems appropriate to the concept I have just outlined.Material has also been drawn from the 1645 Directory prepared by theWestminster Assembly, the contemporary OPC Directory of Worship, andthe Reformed Book of Common Order produced by the National ChurchAssociation of the Church of Scotland in 1977, itself somewhat of a modernversion of the 1562 Book of Common Order from John Knox's day.The resultant draft is presented herewith. You will notice certain fairlydramatic differences from our 1945 Directory, some of these directly fromSynod's Committee, and others entirely my fault. The Committee removedthe "sacramental acts" language from the form of the Lord's Supper, and alsoexcised sections on Women's Missionary Societies, Sabbath Schools and theVisitation of the Sick, thereby achieving a much crisper focus on matters todo with worship.I have, if anything, intensified the Committee's emphasis by insertingmaterials on public prayer and preaching, as well as much fuller models forthe sacraments, marriage ceremonies and funerals. These will hopefullysupply helpful templates upon which young pastors especially can build, asthey address the precise needs of their own ministries. I have modified theCovenant of Baptism, by reducing it to a manageable two queries from theformer seven. I have also removed the section on Covenanting that formerlyappeared in the chapter on Special Ordinances, partly because all services