At Covenant we have a high view of worship, one that enters into the good news of free access to the Father, through the Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit. We affirm that when the Lord's people gather together, particularly on the Lord's Day, the first day of the week, Christ is especially present with His people by His Spirit. He calls us by His written Word into His presence, wipes away our sins, restores to us the joy of His salvation, speaks to us through the reading and preaching of His written Word, feeds us at His Table, and sends us out with His commission to take the Kingdom into the world. We respond by confessing our sins, praising him for our salvation, listening attentively to the King's Word, offering our tithes and gifts, feasting at His Table with joy, and departing with renewed determination to be the faithful people of God in the world: a kingdom of priests doing the work of a holy priesthood.

Since we hold to the real presence of Christ during worship, the aroma of our service, the order of worship (or liturgy), and the high level of congregational participation is probably unlike what most other Christians experience in contemporary evangelical churches. How so?

Resources for Understanding Reformed Liturgy

There is certainly a great deal more that could be said regarding the shape and content of biblical worship, as it is practiced in our congregation, and historically within the churches of the Reformation. For those who wish to read and learn more, we suggest the following books and/or articles:

1. The Lord's Service: The Grace of Covenant Renewal Worship by Rev. Jeff Meyers. Rev. Meyers is the senior pastor at Providence Reformed Presbyterian Church in St. Louis. This is the most extensive treatment of what has become known as covenant renewal worship and can be ordered from Amazon as well as directly from the publisher, Canon Press. Meyer's project is to unpack the biblical data, both Old and New Testaments, concerning not only the "elements" of worship, but also the order of these elements in biblical worship--and how they stack up against both contemporary evangelical and historical Protestant liturgies. Meyer's book is by his own admission indebted to the prior literary and exegetical work of James B. Jordan (noted below).

2. O Come, Let Us Worship: Corporate Worship in the Evangelical Church by Robert G. Rayburn (Baker Book House/ reprinted Westminster Publishing House). The late Dr. Rayburn was for many years a pastor and then a professor of "practical theology" at Covenant Theological Seminary (PCA) in St. Louis, Missouri. His work provided several generations of Covenant students with a textbook (sometimes read), and even today is a valuable treatment of issues beyond the neo-Puritan preoccupation with the elements of worship and strict regulativism.

3. Theses On Worship: Notes Toward the Reformation of Worship by James B. Jordan (2nd Ed., 1998; Biblical Horizons, PO Box 1096, Niceville, FL 32588). Reading Jordan's work can get you into trouble in some presbyteries, but the benefits are well worth the risk with this little gem. If you are looking for a brief, news-letter-ish, discussion of the purpose of worship and the ordering of the biblical elements of worship, this is the book for you. It was the springboard for Meyer's work (above), and is a refreshing antidote to the typical post-Puritan rehashes of strict regulativism. Theses on Worship forms something of a trilogy, together with Jordan's other self-published works The Liturgy Trap and Liturgical Nestorianism and the Regulative Principle.

4. Leading in Worship edited by Terry L. Johnson (1996, The Covenant Foundation; Oak Ridge, TN). Terry Johnson, a PCA teaching elder who pastors Independent Presbyterian Church in Savannah, Georgia, compiled this work which is more a manual or sourcebook for Reformational orders of worship, rather than a theoretical defense of one particular view. Johnson's work presents several orders of service based upon biblical norms and then also presents sample liturgies from the Reformation era Scottish, Anglican, Genevan, and Puritan churches. It's an invaluable resource for those charged with leading God's people in corporate worship.

5. Recommended articles:

a. "Trinitarian Worship and Confession" explains the relationship between what we confess to believe about God and how we worship him. This is a transcript of a lecture given by Rev. Meyers at the Connecticut Valley Conference on Reformed Theology (CVCRT) in March, 1997. It was subsequently published as "Trinitarian Worship and Confession" in Christendom Essays: Biblical Horizons, No. 100, edited by James B. Jordan (Niceville, FL: Biblical Horizons, 1997), pp. 11-28.

b. "Why Some Presbyterians Don't Like Liturgy"  For several years prior to each PCA General Assembly, Rev. Meyers sponsored a series of lectures on worship involving himself and a number of other well known speakers from within the reformed world. The lectures from these conferences are available from Biblical Horizons, PO Box 1096, Niceville, FL 32588 or you can write to James B. Jordan for information on ordering. This is his first lecture from the first conference: Its goal is to help you understand why some American Presbyterians have been afraid of liturgy. In Pastor Meyer's words, "We are often much too "spiritual" for our own good. We forget that God has promised to work through very 'physical means' to save and sanctify us."

c. "Posture for Prayer" Although CRPC does not own its own building yet; when we do, it is our intention to install kneelers in our sanctuary so that the church might be faithful to the full range of bodily postures commanded in Scripture (kneeling, standing, sitting, etc.). If this seems odd to you, even Roman Catholic, you should read Pastor Rob S. Rayburn's excellent sermon on the proper posture for prayer.

The Shape of the Liturgy at Covenant

So what does Sunday morning worship at Covenant look like? Below you will find links to five sample bulletins. They differ in the text of the Confession of Sin, Declaration of Absolution, Confession of Faith, and the form for Intercessory Prayer. These changes vary according to which Sunday of the month it is.  You will also find that the Scripture reading changes according to the subject addressed in the sermon. Typically our pastor preaches through an entire book of the Bible and so our Scripture readings reflect this, and the fact that we are whole Bible Christians, holding all of God's word to be profitable for doctrine and life (II Timothy 3:16-17) and not just the New Testament portion thereof. We also make a moderate use of the "Church Calendar" as a pedagogical tool for teaching the life and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore some aspects of our liturgy--such as our use of Collects, choice of scripture text for the Call to Worship, and certain seasonal prayers as well as sermons--will reflect a conscious emphasis upon His Lordship over all of time.

First Sunday of the Month (with 10 commandments based confession of sin) - Download
First Sunday of the Month (with 10 commandments based litany) - Download
First Sunday of the Month Insert - Download
Second Sunday of the Month - Download
Second Sunday of the Month (with baptism) - Download
Third Sunday of the Month (with Pastoral Prayer and Lord's Prayer) - Download
Fourth Sunday of the Month - Download
Fifth Sunday of the Month - Download

Last update: 13 March 2009