In January this year there was a consultation on the "History and renewal of worship in Reformed churches" in the John Knox International Reformed Centre, Geneva, as a follow-up to an earlier consultation organized by the centre in 1994.

John Knox international Reformed centre

Twenty-five participants from fifteen countries reflected on a wide range of topics, from Calvin's reform of worship to Korean Presbyterian worship in the twentieth century, from the use of visual art to the role of women in worship, and from sacramental practice to the social dimension of worship.

One of the aims of the consultation was to produce a book on the history, renewal and present challenges of Reformed worship. The essays written for the consultation will be revised by their authors over the next few months and the completed volume is expected to appear soon.

"It was a very good group of thoughtful members of WARC churches from different parts of the world, all willing to work on the papers and topics with real seriousness. The individual presentations and common reflections fitted together remarkably well. It was disappointing that some of those invited, eg, Dr Muita from East Africa, and Dr Sirsorntorn from Thailand, could not attend. The worship and fellowship were enriching, and the times of meeting together in small groups for specific discussions were very helpful. It was a busy, full week."
Elsie McKee (USA)

Here Alan Falconer offers a Reformed response to the consultation, while below Païvi Jussila writes from the perspective of our Lutheran sister organization.

A distinctive ethos

It was a very good colloquium, which presented a comprehensive portrait of worship in the Reformed churches as they sought and seek to develop forms of worship that are both faithful to God's revelation in Christ and relevant to today's contexts.

The historical papers were fascinating. It was noticeable that the consultation tended towards the reaffirmation of approaches and perspectives evident in Calvin rather than in other Reformers of the tradition.

Through the presentations a bewildering diversity in regard to forms, content, styles of worship, and the different geographical and cultural contexts in which Reformed communities seek to give glory to God emerged. Despite this, it was also evident that there is a distinctive ethos evident as Reformed churches approach Christian worship.

Papers on contemporary issues facing Reformed Churches were stimulating and offered fresh insights that could enhance the experience of worship for many.

Alan Falconer, Faith and Order secretariat

"What I liked most is that I could learn a lot about worship in different countries and was able to confront the practice of worshipping nowadays with Calvin's ideas of worship. I found that we Christians in Indonesia have the same problems as other churches in Africa, Asia and South America. We are struggling to have authentic Christian worship which is at the same time truly Indonesian, Korean or Ghanaian - because the way we worship now still mirrors more or less the worship of the western missionaries. We have to contextualize our worship, so that Christians in Indonesia can worship without being uprooted from our own cultures and our own peoples. It would be good to hold another conference on contextualization in its broadest sense - including worship in connection with social justice issues and interreligious relationships and seeking to find new meanings on the 'old' rites of worship."
Ester Pudjo Widiasih (Indonesia)

What makes Reformed worship Reformed?

Many changes have taken place lately in the worship life of Reformed churches, due to social factors, biblical studies, the liturgical movement and ecumenical dialogue. House prayer is much less frequent than it used to be; the classical Reformed principle "we worship anywhere and anytime" is not true anymore; and there are signs of a new appreciation of symbols and imagination.

Reformed worship traditions tend to be multivocal; a plurality of voices was already heard in the 16th century. What is it then that makes Reformed worship Reformed? Is it the versatile use of the Old Testament or the congregational singing of metrical psalms? Is it a certain obsession with words? Or perhaps the tendency to go in many different directions itself?

In the consultation, Reformed worship traditions were recognized as living traditions which have developed in relation to other traditions. There seems to be no normative period in history from which the nature of Christian worship in Reformed churches could be identified normatively for all times and places. The primary concern was thus not so much to find out what counts as Reformed worship in some exclusive sense, but to cherish and nurture worship that is truly Christian.

The consultation gave shape to longings which exist in many Reformed churches: the longing of Pacific people to worship as islanders, the longing of Australians to envision worship reflecting their landscape, the longing of Germans to adore God without wordiness, and the longing of the Congolese to hear the sound of their traditional flute in worship. There is a growing dissatisfaction with the lack of local cultural expressions in Reformed worship. The gamelan, a traditional instrument used to accompany Javanese dance, is still not considered to be worthy of a place in church; many African tongues still try to get round the English of King James, and coconut palms compete with Gothic spires under the African sun. This has resulted in reflection on, and search for, Christian worship that is at once faithful to the word of God and adapted to different cultures. In Reformed churches, indeed in all Christian churches, contextualization is currently one of the biggest challenges.

The consultation also witnessed to word and sacrament as the heart of the church's life. It was acknowledged that Reformed churches have tended to be one-sided in this regard. By neglecting sacraments, they are always in danger of degenerating from churches of the word into churches of mere words. "It may be that our history of schisms, always growing from disputes about words, fought with words," Joseph D Small of the Presbyterian Church (USA) suggests, "is a result of our deficiency as a church, our failure to be a church of the word and sacrament." Support was given to the movement towards a Reformed recovery of the fullness of word and sacrament. For this purpose the retrieval of a vibrant sacramental theology and practice are needed. One of the concrete signs of this renewal movement is the more frequent celebration of the eucharist within Reformed churches.

Païvi Jussila, Lutheran World Federation

"The consultation was extremely stimulating, both the papers and the discussions. There were more insights gained and issues raised than we could possibly cover in a week. I will continue to digest what I learned for months to come. And I look forward to using the ensuing book with students in my worship course."
Marsha Wilfong (USA)