Order of Public Worship Methodist Episcopal Church Let all services begin exactly at the time appointed, and let the people kneel in silent prayer on entering the sanctuary. I. [Voluntary, instrumental or vocal.]1 II. Singing from the Methodist Hymnal, the People standing. III. [The Apostles' Creed, recited by all, standing. I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth: And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; the third day he rose from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic1 Church, the communion of saints; the forgivenes of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.] IV. Prayer, concluding with the Lord's Prayer, repeated audibly by all, both Minister and People kneeling. V. [Anthem, or Voluntary.] VI. Lesson from the Old Testament, which may be read responsively, the People standing. VII. [The Gloria Patri: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.] 1 Parts inclosed in brackets may be used or omitted. 2 The one universal Church of Christ. VIII. Lesson from the New Testament. IX. Notices, followed by Collection; during or after which an Offertory may be rendered. X. Singing from the Methodist Hymnal, the People standing. XI. The Sermon. XII. Prayer, the People kneeling. XIII. Singing from the Methodist Hymnal, the People standing. XIV. Doxology and the Apostolic Benediction. (2 Cor. 13. 14.) § 2. At the service during which the Sacraments are administered any of the items of the preceding order may be omitted except singing, prayer, and the apostolic benediction. §3. Let the people be earnestly exhorted to take part in the public worship of God; first, by singing; second, by prayer, in the scriptural attitude of kneeling, and by the repetition of the Lord's Prayer. The Order of Worship-Wesley Sunday Service EDITION OF 1784 1. Scripture Sentence. 2. Invitation to Prayer: "Dearly beloved brethren,”— 3. General Confession. All kneeling. 4. Prayer for Absolution. 5. The Lord's Prayer, and Versicles: "O Lord, open thou," etc. 6. Gloria Patri, and Alleluia: "Praise ye," etc. 7. The Psalm for the Day, and the Gloria Patri. 8. The First Lesson. Old Testament. 9. Morning, Te Deum. Evening, Psalm 98, Gloria Patri. 10. The Second Lesson. New Testament. II. Morning, The Hundredth Psalm, and the Gloria Patri. Evening, Psalm 67, Gloria Patri. 12. The Apostles' Creed. Standing. 13. The Salutation: "The Lord be with you," etc.; and Suffrages: "Lord, have mercy," etc. 14. Three Collects: Of the Day; For Peace; and For Grace to Live Well, or For Aid against all Perils. 15. Prayers for Supreme Rulers and for All Conditions of Men. 16. A General Thanksgiving. 17. Prayer of St. Chrysostom. 18. Benediction: "The Grace of our Lord." 2 Cor. 13. 14. THE WESLEY SUNDAY SERVICE ORIGINAL PREFACE I BELIEVE there is no LITURGY in the World, either in ancient or modern language, which breathes more of a solid, Scriptural, rational Piety than the COMMON PRAYER of the CHURCH OF ENGLAND. And though the main of it was compiled considerably more than two hundred years ago, yet is the language of it not only pure, but strong and elegant in the highest degree. Little alteration is made in the following edition of it (which I recommend to our SOCIETIES in AMERICA), except in the following instances: 1. Most of the holy days (so called) are omitted, as at present answering no valuable end. 2. The Service of the LORD'S DAY, the length of which has been often complained of, is considerably shortened. 3. Some sentences in the offices of Baptism, and for the Burial of the Dead, are omitted; and, 4. Many Psalms left out, and many parts of the others, as being highly improper for the mouths of a Christian Congregation. JOHN WESLEY. Bristol, Sept. 9, 1784. |