quote:

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Originally posted by Sober Preacher's Kid:
At our recent Worship Committee meeting, he requested that we add in more sung service responses. We are starting with a sung service refrain from the hymn book, printed at the back were the service music is (after the hymns and psalms).

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quote:

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Originally posted by Nick Tamen:
I'd say that as a general rule, sung responses of various kinds are fairly common in US Presbyterian churches. But it's always best if the response is either printed in the bulletin (assuming you use one) or that the bulletin show where in the hymnal it can be found, just as would be done with a hymn.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Pearl B4 Swine:
He has very thin eyelids.

I worked for a priest who, at various points in the liturgy, closed his eyes tight, scrunched his face up, and tilted it up to the ceiling, as if in intense concentration. Drove me NUTS.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Oblatus:
I've mainly experienced choral responses in Presbyterian churches, such as this one before the Scripture readings:

V. O Lord, open thou our eyes,
R. That we may behold wondrous things out of thy word. Amen.

Besides the difficulty of singing "thou our eyes," I often wondered about the concept of beholding things out of things. Similarly, after the readings the minister typically said, "May the Lord bless this reading of his Word to our hearts, and may his Name ever be praised," which made me wonder about the concept of blessing things to things.

I'm weird, though.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Cottontail:
By 'responses', do you mean examples like the one above, where the the minister sings one line, and the congregation sings the next in reply? Or do you mean singing certain parts of the liturgy, such as the Sanctus or the Agnus Dei?

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quote:

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So sorry - while I am increasingly High Presbyterian in my worship preferences, I maintain a love of liturgical quiet simplicity. Were I a member of your church, my heart would be sinking at this particular innovation.

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Oh dear, glass of water for Rev. Cottontail!

The refrain to which I refer is a simple sung refrain in the hymn book, "Glory to you, O Jesus Christ" before the Gospel, and "Praise to you O Jesus Christ" after the Gospel. It's there for all to read and sing.

Sorry, the horse bolted on sung Amens decades ago. Methodist tastes you know.

The entire congregation will sing this, led by the choir. The Minister is not a singer. He does play guitar, but generally refrains from doing so in worship, unless we are having a sing-a-long praise revival type service.

This will be a fixed response, just like the Doxology or the Benediction hymn we use, unchanging from week to week.

Nick Tamen's last post has the situation completely described.
 

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Posted by Fr Weber (# 13472) on :
 
Acclaiming and responding to the Gospel in the way SPK just described is a venerable and commendable liturgical practice.

Since I usually sing the Gospel, it makes sense for us to sing the congregational responses to its announcement and conclusion as well.
 

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Posted by Liturgylover (# 15711) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Cottontail:
As an example, I have just spent a year in the highest of high Presbyterian churches in Scotland. There, the choir sang a Preces, a Kyrie, a Gloria, etc.; but there were no sung responses, and the minister didn't attempt any solo singing himself. The congregation sang hymns and metrical psalms only, and spoke their responses.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Nick Tamen:
In my experience, it is all but universal that the reading of Scripture in Presbyterian congregations is preceded by a Prayer for Illumination - indeed, I know ministers who consider this prayer to be one of the (few) distinctively Reformed/Presbyterian contributions to liturgy.

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That is fascinating. I have consulted my copy of the PCUSA Book of Common Worship, and I see what you do there! Distinctively Presbyterian it may be, but I've never come across it in the Mother Kirk. Here, we usually introduce the Scripture reading with a simple The 1st lesson is written in ... or similar, often followed by a ringing, Hear the Word of God. 'Higher' churches might finish with the response: This is the Word of the Lord./Thanks be to God; 'lower' churches tend to go with Thanks be to God for this reading from His Holy Word, and to His name be the praise and the glory. Amen. Meanwhile, the Prayer for Illumination is said before the Sermon. But I like how you do it, and can see the theological rationale. I will give it some thought.

SPK – now that I have worked out what you are talking about, that doesn't sound TOO bad! And I do happily sing the Doxology (Old 100th of course) at the Offering, which sounds something similar. But I'll still have that glass of water, thanks.

But I don't think I can blame the Methodists for the Sung Amen here. It crept into our worship at the same time that it was decided at my Primary School that a spoken grace was no longer good enough, and we were made to sing “Thank you for the world so sweet” to a horrible mawkish tune. Yes, I am still bitter.

Ultimately, I guess I am of the KISS school of liturgy. There must be more Wee Free in me than I realised.
 

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Posted by Cottontail (# 12234) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Liturgylover:

quote:

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Originally posted by Cottontail:
As an example, I have just spent a year in the highest of high Presbyterian churches in Scotland. There, the choir sang a Preces, a Kyrie, a Gloria, etc.; but there were no sung responses, and the minister didn't attempt any solo singing himself. The congregation sang hymns and metrical psalms only, and spoke their responses.

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I would love to visit these very high Presbyterian churches when I am next in Scotland. Is it possible to list a few. When I visited Edinburgh I loved the liturgy at St Giles Cathedral.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Sober Preacher's Kid:
The refrain to which I refer is a simple sung refrain in the hymn book, "Glory to you, O Jesus Christ" before the Gospel, and "Praise to you O Jesus Christ" after the Gospel. It's there for all to read and sing. . . .

The entire congregation will sing this, led by the choir. The Minister is not a singer. He does play guitar, but generally refrains from doing so in worship, unless we are having a sing-a-long praise revival type service.

This will be a fixed response, just like the Doxology or the Benediction hymn we use, unchanging from week to week.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Cottontail:
That is fascinating. I have consulted my copy of the PCUSA Book of Common Worship, and I see what you do there! Distinctively Presbyterian it may be, but I've never come across it in the Mother Kirk. Here, we usually introduce the Scripture reading with a simple The 1st lesson is written in ... or similar, often followed by a ringing, Hear the Word of God. 'Higher' churches might finish with the response: This is the Word of the Lord./Thanks be to God; 'lower' churches tend to go with Thanks be to God for this reading from His Holy Word, and to His name be the praise and the glory. Amen. Meanwhile, the Prayer for Illumination is said before the Sermon. But I like how you do it, and can see the theological rationale. I will give it some thought.

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quote:

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Hi, Liturgylover. Yes, St Giles is one of the best, as it ought to be. But also in Edinburgh you could try:
- Greyfriars' Kirk
- St Cuthbert's
- Canongate Kirk (The Queen's parish church when in Scotland)
- Mayfield Salisbury Church

I am not so familiar with the churches outside Edinburgh, but your best bets are probably the Cathedrals and Abbeys. Among those you could try are:
- St Mungo's Cathedral in Glasgow
- Paisley Abbey
- Dunfermline Abbey
- Dunblane Cathedral
- St Machar's Cathedral in Aberdeen
- St Magnus' Cathedral in Orkney.

I have not visited all of the above, so I cannot vouch for them personally. Some will be very formal, while others will operate more like a parish church, and be more on the relaxed side. Also, they won't all have Communion every Sunday, and if they do, it won't necessarily be at the main service. So if that is important to you, then check their websites first.

Happy hunting! [/QB]

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quote:

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Originally posted by Liturgylover:
Thank you so much Cottontail. I gather that St Giles is one of the very few CofScotland churches that has Holy Communion every week and they do it beautifully - I loved the little hymn book which also contained most of the order of service. I was surprised by the latin Gloria and anthem when I attended, but assume that incense and Eucharistic Vestments would be a no-no for any Presbyterian church?

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quote:

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Originally posted by Custard:
Sung responses can work, but the danger is that they exclude people who are just visiting the church. Needs to be done with care.

(I'm an Anglican minister)

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quote:

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Originally posted by Custard:
Sung responses can work, but the danger is that they exclude people who are just visiting the church. Needs to be done with care.

(I'm an Anglican minister)

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I'm more concerned that they sound a bit silly.
 

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Posted by UCCLynn (# 16633) on :
 
In our Congregational United Church of Christ congregation, middle of the US geographically, we sing some responses, sometimes. I was raised with the Lutheran sung liturgy and like that, although don't want all of the pieces of that liturgy, sung or spoken.

Our congregation is small and mixed in church background. We range from ex-Catholic to ex-Southern Baptist. We have many who have come to the UCC because they are LGBT who are welcome here and nowhere else. We have some pretty politically and religiously progressive straight people who are here because they like the openmindedness that our national church body represents. Many of our LGBT folk are from pentecostal to conservative baptist background, who think we are almost too liberal but want to be in church and accepted.

Then there are many who grew up in the UCC or attended the Congregational church when we were more of a country club church decades ago. Most of those people are the ones who didn't leave when we openly welcomed GLBT (or who came back after their spouses who couldn't welcome died).

It's a pretty liturgly mixed bag. As it is the tradition to allow the pastor to do her own thing, more or less, my introducing sung responses in various places of the service have been tolerated or welcomed.

I don't place the sung responses that you have where you have them. I do have song responses after the passing of the peace or after a prayer. I have started to place them after scripture readings if they seem relevant. I have used them more to introduce refrains from international songs, praise choruses, taize refrains, etc. We have a wide range of opinions on music, styles, etc. I like most things so use service music to serve a few purposes. After the James 5 reading this Sunday, we will probably sing 1 verse of an Af-Am spiritual (standing in the need of prayer). At another point, we will sing an "allelulia" but it will be in the vein of praise music.

I know that it doesn't always work but it does most of the time. I feel that the music after a reading (like my example above) can be too cute or repulsive (depending on perspective) and may well come out. I have about 18 hours to decide. Sung Allelulias and the like have worked.

I don't think that my people would like to hear the kind of sung responses that you are talking about. I think the old protestant fear of being catholic or the like is too deep in many. Yet they sometimes have blanched at the singing of any sort of prayer of illumination prior to the readings. Too "Baptist" or "Catholic", depending on the response.

It's interesting. That is the one clear conclusion.

Lynn
 

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Posted by Cottontail (# 12234) on :
 
That sounds a lot like my experience of the Kirk, Lynn - much more so than SPK's and Nick Tamen's descriptions of their services. It seems from what they say that the PCUSA is as a whole considerably 'higher' than your average Church of Scotland service (though we have our moments!). Like you, we too have to deal with worries about being 'too Catholic' (or 'too English') whenever we try to introduce responses. I have managed to get away with a few, but a sung response would be just too much for most people.

In the light of that, could anyone describe to me the spectrum of mainstream churches in the USA and Canada? In particular, where does the UCC stand in relation to the PCUSA and other Reformed denominations? And what are the historical and cultural origins of some of the different denominations, that might explain the differences in worship styles?
 

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Posted by Sober Preacher's Kid (# 12699) on :
 
First, the USA and Canada are very, very different in church structure.

UCCLynn is a minister in the United Church of Christ, which a completely different as the United Church of Canada. The United Church of Christ is a 1957 merger of the Congregationalist Churches (the New England Puritans of Plymouth Rock fame) and the Evangelical & Reformed Churches, the Prussian united Reformed/Lutheran Church brought to the US by German immigrants.

The United Church of Christ and the United Church of Canada are cousins, the United Church of Canada has three big cousins in the US.

The US church "street" looks like this: Roman Catholic, Baptist* (various sub-varieties), Lutheran**, Presbyterian, United Methodist, TEC (you know ) and United Church of Christ.

The United Church of Christ is nearly-pure Reformed and very Congregationalist. The United Methodists are higher than their British kin, have Bishops and often would be considered Low Anglican in England. You know PCUSA. The Lutherans are split between ELCA (see Olaf here on the Ship, think MOTR Anglican in England) and the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod. ELCA's bigger.

The Baptists have several organizations, namely the Southern Baptists and the American (Northern) Baptists. The Presbyterians, Methodists and Baptists split apart due to Civil War tensions. The Methodists & Presbies put themselves back together, the Baptists haven't.

In Canada, OTOH, our churches take much more after their British parents. The "street" looks like this: Roman Catholic, United Church of Canada, Anglican, Baptist and Presbyterian.

The Methodist Church of Canada, Presbyterian Church in Canada and Congregationalist Union of Canada agreed to merge in 1925 to form the United Church of Canada. The Presbyterians had an "opt out" clause and 30% of their congregations did so; they formed the present Presbyterian Church in Canada. Debates about who is the True Kirk are a Dead Horse and I am not going there.

The Canadian Anglicans are MOTR to High, the United Church of Canada runs the gamut from High and Dry Protestant (Geneva Gowns, 20 minute sermon) to MOTR-Low Anglican (no incense but everything else) to snake-belly low Gaither Revival to United Church of Christ style "open option" liturgy and doctrine. I can find it all for you. I'm a High Protestant with liturgical tendencies.

The Canadian Presbyterians are High and Dry, not Wee Free and not crazy. I hear the Oz Presbyterians are crazy and they had the same split in 1977.

The Canadian Methodists were lower than US Methodists and more like British Methodists and thus more Presbyterian-like.

Thus the United Church of Canada as three US counterparts: the United Methodists, PCUSA and the United Church of Christ. The United Church of Canada has doctrine, we recently added new doctrine, but its often less a rule than a guideline. How much a rule and how much a guideline our doctrine should be is an open and active debate in the United Church of Canada.

The US had much more German and Scandinavian immigration than Canada did and that's why the Lutherans and Anglicans/TEC mirror each other in ratios across the border. The Anglicans are same proportion in Canada as the Lutherans are in the US.

Clear as mud, Cottontail?
 

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Posted by Sober Preacher's Kid (# 12699) on :
 
Following on from Olaf's excellent list, imagine if seasick (British Methodist presbyter), Cottontail and UCCLynn were all ministers in the same denomination, though each kept their own worship "personality". That's what life is like in the United Church of Canada, that is the project.

Now imagine that they'll all use the same hymnal. That's Voices United, which has some very traditional hymns, a full Psalter but has some really modern hymns, both in words, composer, theology and politics. (gender inclusive).

Now give them all the same liturgical resource. That's Celebrate God's Presence: A Book of Services which when combined with Voices United lets you conduct a full Sung Communion with full Eucharistic Prayer and Epiclesis, a traditional Hymn Sandwich or a service so modern you won't be able to get the taste of granola out of your mouth for a week.

In the UCCan, we're pirates. They're not so much rules as guidelines....
 

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Posted by Olaf (# 11804) on :
 
I had a longer post, but SPK mentioned much the same so I deleted.

In the US, liturgically speaking, services in the United Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the United Church of Christ are often quite similar. All groups have their own official worship texts, but I know of absolutely no congregations of any of those denominations that follow the texts exactly. It is typical for the congregations to print their own weekly bulletins, which contain all the texts needed for the worship service. Many of these texts are composed locally, or taken from resources other than the official denominational books (increasingly, the internet). Quite commonly, in all three denoms, one will find something similar to this, perhaps in a slightly different order:

Call to Worship
Opening Hymn
Confession and Forgiveness or General Unison Prayer
Intercessory Prayers / Lord's Prayer
Children's Talk/Sermon/Object Lesson
Choir Anthem
Scripture Readings
[Gloria Patri--not all that common, but sometimes]
Sermon
[Creed--not all that common, but sometimes]
Offering and Doxology
The Grace
Closing Hymn
and other miscellaneous hymns spread throughout

I'd describe this as a "Generic American Protestant Hymn Sandwich." One even encounters such things in many Baptist and Disciples of Christ churches, and similarly in very Low Church Lutheran places.
 

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Posted by Olaf (# 11804) on :
 
Okay..now SPK referenced me, so I'll repost:

quote:

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Originally posted by Cottontail:
In the light of that, could anyone describe to me the spectrum of mainstream churches in the USA and Canada? In particular, where does the UCC stand in relation to the PCUSA and other Reformed denominations? And what are the historical and cultural origins of some of the different denominations, that might explain the differences in worship styles?

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quote:

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The Canadian Presbyterians are High and Dry, not Wee Free and not crazy. I hear the Oz Presbyterians are crazy and they had the same split in 1977.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Cottontail:
Interesting, for example, that Olaf puts the United Methodists as 'lower' than the PCUSA: I had automatically assumed they were higher because of the bishop thing.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Cottontail:
God help me, though: I like me a good Presbytery.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Sober Preacher's Kid:

quote:

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Originally posted by Cottontail:
God help me, though: I like me a good Presbytery.

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How long have you had these self-destructive delusional thoughts? Have you considered seeking professional help for this issue?

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Posted by Nick Tamen (# 15164) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Olaf:
Quite commonly, in all three denoms, one will find something similar to this, perhaps in a slightly different order:

Call to Worship
Opening Hymn
Confession and Forgiveness or General Unison Prayer
Intercessory Prayers / Lord's Prayer
Children's Talk/Sermon/Object Lesson
Choir Anthem
Scripture Readings
[Gloria Patri--not all that common, but sometimes]
Sermon
[Creed--not all that common, but sometimes]
Offering and Doxology
The Grace
Closing Hymn
and other miscellaneous hymns spread throughout

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quote:

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Originally posted by Olaf:

quote:

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Originally posted by Cottontail:
Interesting, for example, that Olaf puts the United Methodists as 'lower' than the PCUSA: I had automatically assumed they were higher because of the bishop thing.

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Olaf always speaks liturgically, and pays no regard to church hierarchy!+

It really varies from congregation to congregation, but overall, I find that the Presbyterians tend to have the most formal* services, while Methodists tend to go in for the "We're not all highfalutin and putting on airs like those Presbyterians and Lutherans.". . .

*think ushers in matching black suits taking the collection in unison march, step-turn-pivot right-pause

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Olaf, your observations are great and accurate in many ways, but I think regional differences have to be taken into account. For example, you list both the Gloria Patri and a creed as "not all that common, but sometimes." In PC(USA) churches in the American South, I'd say that both can pretty much be listed as "always." That is, most PC(USA) congregations in this part of the country there will be an "affirmation of faith," commonly one of the ecumenical creeds (any Presbyterian in this part of the world can say the Apostle's Creed from memory but may need some help with the Nicene Creed) or another affirmation taken from Scripture or the confessions. Likewise, some form of the Gloria Patri will be sung, usually after the Declaration of Pardon but sometimes after the affirmation of faith or elsewhere.

As for ushers like you describe, in my experience that's pretty much a Chicago and mid-west thing. I've known more than one Southern Presbyterian to go to Fourth Pres in Chicago and be baffled (and somewhat amused) at the formality of the ushering there. Perhaps it can be found in New York as well; I'm not sure about that. But you wouldn't see it many other places I don't think.

As for Methodists, in these parts the common perception is that they just can't decide whether they're Episcopalians or Baptists, but they do usually seem to lean more to Baptist.
 

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Posted by Sober Preacher's Kid (# 12699) on :
 
Padre Joshua and Circuit Rider have conducted a long-running campaign against Baptist tendencies in Methodism in their churches; there have been numerous threads on this topic here in Eccles.
 

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Posted by Olaf (# 11804) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Nick Tamen:
Olaf, your observations are great and accurate in many ways, but I think regional differences have to be taken into account. For example, you list both the Gloria Patri and a creed as "not all that common, but sometimes." In PC(USA) churches in the American South, I'd say that both can pretty much be listed as "always."

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Oh yes, Fourth definitely has an usher squadron. I have run afoul of them on numerous occasions. I'm afraid (literally) they are not the only ones out there, though! They are all over. For some reason, the Methodist ushers tend to be laid back, while the Presby ones are very uptight. (ETA: Yes, I know these are sweeping generalizations )

Sectionalism is alive and well in the US, and liturgically-speaking, the South belongs in a category all its own for most Protestant denoms.

Thank you for the corrections...I was hoping that people who actually belonged to those denoms would come along, and not leave us relying on the observations of a church-crawling outsider!

[ 01. October 2012, 21:08: Message edited by: Olaf ]
 

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Posted by Olaf (# 11804) on :
 
I should also add that my generalizations glossed over the Methodist Walgreen family, of pharmacy fame, a point on which I'm sure my local Eccles compatriots were snickering. Anybody who has taken the trudge to the top of this has undoubtedly seen the Walgreen memorial plaque in the stairway on the way down. That chapel is probably the only time one will see the words "high" and "Methodist" combined in Ecclesiantics.
 

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Posted by Nick Tamen (# 15164) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Olaf:
Oh yes, Fourth definitely has an usher squadron. I have run afoul of them on numerous occasions. I'm afraid (literally) they are not the only ones out there, though! They are all over. For some reason, the Methodist ushers tend to be laid back, while the Presby ones are very uptight. (ETA: Yes, I know these are sweeping generalizations )

Sectionalism is alive and well in the US, and liturgically-speaking, the South belongs in a category all its own for most Protestant denoms.

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The South belongs in a category all it's own in many ways.

FWIW, I'd say that my impression is there is something of a dichotomy when Southern (PC(USA)) Presbyterians are compared to those elsewhere, especially toward the West. On one hand, my impression is that Southern Presbyterians are more likely to be liturgical -- at least, Presbyterian-style liturgical. By that I mean, more likely to follow more or less the suggested liturgies, use congregational responses, and, of course, do things "decently and in order." On other hand, they are less likely to be formal, in the sense of your "usher squadrons." Around here, ushers do only one or two, maybe three, things: hand people bulletins (it's been a long time since I've actually seen an usher show someone to a seat), take up the offering (although deacons, not ushers, do that in some congregations, including mine) and, if the congregation goes forward for communion, act as "gatekeepers" so that the line doesn't get clogged. (Again, deacons do that at our shack.)

I'll be interested to see the impact after the new hymnal comes out, since it will include complete liturgies for the Service for the Lord's Day, baptism and daily prayer (morning, evening and night).
 

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Posted by Olaf (# 11804) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Nick Tamen:
I'll be interested to see the impact after the new hymnal comes out, since it will include complete liturgies for the Service for the Lord's Day, baptism and daily prayer (morning, evening and night).

---

• The average Mainline sermon needs to be shorter. [Good luck with that]
• "Show" choirs (bell, adult, children) need to be reformatted as "liturgical" choirs, and their vanity time slots need to be eliminated
• Either eliminate a separate children's object lesson, or take the time off the regular sermon
• Fewer hymns/praise choruses
• Shorter announcements

quote:

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Originally posted by Sober Preacher's Kid:
Shorter sermons?

My church has a first-rate preacher for a minister. Anglicans have told me at shipmeets that the United Church of Canada has never forgotten the importance of preaching while the Anglican Church of Canada has, in their opinion.

Even I, as a Scoto-Catholic, won't sacrifice the 15-minute Protestant Thunder for the sake of weekly communion. Liturgy of Word & Sacrament, Minister of Word & Sacrament.

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15 minutes.

If only...
 

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Posted by Karl: Liberal Backslider (# 76) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Sober Preacher's Kid:
Shorter sermons?

My church has a first-rate preacher for a minister. Anglicans have told me at shipmeets that the United Church of Canada has never forgotten the importance of preaching while the Anglican Church of Canada has, in their opinion.

Even I, as a Scoto-Catholic, won't sacrifice the 15-minute Protestant Thunder for the sake of weekly communion. Liturgy of Word & Sacrament, Minister of Word & Sacrament.

Your "cuts", Olaf, don't crack down on local antics, they would eliminate wide-spread and laudable uses that are at the heart of the Protestant identity. That's a cut too far.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Olaf:
15 minutes.

If only...

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quote:

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Originally posted by Sober Preacher's Kid:
Shorter sermons?

My church has a first-rate preacher for a minister. Anglicans have told me at shipmeets that the United Church of Canada has never forgotten the importance of preaching while the Anglican Church of Canada has, in their opinion.

Even I, as a Scoto-Catholic, won't sacrifice the 15-minute Protestant Thunder for the sake of weekly communion. Liturgy of Word & Sacrament, Minister of Word & Sacrament.

Your "cuts", Olaf, don't crack down on local antics, they would eliminate wide-spread and laudable uses that are at the heart of the Protestant identity. That's a cut too far.

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• reading announcements which are printed in the bulletin aloud;
• the verger solemnly processing each and every lector to the ambo from the pews in majestic and stately silence (after, of course, the 60-second pause for reflection following each lesson);
• biddings for intercession that merely restate, with additional verbiage, the Prayer for the Whole State of Christ's Church;
• praying the Eucharistic Prayer as though it were a text by Arthur Miller and you are Marlon Brando

quote:

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Originally posted by Nick Tamen:
(Currently, the majority of PC(USA) churches celebrate [communion] monthly -- a fairly major shift from quarterly just a generation or two ago.)

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quote:

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Originally posted by Fr Weber:
Regarding the issue of how long church should take, I think as long as the congregation's time isn't actively being wasted it should take as long as it takes. I can't stand the mania for keeping the main Sunday service under an hour; public worship is worth more than one hour of your time a week.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Angloid:

quote:

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Originally posted by Nick Tamen:
(Currently, the majority of PC(USA) churches celebrate [communion] monthly -- a fairly major shift from quarterly just a generation or two ago.)

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Tangential query: what is the current majority practice in the Church of Scotland? I believe quarterly communion (well-prepared for) used to be the norm.

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