This liturgy is not simply a hand-book for the min- ister, or a pulpit liturgj', but it is an order in which the people take part with the minister in the worship of God. Less complicated and shorter in many of its offices than the Book of Common Prayer, it unites all the historic elements of liturgical worship on the basis of the apostolic faith and the custom of the primitive Church, modified, however, bj' the faith, genius, alid history of the Reformed Church, and adapted to the needs of the present age.
Though not j-et formallj' adopted, many churches use the Order of Worship in full, many more use it in part, while it is held in high honor by nearly all those who do not yet feel prepared to use all its offices regu- larly. Tlie l>0(ik is daily gaining ground, and the probability is that in the course of one or two decades of 3'ears liturgical worship will become the establishod order of all the churches East, and to a large extent also of the churches in the West.
The (jonernment is Presbj'terian. Every congrega- tion is governed bj' a consistory, which is composed of the pastor, elders, and deacons; no congregation is without cither elders or deacons. They are chosen by the communicant members for a term of two, three, or four years, generalh' onlj' two j-ears, and ordained by the laj'ing on of hands, and installed. When the term ex])ires, the administrative power ceases, but not the office. If re-elected, installation is repeated, but not ordination. The consistory is subject to the classis, whiih consists of the ministers and an elder from each parish within a given district. The classes are sub- ject to the sjmod. The synod is a delegated body, and consists of a given number of ministers and elders,
is an essential constituent of Christianity ; that the Christian Church is an organic continuation in time and space of the life-powers of the new creation in Christ Jesus ; that the covenant is an order or institu- tion of grace, spiritual and real; that the Bible was written by members of tlie Church under plenary in- spiration of the H0I3' Ghost; tliat private judgment is subordinate to the general judgment of the Church as expressed particularly in the ojcumenical creeds ; that the word of God is the only norm of faith and prac- tice, and is superior to all creeds and confessions ; that the individual comes to a right apprehension of the contents of the Bible through the teaching of the Church ; that the election of grace unto life is effec- tual in and h\ the established economy of grace ; that justification is by an act of faith in the person and work of Christ, and consists both in the imputation and impartation of Christ and his righteousness ; that holy baptism is the sacrament of regeneration, regen- eration being the transition from the state of nature to the state of grace, as natural birth is the transition to the natural world ; that regeneration, succeeded by conversion and sanctification, completes itself in the resurrection from the dead, inasmuch as regeneration and salvation pertain to the entire man, the body no less than the soul ; that believers only hold connnu- nion with Christ in the Lord's Supper ; that the ordi- nary, divineh'^-ordained means of grace are adequate to all the needs of the Church and the world, and, if faitlifully used, do not fail to promote a steady' and vigorous growth of the Church ; that, although the Church of Rome holds many articles of faith, and ap- proves and perpetuates manj'^ customs which are not warranted by the Scriptures and are wrong, she is nevertheless a part of the Church of Christ ; and that Protestantism is an historical continuation of the Church Catholic, in a new and higher form of faith, organization, and practice.
There is a respectalile minority, located chiefly in the West, who dissent from manv' of the doctrines as given in this statement ; a few even resist the whole system of thought as being subversive of the true Re- formed faith. Some of them adopt the theorj' of sal- vation taught by the Metliodist Church, and observe some of her measures and customs. Others hold the Calvinistic theory of decrees, and their teaching con- forms to the Presbyterian or Puritan type of religion. But the prevailing faith, as held liy the Eastern Synod, is gradually overcoming opposition, and extending; and from j'ear to year the number of ministers and churches is increasing, both West and East, that stand firmly on the historical, churchh^, and sacramental basis of the Palatinate Catechism.
As regards trorshij), the Church is in a state of tran- sition. During the present century extemporaneous prayer has prevailed in the regular services of the Lord's day ; but this is a departure from the original custom. Oiiginall}' the worship was liturgical. The Palatinate Liturgy was issued one j'car after the Pa- latinate Catechism. It did not, however, like the Catecliism, acquire an oecumenical character. Every state or province in Europe where the Reformed Church was established had its own liturgj'. In Switzerland there w-ere as manj- liturgies as Reformed cantons. In Scotland they were in use also for at least a century after the Reformation.
These liturgies contain offices for the regular service of the Lord's daj' ; for the administration of the sacra- ments; for the ordination of ministers, elders, and deacons ; for the solemnization of man-iage, burial of the dead, etc. ; and contain the creed, the Lord's pray- er, confession and absolution, the Gloria in Excelsis, Te Deum, and the Litany and responses, although no one book unites all these elements. They are all a hand-book for the minister rather than an order of worship for the people.