From the ages of 9 to 14, my family attended Presbyterian churches. Part of the liturgy of Sunday worship was a time for confession of sins. The pastor led us in a generic prayer, admitting our faults. Then he would pause for a minute or two while attenders silently admitted their failings before God. The pastor then resumed the corporate prayer, accepting the forgiveness purchased for us by Christ.In retrospect, this was a critical liturgical element.
Confession of sin is part of my daily prayer life. But many Christians, in the hustle and bustle of life, only pray on Sunday morning. If those prayers do not include confession, when is he then confronted with his sinfulness?
The corporate confession at these Presbyterian churches was one of the most spiritually important parts of Sunday worship liturgy. If I am ever in a position to design liturgy, I plan to include it.
6 comments:
I'm a co-pastor for the Lutheran service on post (although we sometimes call it "Metheran," due to the large number of Methodists present - including me!). I've learned to appreciate the order of confession that is part of every service.
The order for confession of sin is not necessarily intended to help you think of sins you've overlooked or to help you achieve some sort of feeling about your sinfulness. Rather, it's a simple acknowledgement before God. In confessing our sins, we accept as true what God has already revealed to us. We are sinners.
I too wish that the corporate confession was used more often in our liturgy. I like the reminder that I'm a sinner and am totally dependent upon the saving grace of God.
The problem is the Methodist church has a confession in liturgy. Look at Word and Table I in the front of your hymnal. The problem is not many churches use it. I know I do and I think that my congregation really responds to it.
It might be generic, but I believe it is important to have this public confession together and the silence afterward provides time for us to reflect on the words we just said together before the pardon. Remember the words of pardon that follow the confession apply to the pastor too. They are forgiven by the congregation in the name of Jesus Christ.
*sigh* still fighting an uphill battle to get more umc churches to actually use our methodist liturgy and teach people what it means
The problem is the Methodist church has a confession in liturgy. Look at Word and Table I in the front of your hymnal. The problem is not many churches use it. I know I do and I think that my congregation really responds to it.
It might be generic, but I believe it is important to have this public confession together and the silence afterward provides time for us to reflect on the words we just said together before the pardon. Remember the words of pardon that follow the confession apply to the pastor too. They are forgiven by the congregation in the name of Jesus Christ.
*sigh* still fighting an uphill battle to get more umc churches to actually use our methodist liturgy and teach people what it means
Indeed, we generally will do a mass forgiveness of sins about once or twice a year; I think.
Stephen's entry was so nice, he posted it twice!
(We use the confession liturgy of which Stephen speaks at least monthly in my UMC.)
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