''The Book of Worship for Church and Home 1965'' was the second liturgical book of
The Methodist Church, replacing the 1945 book of the same name. This book was replaced in 1992 with
''The United Methodist Book of Worship''.
The 1945 book, whose use was considered optional and completely voluntary, was ordered revised by the 1956
General Conference. Professor Fred D. Gealy was the editorial consultant to an 18-member Commission on Worship that produced the 423 page book. It was approved by the General Conference on May 6, 1964. Until this book was published the ritual was included in
''The Book of Discipline'' of the Methodist Church.
The book is divided into five parts, the first titled The General Services, and consists of both a brief and full orders of worship, and the rituals of baptism, confirmation, the Lord's Supper (including a brief form), marriage, burial and the ordination services. Until this book was published the service of confirmation was referred to as The Reception of Members, with the term ''confirmation'' first appearing in Methodist ritual in this book. The ordination services were replaced in 1981 with a new Ordinal. The second section is Aids for the Ordering of Worship, which was divided into two parts. The first part is The Christian Year and consists of a one-year
lectionary
A lectionary ( la, lectionarium) is a book or listing that contains a collection of scripture readings appointed for Christian or Judaic worship on a given day or occasion. There are sub-types such as a "gospel lectionary" or evangeliary, an ...
,
collects,
invocations and calls to worship for the various liturgical seasons along with prayers and special services for specific days of the calendar. The second part is General Aids and consists of various prayers, liturgies and table graces. The third section is titled Acts of Praise and consists of the
Psalter
A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the emergence of the book of hours in the Late Middle Ages, psalters w ...
and
canticles. The fourth section is titled The Occasional Services of the Church and includes 18 services among which are laying of the cornerstone of a church, blessing of a dwelling, and recognition of officials in the church. The fifth section, titled Services in the (United) Methodist Tradition,
[The word ''United'' was added to the title in 1968] contains the traditional historic services which includes the
love feast, the
covenant service
The Covenant Renewal Service, or simply called the Covenant Service, was adapted by John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, for the purpose of the renewal of the Christian believer's covenant with God. Wesley's ''Directions for Renewing Our Covena ...
and the Order for Morning Prayer from ''
The Sunday Service of the Methodists'', which was written and authorized by
John Wesley
John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English cleric, theologian, and evangelist who was a leader of a revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The societies he founded became the dominant form of the independent Meth ...
.
Most of the scripture quoted in this volume is given in the
Revised Standard Version translation of the
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus ...
, as opposed to the
King James Version
The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by sponsorship of K ...
which had been used previously.
References
External sources
*Tucker, Karen B Westfield, ''American Methodist Worship'' (Oxford University Press, 2001)
*''The Book of Worship for Church and Home'' (Nashville, Tennessee: The Methodist Publishing House, 1965)
{{United Methodist Church
Methodist texts
United Methodist Church