Forms of Worship
The forms of worship are the ways in which the elements are carried out. For instance, do we stand with our heads bowed or kneel when we pray? Both forms of prayer are descriptively set out in Scripture. We have the freedom of choosing between a variety of biblically exemplified postures for public prayer.
Circumstances of Worship
The circumstances of worship, however, are the adiaphorisms that aid the congregation and ministers in the execution of the elements and forms of worship. The circumstances of worship include such things are what time a church should meet for worship on the Lord’s Day, whether to use a psalter/hymnal in worship or simply project the words of our songs of praise on a screen, what sort of musical instruments to include in the accompaniment of congregational singing, whether to sit at a table for the Lord’s Supper or to simply distribute the elements to the people where they sit, or whether to meet in a home or in a designated building. The circumstances of worship include whether or not to have kneelers for prayer. The frequency and placement of the Lord’s Supper in the service is also a circumstance of worship. As the Directory for the Publick Worship of God notes,
“The communion, or supper of the Lord, is frequently to be celebrated; but how often, may be considered and determined by the ministers, and other church-governors of each congregation, as they shall find most convenient for the comfort and edification of the people committed to their charge. And, when it shall be administered, we judge it convenient to be done after the morning sermon”
These example of circumstances of worship are best to be ordered, as the Westminster Confession of Faith states, “by the light of nature and Christian prudence” (WCF 1.6). None of the circumstances of worship are binding on every other church. This means that the RPW does not demand absolute uniformity in all the ways in which the elements of worship may be carried out in our worship services. Derek Thomas, in his Ligonier article on “The Regulative Principle of Worship,” explains how these things work in conjunction with one another and how the RPW does not bind us to absolute uniformity in worship. He writes,
“The regulative principle as applied to public worship frees the church from acts of impropriety and idiocy — we are not free, for example, to advertise that performing clowns will mime the Bible lesson at next week’s Sunday service. Yet it does not commit the church to a “cookie-cutter,” liturgical sameness. Within an adherence to the principle there is enormous room for variation—in matters that Scripture has not specifically addressed (adiaphora). Thus, the regulative principle as such may not be invoked to determine whether contemporary or traditional songs are employed, whether three verses or three chapters of Scripture are read, whether one long prayer or several short prayers are made, or whether a single cup or individual cups with real wine or grape juice are utilized at the Lord’s Supper. To all of these issues, the principle “all things should be done decently and in order” (1 Cor. 14:40) must be applied.
