The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1870-06-23
Do We Worship.
From the Advance

From the Advance.
A singular question this, many will
think. What do our church organiza
tions mean? What signify our sancfu
aries, with their prayers and hymns, OF
any other suppOs!tlon? Do not published
notices declare that 6 divine service vii
he held at such a time and place
Does not the minister rise and say, s w,
will begin duf worship by singing thi,
OF that hymn? Of course we worship
and we pay literally for the privilege.
That is one side of the matter let u,
look at the other Worship is areyeren
tial approach to God in certain pre-
scribed forms. In every such act God i.
uppermost in thought and feeling. The
mind conceiyes of Him. Whether it be
confession, petition, Thanksgiving, OF
alteration, the idea is, to present oneselI
bef1re God, to exalt Him, andto obtaif
his blessing The form is but secondary
the state Of heart everything. - God Is
a spirit, and they that worship Him
must worship Him in spirit and in truth
Taking this conception for our guide
what facts meet the eye? 1t is no Islander
to aft IN, that many congregations Offer
few outward signs Of worship beyond the
use Of certain rites and ceremonies. They
do not enter the SANITARY as If God were
in their thoughts, but much as they 90
to a concert or literary lecture. They d,
not indlc..te reverence by varying their
posture according to the nature of the
exercises neither bowling in prayer, nor
standing in song, nor sitting attentively
upright in the reading OF Scripture.
They weary, if the devotional services
are prolonged, even if there be variety
and breyity in the single parts They
are eager to reach the sermon, as that for
which they came to church. If the ser.
mon be pot particularly attractive, one
learns by the subsequent complaints that
the occasion was failure that being
disappointed in that, they found no edi
ficatlon in the whole service. They
select minister with little inquiry as to
his plety, but nave in view chiefly his
eloquence, OF his oddity, or his ability on
some ground to draw q crowd, and to
pay the expences of the church. They
plainly wish and expect to be entertain
ed rather than profited by the preaching,
and they have special horror of doc
trines, revival efforts and an o. d fashion
ed style. They limit him also to twenty
or thirty minutes, that his discourses
may be always brilliant and never tedi
Gus And then as to the matter of
praise, so-called, it IS performed by
proxy, by an organist who plays beauti-
full snatches from the operas, and by
costly quartette Of singers hired regard
less OF price or character! And these
attractive exercises, in churches where
the poor are excluded by the high rental
of seats are called worship Also the ten
or fifteen thousand dollars annually ex
pended iii maintaining these are said, in
current phraseology, to be paid . for the
support of divine worship" Allow that
we have stated the case strongly, must it
not be granted that somthlng OF thisI
world-spirit has crept into orr churches,
and needs TO be exercised? This putting
man foremost in the sanitary, be be
preacher or singer, must be done away,
and God be allowed to take His ancient
and rightful place. Worship and not
entertainment should be our object.
The Episcopal service, although open toll
criticism in various particulars, is cor
rect in this respect. 1t is long and repi-
titious and formal it lacks the extern
poraneous clement, and hardly leaves
space for a sermon; but It .Aobly main
tains the idea that the grand occasion of
assembling is, to worship God. Its use
produces a more reverential and devo-
tional effect than do the free and easy
meetings of some congregations to listen
to Iavorite orator Christians are
properly taught to depend for their
edificatIon N re upon themselves as wor-
shippers, and less upon the genius and
eloquence OF thu preacher. With a good
service they can make out well, though
the sermon chance to be Indifferent.
This can be carried to an extreme, so
that the true teaching function Of the
Christian ministry shall be almost lost,
as it was, and is, in the sacerdotalism of
the Romish church. But we long to
see a reaction in our Professionalism,
which, without the puerilities Of Ritual,
ism, shall cultivate more reverence and
devotion, more communion with God and
less idolatry of man Let us multiply
the acts of worship let us make them
brief, varied and hearty; let us keep
before the people the idea that they are
iii the house of God, and not in a public
hall, and that reverence requires as
much decorum there as does politeness
elsewhere