The Reformed Tradition in Church Worship
The Presidential Address to the Society by the Reverend Principal John H S Burleigh, MA, B Litt, DD, New College, University of Edinburgh
A transcript of the Presidential Address to the Church Service Society at its Annual Meeting in New College, Edinburgh on 23 May 1958, Burleigh begins by discussing Gregory Dix’s book, The Shape of the Liturgy. He then moves on to look at the Reformation and the battle as he describes it, between Anglicanism and Calvinism fought out in the face of threatening Romanism. It is a common feature of all the Reformed churches that their foundation is a Confession of Faith, containing the doctrine to be taught or preached to the people both in sermon and in sacrament and he highlights the difficulties of the conjunction between Word and Sacraments, He discusses the place given to the congregation in the Reformed tradition.