The preaching service – the glory of the Methodists : a study of the piety, ethos and development of the Methodist preaching service by Adrian Burdon Grove Books, 1991 42 pages £3.50
ISBN 1 851 741 712
These words of John Wesley appear on the title page –
“The morning preaching is the glory of the Methodists.
Whenever that ceases, the glory is departed from them.” (April 1784)
A great deal of ground, historical and liturgical, is covered in the 3 sections of this booklet.
The first part goes back to Wesley’s time -‘Eighteenth century origins : the way to holiness’;
part 2 deals with ‘Nineteenth century development : from society to church’ and part 3 rounds off with ‘Twentieth century movement : liturgical arousal’.
The author has clearly immersed himself in research into the origins and development of Methodist worship from the days of the Wesleys to the 1988 Conference.
This booklet (only 42 pages) is just a summary of the original thesis but is replete with quotations from contemporary sources. These quotations give fascinating insights into the practice of early Methodist worship and its development over the centuries. For example, John Wesley never had more than two hymns in any of his worship services !
The author has done an excellent job in giving us a real flavour of early Methodist worship. You might even feel you were there, so vivid are the descriptions.