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Agenda (liturgy)
Encyclopedia
The name Agenda is given, particularly in the Lutheran Church, to the official books dealing with the forms and
ceremonies of divine service
.
; agenda diei, for the office of the day; agenda mortuórum, for the service for the dead; agenda matutina, and agenda vespertina, for morning
and evening prayers
. As the designation of a book of liturgical formulas it is stated by Ducange to have been used by
Johannes de Janua, but in the only published work of Johannes (c. 1287) the name does not occur. There is no doubt, however, that with the development of the ritual of the Church the classification of liturgical formulas for the use of the parochial clergy became common. Such books of procedure were known by various names; e.g., manuale, obsequiale, benedictionale, rituale
, and agenda. The last title was given especially to the church books of particular diocese
s wherein the general ritual of the Church was supplemented by ceremonial features of local origin, as the agenda for Magdeburg of 1497, or the Liber agendarum secundum ritum ecclesiæ et diocesis Sleswicensis of 1512. The use of the term in the Roman Catholic Church
, however, practically ceases with the Reformation
, though a few instances occur in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In the Evangelical Churches, on the contrary, with the title Kirchenbuch, it speedily came to be the accepted designation for authoritative books of ritual. In the early days of the Reformation the agenda not infrequently constituted part of the Kirchenordnung or general church constitutions of a state; but in the course of time the separation of the formulas of worship from the legal and administrative codes of the Church was effected.
. The innovations consisted of the omission of certain parts of the Roman ceremonial and the substitution of German for Latin, instances of the use of the vernacular
in the celebration of the mass occurring as early as 1521–22. In 1523 Martin Luther
published his Latin mass, revised in accordance with evangelical doctrine; and three years later he gave to the world his Deutsche Messe und Ordnung des Gottesdiensts, the use of which, however, was not made obligatory. In the same year appeared his “Book of Baptism,” in 1529 probably his “Book of Marriage,” and during the years 1535–37 the formula for the ordination of ministers. In the Kirchenordnungen of the time orders of worship occur, as in Thomas Münzer’s Deutzsch kirchen ampt, of 1523, and the Landesordnung of the duchy of Prussia in 1525. From this time to the end of the sixteenth century the Protestant states of Germany were busied with the task of remodeling their ecclesiastical systems and formularies of worship, the work being carried on by the great theologians of the age. The church constitutions and agenda of this period may be divided into three classes:
Of the first type the earliest examples are the constitutions drawn up by Bugenhagen for the city of Brunswick
and the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
, 1528; Hamburg
, 1529; Lübeck, 1531; Pomerania
, 1535; Denmark
, 1537; Sleswick
‐Holstein, 1542; and Hildesheim
, 1544. Justus Jonas
formulated the church laws of Wittenberg (in part), 1533; of the duchy of Saxony
(where the name “agenda” is first adopted), 1539; and of Halle
, 1541. Hanover
received its laws from Urbanus Rhegius
in 1536; Brandenburg‐Nuremberg
, from Andreas Osiander
and Johannes Brenz
in 1533; and Mecklenburg
, from Riebling, Aurifaber
, and Melanchthon in 1540 and 1552. Among the states that adopted constitutions of the Reformed type were Hesse and Nassau
, between 1527 and 1576; more closely, Württemberg, 1536; the Electoral Palatinate, 1554; and Baden
, 1556. In the so‐called “Cologne Reformation,” drawn up largely by Butzer and Melanchthon and introduced by Archbishop Hermann of Wied
in 1543, the agenda of Saxony, Brandenburg‐Nuremberg, and Hesse-Cassel
served as models. The Roman ritual was retained to some extent in the church ordinances of the electorate of Brandenburg, 1540; Palatinate-Neuburg
, 1543; and Austria, 1571. Of this type, too, were the ordinances drawn up by Melanchthon, Bugenhagen, Major
, and others, for the electorate of Saxony in 1549; but these never went into effect, giving place in 1580 to a constitution Lutheran in character.
The Thirty Years’ War exercised a disastrous influence on the entire ecclesiastical system of Germany, and particularly on church discipline. The work of restoration, however, was begun almost immediately after the cessation of hostilities, but so great was the moral degradation in which the mass of the people was plunged, so low was the standard of education and general intelligence, that in the formulation of new ecclesiastical laws the governments, of necessity, assumed a far larger share of authority over the affairs of the Church than they had possessed before the war. This increased power of the government was apparent not only in a closer supervision over the ecclesiastical administration, but also in the enforcement of a stricter adherence to the formulated modes of worship. Of the agenda promulgated after the war, the most important were those of Mecklenburg, 1650; Saxony and Westphalia, 1651; Brunswick‐Lüneburg
, 1657; Hesse, 1657; and Halle, 1660.
The eighteenth century witnessed a marked decline in the importance of the official liturgies in the religious life of the nation — a loss of influence so great as to make the books of the Church practically obsolescent. This was due to the rise of the pietistic movement, which, in its opposition to formula and rigidity in doctrine, was no less destructive of the old ritual than was the rationalistic movement of the latter half of the century. Both pietism and rationalism were wanting in respect for the element of historical evolution in religion and worship; and the former, in laying stress on the value of individual prayer and devotion without attempting any change in the forms of divine service, led to their general abandonment for the spiritual edification that was to be obtained in the societies organized for common improvement, the so‐called collegia pietatis. Rationalism in lending its own interpretation to the ritual, deprived it of much of its practical bearing, and necessitated, in consequence, a radical reconstruction of the prayers and hymns of the Church. But a no less important cause of change in liturgical forms is to be found in the growth of social distinctions and in the rise of a courtly etiquette that sought, with success, to impose its standards of manners and speech on the ceremonies and language of the Church. The etiquette of the salon entered the Church, and the formula “Take thou and eat,” at the Lord’s Supper, was altered to “Take Ye and eat” when the communicants were of the nobility
. The consistory
of Hanover in 1800 granted permission to its ministers to introduce during public worship such changes in language, costume, and gesture as would appeal to the tastes of their “refined audiences.” As a result the old official agenda passed generally out of use and were replaced by books of worship representing the views of individual ministers.
. In 1525 Zwingli published the order of the mass as celebrated at Zurich and a formula of baptism based on the “Book of Baptism,” issued by Leo Judæ in 1523. A complete agenda, including the two Zwinglian codes, appeared at Zurich in 1525 (according to Harnack and others, but more probably in 1529), under the title Ordnung der Christenlichen Kilchenn zü Zürich, and was often revised during the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Bern received its first formulary in 1528; Schaffhausen, in 1592, and St. Gall in 1738. Neuchatel, in 1533, was the first French-speaking community to adopt a definite ritual; its
authorship has been attributed to Farel. At Geneva, Calvin published in 1542, La Forme des prières ecclésiastiques, based on the practises he had found among the French of Strasburg during his sojourn in that city from 1538 to 1541. The Strasburg ritual was followed also by the French in London, and by many churches in France itself. Deserving of special mention are the constitutions drawn up in 1550 by Johannes a Lasco for the fugitives from the Netherlands
resident in England
. They form the first comprehensive formulation of the ritual of Calvinistic Protestantism, and are still in force in the Netherland Church.
in the early years of the nineteenth century. After 1613 the royal family of Prussia
were adherents of the Reformed creed, but the king’s personal beliefs were entirely Lutheran. After the campaign of Jena
(1806) he entrusted the task of drafting a ritual to Ruhlemann Friedrich Eylert, whose work, however, failed to
receive the king’s approval because the author had fallen into the then common error of the writers of liturgies, namely, of paying little regard to the historical development of the evangelical forms of worship. Frederick William protested vehemently against these newly fabricated rituals, and asserted the necessity of “going back to Father Luther
.” With this purpose he devoted many years to the personal study of ritualistic history and attained an expert knowledge of the subject, particularly of its phases in the sixteenth century. The refusal of the great mass of the Old Lutheran clergy to lend themselves to his efforts in favor of unity because of the Lutheran doctrine of Real Presence
(see: Prussian Union
), he met with the determination to make use of the power vested in him by law to bring about the desired end. In 1822 he published the agenda for the court and cathedral church of Berlin; and two years later this formulary, increased and revised with the aid of Borowsky and
Bunsen
, was submitted to the various consistories. Before the end of 1825, out of 7,782 churches within the Prussia
n dominions, 5,243 had adopted the proposed regulations. In spite of a bitter polemic, in which Schleiermacher
led the assault on the king’s innovations, the new regulations were introduced in all the provinces before 1838. This caused reaction called Neo-Lutheranism
.
of twenty-three, among whom were the theologians Goltz, Kleinert, Hering, Meuss, Renner, Rübesamen, Kögel, and Schmalenbach; and in 1894 their draft of a new ritual was adopted with slight changes by the General Synod. The lead of Prussia was followed by the other members of the German Empire, and most of the states revised their agenda. Bohemia and Moravia (both Lutherans and Calvinists), Denmark, Norway, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and Transylvania have also late revisions. In France, after much agitation, a book of ritual, Liturgie des Églises reformées, de France revisées par le Synode général, was adopted in 1897. Wilhelm Löhe's Agende für christliche Gemeinden (1848) forms also important part of the history of liturgy of Lutheran Church. 20th century Liturgical Movement
finally made major restoration of liturgy.
adopted the Book of Common Prayer
under Edward VI, which, with slight revisions, has been made universally obligatory by acts of uniformity. It was used with modifications by the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States. H. M. Mühlenberg
prepared a liturgy that was adopted by the Lutheran Synod that he had organized (1748) and approved by the German Lutheran authorities at Halle, whose missionary he was. It was based upon those in use in Lüneburg (1643 onward), Calenberg (1569 onward), Brandenburg-Magdeburg (1739 onward), and Saxony (1712 onward). The liturgy of the Savoy Lutheran Church of London
was the only one, apparently, actually in hand, the others exerting their influence through Mühlenberg’s memory Forms for baptism and the marriage ceremony were taken from the Book of Common Prayer of the Church of England. In 1795 Kunze published A Hymn and Prayer Book for the use of such Lutheran Churches as use the English Language, which has by successive revisions developed into the present English Church Book. In 1806 the New York ministerium adopted a liturgy modified by Episcopal influence, and in 1818 the Philadelphia ministerium adopted a liturgy in which extemporaneous prayer was allowed as well as freedom in selecting the Scriptures to be read. In 1885 after much controversy and conference the General Synod adopted a “Common Service,” which was widely accepted by the Churches, but was not regarded as obligatory.
The Dutch Reformed Church in the United States adopted (1771) along with the Belgic Confession
, the Heidelberg Catechism
, and the Canons of the Synod of Dort, the liturgical forms that were at that time in use in the Netherlands. The Nicene
and Athanasian creed
s are appended to the liturgy, which has undergone little change. The German Reformed Church in the United States seems to have used the Palatinate liturgy, with local modifications. In 1841 the Eastern Synod published a liturgy prepared by Lewis Mayer, which, however, failed of general approval. A “Provisional Liturgy,” prepared by Philip Schaff
and others (1857), likewise proved unacceptable. The “Order of Worship” was allowed by the General Synod (1866) as was also the “Western Liturgy” (1869). The “Directory of Worship” was adopted in 1887. A book of liturgical forms, prepared by Henry Van Dyke
and others appointed by the General Assembly, for use in Presbyterian Churches, but in no way obligatory, was published in 1906. It aroused considerable opposition.
ceremonies of divine service
Service of worship
In the Protestant denominations of Christianity, a service of worship is a meeting whose primary purpose is the worship of God. The phrase is normally shortened to service. It is also commonly called a worship service...
.
The Term; its Equivalents Before the Reformation
Term Agenda occurs twice in the ninth canon of the Second Synod of Carthage (390; Bruns, Canones, i., Berlin, 1839, p. 121), and in a letter of Innocent I. (d. 417; MPL, xx. 552). The name was frequently employed in a more specific sense, as Agenda missarum, for the celebration of the massMass (liturgy)
"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
; agenda diei, for the office of the day; agenda mortuórum, for the service for the dead; agenda matutina, and agenda vespertina, for morning
Matins
Matins is the early morning or night prayer service in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Eastern Orthodox liturgies of the canonical hours. The term is also used in some Protestant denominations to describe morning services.The name "Matins" originally referred to the morning office also...
and evening prayers
Vespers
Vespers is the evening prayer service in the Western Catholic, Eastern Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran liturgies of the canonical hours...
. As the designation of a book of liturgical formulas it is stated by Ducange to have been used by
Johannes de Janua, but in the only published work of Johannes (c. 1287) the name does not occur. There is no doubt, however, that with the development of the ritual of the Church the classification of liturgical formulas for the use of the parochial clergy became common. Such books of procedure were known by various names; e.g., manuale, obsequiale, benedictionale, rituale
Roman Ritual
The Roman Ritual is one of the official ritual works of the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. It contains all of the services which may be performed by a priest or deacon which are not contained within either the Missale Romanum or the Brevarium Romanum...
, and agenda. The last title was given especially to the church books of particular diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
s wherein the general ritual of the Church was supplemented by ceremonial features of local origin, as the agenda for Magdeburg of 1497, or the Liber agendarum secundum ritum ecclesiæ et diocesis Sleswicensis of 1512. The use of the term in the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
, however, practically ceases with the Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
, though a few instances occur in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In the Evangelical Churches, on the contrary, with the title Kirchenbuch, it speedily came to be the accepted designation for authoritative books of ritual. In the early days of the Reformation the agenda not infrequently constituted part of the Kirchenordnung or general church constitutions of a state; but in the course of time the separation of the formulas of worship from the legal and administrative codes of the Church was effected.
Lutheran Changes in Roman Catholic Agenda
The earliest attempts at a reformation of the Roman ritual were naturally concerned with the massMass (liturgy)
"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
. The innovations consisted of the omission of certain parts of the Roman ceremonial and the substitution of German for Latin, instances of the use of the vernacular
Vernacular
A vernacular is the native language or native dialect of a specific population, as opposed to a language of wider communication that is not native to the population, such as a national language or lingua franca.- Etymology :The term is not a recent one...
in the celebration of the mass occurring as early as 1521–22. In 1523 Martin Luther
Martin Luther
Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...
published his Latin mass, revised in accordance with evangelical doctrine; and three years later he gave to the world his Deutsche Messe und Ordnung des Gottesdiensts, the use of which, however, was not made obligatory. In the same year appeared his “Book of Baptism,” in 1529 probably his “Book of Marriage,” and during the years 1535–37 the formula for the ordination of ministers. In the Kirchenordnungen of the time orders of worship occur, as in Thomas Münzer’s Deutzsch kirchen ampt, of 1523, and the Landesordnung of the duchy of Prussia in 1525. From this time to the end of the sixteenth century the Protestant states of Germany were busied with the task of remodeling their ecclesiastical systems and formularies of worship, the work being carried on by the great theologians of the age. The church constitutions and agenda of this period may be divided into three classes:
- Those that closely followed the Lutheran model
- Those that followed the ideas of the Swiss Reformation
- Those that retained appreciable elements of the Roman ritual
Of the first type the earliest examples are the constitutions drawn up by Bugenhagen for the city of Brunswick
Braunschweig
Braunschweig , is a city of 247,400 people, located in the federal-state of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located north of the Harz mountains at the farthest navigable point of the Oker river, which connects to the North Sea via the rivers Aller and Weser....
and the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
The Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel was a subdivision of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg, whose history was characterised by numerous divisions and reunifications. Various dynastic lines of the House of Welf ruled Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel until the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806...
, 1528; Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, 1529; Lübeck, 1531; Pomerania
Duchy of Pomerania
The Duchy of Pomerania was a duchy in Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, ruled by dukes of the House of Pomerania ....
, 1535; Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, 1537; Sleswick
Schleswig
Schleswig or South Jutland is a region covering the area about 60 km north and 70 km south of the border between Germany and Denmark; the territory has been divided between the two countries since 1920, with Northern Schleswig in Denmark and Southern Schleswig in Germany...
‐Holstein, 1542; and Hildesheim
Hildesheim
Hildesheim is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located in the district of Hildesheim, about 30 km southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste river, which is a small tributary of the Leine river...
, 1544. Justus Jonas
Justus Jonas
Justus Jonas was a German Lutheran reformer.-Biography:Jonas was born at Nordhausen in Thuringia. His real name was Jodokus Koch, which he changed according to the common custom of German scholars in the sixteenth century, when at the University of Erfurt...
formulated the church laws of Wittenberg (in part), 1533; of the duchy of Saxony
Electorate of Saxony
The Electorate of Saxony , sometimes referred to as Upper Saxony, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire. It was established when Emperor Charles IV raised the Ascanian duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg to the status of an Electorate by the Golden Bull of 1356...
(where the name “agenda” is first adopted), 1539; and of Halle
Halle, Saxony-Anhalt
Halle is the largest city in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is also called Halle an der Saale in order to distinguish it from the town of Halle in North Rhine-Westphalia...
, 1541. Hanover
Hanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
received its laws from Urbanus Rhegius
Urbanus Rhegius
Urbanus Henricus Rhegius or Urban Rieger was Protestant Reformer who was active both in Northern and Southern Germany in order to promote Lutheran unity in the Holy Roman Empire.- Life :...
in 1536; Brandenburg‐Nuremberg
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
, from Andreas Osiander
Andreas Osiander
Andreas Osiander was a German Lutheran theologian.- Career :Born at Gunzenhausen in Franconia, Osiander studied at the University of Ingolstadt before being ordained as a priest in 1520. In the same year he began work at an Augustinian convent in Nuremberg as a Hebrew tutor. In 1522, he was...
and Johannes Brenz
Johannes Brenz
Johann Brenz was a German theologian and the Protestant Reformer of the Duchy of Württemberg.-Early Advocacy of the Reformation:...
in 1533; and Mecklenburg
Mecklenburg
Mecklenburg is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern...
, from Riebling, Aurifaber
Aurifaber
Aurifaber was a surname borne by three prominent men of the Reformation period in Germany:...
, and Melanchthon in 1540 and 1552. Among the states that adopted constitutions of the Reformed type were Hesse and Nassau
Nassau (state)
Nassau was a German state within the Holy Roman Empire and later in the German Confederation. Its ruling dynasty, now extinct in male line, was the House of Nassau.-Origins:...
, between 1527 and 1576; more closely, Württemberg, 1536; the Electoral Palatinate, 1554; and Baden
Baden
Baden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-Württemberg of Germany....
, 1556. In the so‐called “Cologne Reformation,” drawn up largely by Butzer and Melanchthon and introduced by Archbishop Hermann of Wied
Hermann of Wied
Hermann of Wied was the Archbishop-Elector of Cologne from 1515 to 1546.-Biography:The fourth son of Frederick, count of Wied , Hermann was educated for the Church, he became elector and archbishop in 1515. He supported the claims of Charles V, whom he crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle in 1520...
in 1543, the agenda of Saxony, Brandenburg‐Nuremberg, and Hesse-Cassel
Landgraviate of Hesse
The Landgraviate of Hesse was a Landgraviate of the Holy Roman Empire. It existed as a unity from 1264 to 1567, when it was divided between the sons of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse.-History:...
served as models. The Roman ritual was retained to some extent in the church ordinances of the electorate of Brandenburg, 1540; Palatinate-Neuburg
Palatinate-Neuburg
Palatinate-Neuburg is a former territory of the Holy Roman Empire, founded in 1505. Its capital was Neuburg an der Donau. Its area was about 2,750 km², with a population of some 100,000.-History:...
, 1543; and Austria, 1571. Of this type, too, were the ordinances drawn up by Melanchthon, Bugenhagen, Major
Georg Major
George Major was a Lutheran theologian of the Protestant Reformation. He was born in Nuremberg and died at Wittenberg.-Life:...
, and others, for the electorate of Saxony in 1549; but these never went into effect, giving place in 1580 to a constitution Lutheran in character.
The Thirty Years’ War exercised a disastrous influence on the entire ecclesiastical system of Germany, and particularly on church discipline. The work of restoration, however, was begun almost immediately after the cessation of hostilities, but so great was the moral degradation in which the mass of the people was plunged, so low was the standard of education and general intelligence, that in the formulation of new ecclesiastical laws the governments, of necessity, assumed a far larger share of authority over the affairs of the Church than they had possessed before the war. This increased power of the government was apparent not only in a closer supervision over the ecclesiastical administration, but also in the enforcement of a stricter adherence to the formulated modes of worship. Of the agenda promulgated after the war, the most important were those of Mecklenburg, 1650; Saxony and Westphalia, 1651; Brunswick‐Lüneburg
Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
The Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel was a subdivision of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg, whose history was characterised by numerous divisions and reunifications. Various dynastic lines of the House of Welf ruled Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel until the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806...
, 1657; Hesse, 1657; and Halle, 1660.
Nobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
. The consistory
Consistory
-Antiquity:Originally, the Latin word consistorium meant simply 'sitting together', just as the Greek synedrion ....
of Hanover in 1800 granted permission to its ministers to introduce during public worship such changes in language, costume, and gesture as would appeal to the tastes of their “refined audiences.” As a result the old official agenda passed generally out of use and were replaced by books of worship representing the views of individual ministers.
The Agenda in the Reformed Church
In the Evangelical Churches outside of Germany books of ritual were drawn up during the early years of the ReformationProtestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
. In 1525 Zwingli published the order of the mass as celebrated at Zurich and a formula of baptism based on the “Book of Baptism,” issued by Leo Judæ in 1523. A complete agenda, including the two Zwinglian codes, appeared at Zurich in 1525 (according to Harnack and others, but more probably in 1529), under the title Ordnung der Christenlichen Kilchenn zü Zürich, and was often revised during the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Bern received its first formulary in 1528; Schaffhausen, in 1592, and St. Gall in 1738. Neuchatel, in 1533, was the first French-speaking community to adopt a definite ritual; its
authorship has been attributed to Farel. At Geneva, Calvin published in 1542, La Forme des prières ecclésiastiques, based on the practises he had found among the French of Strasburg during his sojourn in that city from 1538 to 1541. The Strasburg ritual was followed also by the French in London, and by many churches in France itself. Deserving of special mention are the constitutions drawn up in 1550 by Johannes a Lasco for the fugitives from the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
resident in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. They form the first comprehensive formulation of the ritual of Calvinistic Protestantism, and are still in force in the Netherland Church.
Revival of Agenda by Frederick William III
In Germany the return to a uniform, authoritative mode of worship was begun by Frederick William III of PrussiaFrederick William III of Prussia
Frederick William III was king of Prussia from 1797 to 1840. He was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel .-Early life:...
in the early years of the nineteenth century. After 1613 the royal family of Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
were adherents of the Reformed creed, but the king’s personal beliefs were entirely Lutheran. After the campaign of Jena
Battle of Jena-Auerstedt
The twin battles of Jena and Auerstedt were fought on 14 October 1806 on the plateau west of the river Saale in today's Germany, between the forces of Napoleon I of France and Frederick William III of Prussia...
(1806) he entrusted the task of drafting a ritual to Ruhlemann Friedrich Eylert, whose work, however, failed to
receive the king’s approval because the author had fallen into the then common error of the writers of liturgies, namely, of paying little regard to the historical development of the evangelical forms of worship. Frederick William protested vehemently against these newly fabricated rituals, and asserted the necessity of “going back to Father Luther
Martin Luther
Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...
.” With this purpose he devoted many years to the personal study of ritualistic history and attained an expert knowledge of the subject, particularly of its phases in the sixteenth century. The refusal of the great mass of the Old Lutheran clergy to lend themselves to his efforts in favor of unity because of the Lutheran doctrine of Real Presence
Real Presence
Real Presence is a term used in various Christian traditions to express belief that in the Eucharist, Jesus Christ is really present in what was previously just bread and wine, and not merely present in symbol, a figure of speech , or by his power .Not all Christian traditions accept this dogma...
(see: Prussian Union
Prussian Union (Evangelical Christian Church)
The Prussian Union was the merger of the Lutheran Church and the Reformed Church in Prussia, by a series of decrees – among them the Unionsurkunde – by King Frederick William III...
), he met with the determination to make use of the power vested in him by law to bring about the desired end. In 1822 he published the agenda for the court and cathedral church of Berlin; and two years later this formulary, increased and revised with the aid of Borowsky and
Bunsen
Christian Charles Josias Bunsen
Christian Charles Josias, Baron von Bunsen was a German diplomat and scholar.-Early life and education:Bunsen was born at Korbach, an old town in the little German principality of Waldeck....
, was submitted to the various consistories. Before the end of 1825, out of 7,782 churches within the Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
n dominions, 5,243 had adopted the proposed regulations. In spite of a bitter polemic, in which Schleiermacher
Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher
Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher was a German theologian and philosopher known for his attempt to reconcile the criticisms of the Enlightenment with traditional Protestant orthodoxy. He also became influential in the evolution of Higher Criticism, and his work forms part of the foundation of...
led the assault on the king’s innovations, the new regulations were introduced in all the provinces before 1838. This caused reaction called Neo-Lutheranism
Neo-Lutheranism
Neo-Lutheranism was a 19th century revival movement within Lutheranism which began with the Pietist driven Erweckung, or Awakening, and developed in reaction against theological rationalism and pietism...
.
The Agenda in the Modern Lutheran Church
The king’s agenda, however, did not cease to be the subject of much criticism. In 1856 it was improved; and in 1879 the General Synod determined upon a thorough revision. The work was entrusted to a committeeof twenty-three, among whom were the theologians Goltz, Kleinert, Hering, Meuss, Renner, Rübesamen, Kögel, and Schmalenbach; and in 1894 their draft of a new ritual was adopted with slight changes by the General Synod. The lead of Prussia was followed by the other members of the German Empire, and most of the states revised their agenda. Bohemia and Moravia (both Lutherans and Calvinists), Denmark, Norway, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and Transylvania have also late revisions. In France, after much agitation, a book of ritual, Liturgie des Églises reformées, de France revisées par le Synode général, was adopted in 1897. Wilhelm Löhe's Agende für christliche Gemeinden (1848) forms also important part of the history of liturgy of Lutheran Church. 20th century Liturgical Movement
Liturgical Movement
The Liturgical Movement began as a movement of scholarship for the reform of worship within the Roman Catholic Church. It has grown over the last century and a half and has affected many other Christian Churches, including the Church of England and other Churches of the Anglican Communion, and some...
finally made major restoration of liturgy.
Anglo-Saxon Liturgies
The Church of EnglandChurch of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
adopted the Book of Common Prayer
Book of Common Prayer
The Book of Common Prayer is the short title of a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion, as well as by the Continuing Anglican, "Anglican realignment" and other Anglican churches. The original book, published in 1549 , in the reign of Edward VI, was a product of the English...
under Edward VI, which, with slight revisions, has been made universally obligatory by acts of uniformity. It was used with modifications by the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States. H. M. Mühlenberg
Henry Muhlenberg
Henry Melchior Muhlenberg , was a German Lutheran pastor sent to North America as a missionary, requested by Pennsylvania colonists....
prepared a liturgy that was adopted by the Lutheran Synod that he had organized (1748) and approved by the German Lutheran authorities at Halle, whose missionary he was. It was based upon those in use in Lüneburg (1643 onward), Calenberg (1569 onward), Brandenburg-Magdeburg (1739 onward), and Saxony (1712 onward). The liturgy of the Savoy Lutheran Church of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
was the only one, apparently, actually in hand, the others exerting their influence through Mühlenberg’s memory Forms for baptism and the marriage ceremony were taken from the Book of Common Prayer of the Church of England. In 1795 Kunze published A Hymn and Prayer Book for the use of such Lutheran Churches as use the English Language, which has by successive revisions developed into the present English Church Book. In 1806 the New York ministerium adopted a liturgy modified by Episcopal influence, and in 1818 the Philadelphia ministerium adopted a liturgy in which extemporaneous prayer was allowed as well as freedom in selecting the Scriptures to be read. In 1885 after much controversy and conference the General Synod adopted a “Common Service,” which was widely accepted by the Churches, but was not regarded as obligatory.
The Dutch Reformed Church in the United States adopted (1771) along with the Belgic Confession
Belgic Confession
The Confession of Faith, popularly known as the Belgic Confession, is a doctrinal standard document to which many of the Reformed churches subscribe. The Confession forms part of the Reformed Three Forms of Unity...
, the Heidelberg Catechism
Heidelberg Catechism
The Heidelberg Catechism is a Protestant confessional document taking the form of a series of questions and answers, for use in teaching Reformed Christian doctrine...
, and the Canons of the Synod of Dort, the liturgical forms that were at that time in use in the Netherlands. The Nicene
Nicene Creed
The Nicene Creed is the creed or profession of faith that is most widely used in Christian liturgy. It is called Nicene because, in its original form, it was adopted in the city of Nicaea by the first ecumenical council, which met there in the year 325.The Nicene Creed has been normative to the...
and Athanasian creed
Athanasian Creed
The Athanasian Creed is a Christian statement of belief, focusing on Trinitarian doctrine and Christology. The Latin name of the creed, Quicumque vult, is taken from the opening words, "Whosoever wishes." The Athanasian Creed has been used by Christian churches since the sixth century...
s are appended to the liturgy, which has undergone little change. The German Reformed Church in the United States seems to have used the Palatinate liturgy, with local modifications. In 1841 the Eastern Synod published a liturgy prepared by Lewis Mayer, which, however, failed of general approval. A “Provisional Liturgy,” prepared by Philip Schaff
Philip Schaff
Philip Schaff , was a Swiss-born, German-educated Protestant theologian and a historian of the Christian church, who, after his education, lived and taught in the United States.-Biography:...
and others (1857), likewise proved unacceptable. The “Order of Worship” was allowed by the General Synod (1866) as was also the “Western Liturgy” (1869). The “Directory of Worship” was adopted in 1887. A book of liturgical forms, prepared by Henry Van Dyke
Henry van Dyke
Henry Jackson van Dyke was an American author, educator, and clergyman.-Biography:Henry van Dyke was born on November 11, 1852 in Germantown, Pennsylvania in the United States....
and others appointed by the General Assembly, for use in Presbyterian Churches, but in no way obligatory, was published in 1906. It aroused considerable opposition.
See also
- LiturgicsLiturgicsLiturgics is the academic discipline dedicated to the study of liturgy. Liturgics scholars typically specialize in a single approach drawn from another scholarly field. The most common sub-disciplines are: history or church history, theology, and anthropology...
- Church Order (Lutheran)Church Order (Lutheran)The Church Order or Church Ordinance means the general ecclesiastical constitution of a State.The early Evangelical Church attached less importance to ecclesiastical ritual than the pre-Reformation Church had done...
- Lord's SupperEucharistThe Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
- Christian liturgyChristian liturgyA liturgy is a set form of ceremony or pattern of worship. Christian liturgy is a pattern for worship used by a Christian congregation or denomination on a regular basis....
- Christian worshipChristian worshipIn Christianity, worship is adoration and contemplation of God.-Overview:Throughout most of Christianity's history, corporate Christian worship has been primarily liturgical, characterized by prayers and hymns, with texts rooted in, or closely related to, the Scripture, particularly the Psalter;...
- Divine Service (Lutheran)
- Liturgical MovementLiturgical MovementThe Liturgical Movement began as a movement of scholarship for the reform of worship within the Roman Catholic Church. It has grown over the last century and a half and has affected many other Christian Churches, including the Church of England and other Churches of the Anglican Communion, and some...
- High Church LutheranismHigh Church Lutheranism"High Church Lutheranism" is the name given in Europe for the 20th century Lutheran movement that emphasizes worship practices and doctrines that are similar to those found within both Roman Catholicism and the Anglo-Catholic wing of Anglicanism...