Liturgy and Sacraments Study Page. . . learn more

At Trinity Presbyterian Church, our public worship is strongly identified with the historic Christian liturgy. Here are a few resources that will help you study and appreciate the various aspects of Church practice.

Liturgy

User's Guide to the Liturgy

Pastor Lusk's "User's Guide to the Liturgy" will be available soon.

Notes on the Liturgy

Of Prayer Books and Puritans: The History of Reformed Worship

Audio teaching on worship by Pastor Lusk from the Dabney Center, Spring 2003:

Brief essays on aspects of the liturgy and liturgical theology (pdf files; more articles forthcoming):

  • Preparation, Call, and Procession
  • The Venite
  • A Short Philosophy of Worship Music
  • Liturgy and the Least of These: Children in Worship
  • Baptism and Liturgy
  • Absolution
  • The Sursum Corda
  • The Te Deum
  • The Public Reading of Scripture and Liturgical Use of the Lectionary
  • Preaching as a Means of Grace
  • The Collection of Tithes and Offerings as a Liturgical Element
  • Principles of Liturgical Prayer
  • Liturgical Use of Creeds and Confessions
  • The Kyrie
  • The Agnus Dei
  • The Magnificat
  • The Song of Simeon
  • The Gloria
  • The Pax
  • The Sanctus
  • A Place at the Table: Some Notes on Paedocommunion
  • The Benediction
  • The Amen
  • The Lord's Supper in the Liturgy
  • Eucharistic Prayer
  • Eucharistic Sacrifice
  • Bodily Posture
  • The Sign of the Cross
  • Anointing with Oil
  • Ordination
  • Repetition and the Value of Liturgy
  • Liturgy and the Gospel
  • "All I Need to Know About Jesus, I Learned in the Liturgy"
  • Towards a Reformed Liturgical Spirituality
  • The Use of Tradition in Liturgy
  • Recent Liturgical Movements and Contemporary Liturgical Developments
  • An Annotated Liturgical Bibliography

Church Calendar

January 10, 2009 Sunday School: A Brief Explanation of the Church Calendar

October 24, 2010 Church Calendar Overview

Sunday School Teaching on Liturgy from Auburn Avenue Presbyterian, 2003 (Forthcoming)

Prelude to the Psalter (August 10 and 17, 2003 from Auburn Avenue Presbyterian)

Sacraments

On-site articles:

Wine and Weekly (pdf)

Baptism (Dabney Center lecture pdf)

Lord's Supper (Dabney Center lecture pdf)

The Baptismal Doorway: A Brief Note on Placement of the Baptismal Font

Do I Believe in Baptismal Regeneration? (pdf)

The Door of Baptism: Notes on TPC's Baptismal Practice

Notes on TPC’s Baptismal Liturgy for Infants

Who May Celebrate the Eucharist at TPC?

On-site audio:

The Baptism of Jesus

The Baptism of Jesus I

The Baptism of Jesus II

The Baptism of Jesus III

The Baptism of Jesus IV

The Baptism of Jesus V

The Baptism of Jesus VI

Some select (off-site) articles:

Against Christianity, For the Sacraments

Baptismal Efficacy & the Reformed Tradition: Past, Present, & Future

Calvin and the Efficacy of Infant Baptism

Calvin on Baptism, Penance, & Absolution

Faith, Baptism, and Justification

For the Children's Sake

Jesus' Baptism: The Fount of Life

Some Thoughts on the Means of Grace

Liturgical Forms:

Baptismal Liturgies (forthcoming)

Eucharistic Liturgies (forthcoming)

TPC Practice

Children and Worship at TPC

We welcome children into our worship service. We know that small children often make noise. While we ask parents to be sensitive to the needs of others, as a congregation, we have a very high tolerance for the presence of children in the assembly. After all, entrance into the presence of God and participation in the liturgy are "baptismal" rights that belong to them as members of the royal priesthood.

We encourage you to train your children to not simply sit still through the service, but to actually engage the service as much as possible. That's one of the advantages of a liturgical pattern of worship -- there is enough repetition in the responses and service music that even pre-literate children can be taught rapidly how to participate, at least in bits and pieces. They also quickly learn to enjoy the bodily gestures and postures we use, learning when to sit, stand, kneel, raise their hands, and shout "Amen!"

If your children cause a bit of commotion, please do not feel the need to immediately take them out or to the nursery. The rest of the TPC family is willing to bear with your children, so you can too. Children were no different in Jesus' day, and yet he invited them to himself, without regard for the distractions they might present (Mt. 18-19). The psalmist insisted that children have an important role to play in the church's liturgical "holy war," silencing the foe and the accuser (Ps. 8).

Here are a couple of documents that further delineate the way in which we view children, especially their presence in the worship service:

Our paedocommunion/credocommunion cooperative agreement statement.

Our nursery philosophy.

Music

Dabney Center Lecture Notes, Spring 2007 (pdf)