THE Church-Book OF St. Peter's Church, Bochester. CONTAINING THE ORDER OF PUBLIC WORSHIP; THE FUNERAL SERVICE; Fac-simile of the title page of the first edition of the Church Book of St. Peter's Church, Rochester, New York. Issued by Lee, Mann & Co. in 1855. Exact size. PRESBYTERIAN PRAYER BOOKS. THE Presbyterians, though usually strenuous for the freedom of extemporaneous prayer, have left themselves upon record concerning the value of precomposed forms of devotion. Forty years ago Rev. Mr. Baird wrote "Eutaxia," a plea for a liturgy, based on the argument that historically Presbyterianism has not ignored the use of prayer books, as Calvin, Knox and other early representatives of that faith prepared liturgies. When the Presbyterians of Rochester,. New York, organized a congregation in 1853, under the name of St. Peter's Church, they adopted an order, or form of worship, that was chiefly the work of Rev. Leonard W. Bacon, D.D. The book is a square I 2mo. It is divided into two parts. The first part of thirty-six pages contains, An Order of Public Worship, and occasional Services. Morning Service begins with this note: The congregation stand during the Doxologies, at the close of the first, and of the last singing; during the Salutation and Benediction; during the saying of the Creed (when it is used): and during the Prayers. The order of service is introduced by a Chant ending with the Gloria Patri. Then follow, Salutation in Scripture sentences, Invocation, Lord's Prayer, Psalter, Hymn, Ten Commandments, Confession and Prayer, Chant, Reading from the Scriptures, Apostles' Creed, Special Prayer, Hymn, and Benediction. The Afternoon or Evening Service is a shortened form of that given for the Morning. The next place is assigned to Order of Baptism. of Children. This is the arrangement: Chant, Address to Parents, Prayer, Baptism, Chant, Special Prayer, Hymn and Sermon. The Order of the Baptism of Adults, is, Address to the Candidates, Apostles' Creed and Baptism. Order of Receiving Baptized Persons to the fellowship of the Church, consists of an Address, Benediction and Hymn. The Order of Administering the Lord's Supper is conducted as follows: Chant, Salutation, Invocation, Lesson from the Psalter, Hymn, Ten Commandments, Confession and Prayer, Chant, Reading from the Scriptures, Apostles' Creed, Special Prayer, Hymn, The Blessing, The Breaking and Distribution of the Bread, The Giving of Thanks, The Distribution of the Wine, Hymn and Benediction. At the end are given the words of Institution, as recorded by St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke and St. Paul. The Marriage Service is outlined thus: Chant, Reading of Scripture, Address at the discretion of the Minister, Charge to Congregation, Questions to the Contracting Parties, Prayer, Pledges of the Man and Woman, Prayer and Benediction. These are the words used at the reception of the ring: "It is the visible token of the most endearing of all earthly relations. It speaks of vows never to be recalled. It remains through life the silent witness of the fidelity with which those vows are fulfilled. Let it be the pledge and token of your faith, and the symbol of your mutual love." The Funeral Service is in this form: Chant, Salutation, Lord's Prayer, Lesson from the Psalter, Chant, Prayer, Reading of Scripture, Address, Prayer, Hymn, Benediction. At the grave there is a shortened form of the Committal Service. Two and a half pages are supplied with Morning and Evening Prayers for families. A note reads: "The following prayers are in chief part those composed by that eminent servant of God, John Calvin, and approved by the use of Christian families in the Reformed Churches of Europe. both at the present time and for many generations past. They are given here, not as being preferable to the free utterance of the petitions of the household by some suitable person but in order that when for any reason this is impracticable, the duty of family worship may by no means be neglected. The use of these prayers ought not to prevent the offering of such particular petitions as the special circumstances of the household may require. It is proper that the prayers should be preceded by the reading of a portion of Holy Scripture, |