# This book is a guide that presents the theory and practice for preparing, planning, and executing worship and ceremonies as a core pastoral task.
# This book presents the theoretical foundation and practical guidance for the pastoral tasks of public worship.

The organic shift between unity and autonomy that characterizes Reformed worship provides responsibility and opportunity for worship leaders and pastors who are responsible for planning and executing worship.
In the absence of a fixed form or method of public worship that all communities must uniformly follow, worship leaders and pastors have a pastoral responsibility to structure worship that reflects the specific circumstances and characteristics of the community they serve.
The autonomous practice of these forms of worship provides opportunities for cultural acceptance and creative approaches tailored to the context of the community.
However, there are clear principles and directions, regardless of which one prefers or accepts between responsibility and opportunity for organizing public worship.
Soon, public worship should theologically inherit the traditions of the Catholic Church according to the discipline of the Bible and become a practice most appropriate to the circumstances of the worshippers.
Organizing public worship that is biblically compliant, theologically sound, and culturally relevant is a key challenge for Reformed pastors today.


The chapters in this book are intended for pastors and worship leaders who must shoulder the responsibilities and opportunities afforded by the autonomy of worship.
The challenge of implementing the Bible's regulative principles for worship in the pastoral field according to Reformed theology and practice is to strengthen discernment for worship and ministry.
Planning and leading public worship services, as well as various pastoral tasks related to worship, such as practicing generational integration for public worship, baptism, strengthening the connection between public worship and the family, seasonal ceremonies, and caring for believers facing loss due to sudden death, are all difficult to approach in a uniform manner and require wise practice based on pastoral discernment.

“The composition of Christian worship is given different pastoral tasks depending on the tradition and theology to which it belongs.
Despite their differing theological positions, Catholics, Orthodox, and Anglicans emphasize fixed ritual practices according to established "models" when it comes to the composition of worship.
However, most Protestant churches, including Presbyterian churches, do not uniformly follow a single, fixed worship ritual.
In the case of Protestantism, public worship is a way of expressing worship toward God, and takes different forms in each community.
In this way, the Protestant tradition, which does not follow a single fixed worship method, recognizes the autonomy of public worship.
Historically, the Reformed tradition has recognized the autonomy of public worship.
When Calvin proposed a reformed worship service within the medieval Mass, he did so not for all communities in the Reformed tradition, but for specific ritual practices for the churches of Strasbourg and Geneva.”
---p.5 From the "Preface"

“The organic shift between unity and autonomy that characterizes Reformed worship provides responsibility and opportunity for worship leaders and pastors who are responsible for planning and executing worship.
In the absence of a fixed form or method of public worship that all communities must uniformly follow, worship leaders and pastors have a pastoral responsibility to structure worship to reflect the specific circumstances and characteristics of the community they serve.
The autonomous practice of these forms of worship provides opportunities for cultural acceptance and creative approaches tailored to the context of the community.
However, regardless of which one prefers or accepts between responsibility and opportunity for organizing public worship, there are clear principles and directions.
Soon, public worship should theologically inherit the traditions of the Catholic Church according to the discipline of the Bible and become a practice most appropriate to the circumstances of the worshippers.
“Organizing public worship that is biblically sound, theologically valid, and culturally relevant is a key challenge for Reformed pastors today.”
--- p.7 From the "Preface"

“The Reformed tradition has presented its Reformed identity not only through doctrine and confession of faith, but also through the practice of worship.
We have strived to reflect theology in our worship practices and to pursue unity between our confession of faith and our practice.
The Reformed tradition's efforts to achieve unity between confession of faith and practice are fundamentally expressed in the pursuit of worship services that conform to the teachings of the Bible and the practices of the early church.
However, the composition and practice of worship services in the Reformed tradition vary from time to time and from situation to situation.
Rather than demanding a fixed method, we have presented a kind of standard for each different community to present its Reformed identity and build worship practices that correspond to it.”
--- p.25 From “Reformed Understanding, Principles, and Practice Tasks for Presenting Standards for Worship and Ceremony”

“Furthermore, the church must become a place where people can creatively express their lives and identities to shape the faith of the next generation, a forum for dialogue about their calling in the world, a place where people can incorporate life into their prayers in the public sphere, and opportunities to address life’s diverse questions and issues together.
To this end, the church must proactively understand and adjust to the reality that the next generation is alienated from the church or pushed to the margins.”

--- p.239 From “Worship and Faith for the Next Generation: A Historical Review and Response to the Family Faith Form”