Convention speaker’s book traces Methodist worship
METHODISTS are not only a singing people, their church was born in song, according to the Rev Dr David Chapman in his book Born in Song: Methodist Worship in Britain.
The Rev Dr Chapman is the English speaker for the 2009 Aldersgate Convention to be held at Barker Road Methodist Church from May 18-23. He will address the theme “The Wesleyan Way of Being Church” through a series of evening talks, a Saturday seminar and the Aldersgate Service on Saturday, May 23.
Written in anticipation of the 2007 tercentenary of the birth of Charles Wesley and the bicentenary of the first Methodist camp meeting in Britain, Born in Song reflects how Methodism’s musical heritage has allowed it “to flourish in different cultural settings”.
The global reality of Methodism means that worship continues to mirror diverse cultural settings. That makes such a book all the more valuable. While specifically focused on the British context, Born in Song addresses issues that are relevant to worldwide Methodism.
Though rooted in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer of the Church of England, Methodist worship has always borrowed from other traditions, from the simplicity of the Puritans and Moravians to the recent liturgical movement, with its ecumenical connections.
Born in Song: Methodist Worship in Britain traces its origins and development from John Wesley’s Sunday Service of the Methodists to the present day. Besides dealing with the principal forms of Methodist worship, space is also given to occasional festivals (including the love-feast, covenant service and watch-night) as well as to sacred space and time.
Born in Song: Methodist Worship in Britain was published in England by Church in the Market Place in 2006.