ABSTRACT
Harmon’s efforts at mediating the Wesleyan liturgical tradition are explored in detail in this chapter. First, it investigates the unique way in which he gave priority to certain forms within Methodist worship. Next, it evaluates how Harmon advocated for commonality in worship among Methodists while prioritizing the faith behind the form. Chapter four then considers how Harmon understood the importance of having faith and form united in worship in order that participants might be formed as holy people. It compares Harmon’s writings with Georgia Harkness’s Prayer and the Common Life to illustrate the differing perspectives on holiness and sin that had developed within Methodism by the twentieth century. Finally, where the bulk of Summers’ efforts were aimed at convincing Methodists that form could go hand in hand with the liturgical freedom so esteemed in his day, Harmon’s liturgical reform assumed that Methodism had become too formal in worship and needed to recover the faith behind the form. Chapter Four concludes with a brief consideration of this difference in perspective.
