ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that over the 450 years of its life the English Congregational tradition has manifested considerable variety in attitudes towards, and the practice of, public worship. It is although appeal has frequently been made to the Bible for the authorization of particular liturgical practices, the circumstances of the times have played their part in suggesting how the scriptures may legitimately be interpreted. And this story there emerge some 'matters arising' which have wider than Congregational implications. The worship of the English Congregational tradition is that one of the most important terms in the liturgiolgist's vocabulary is the blessed word 'normally'. The worship of the Church is expressed in many ways: through prayer and praise, through the reading of the Bible and the proclamation of Christ in preaching, through the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, through many and varied acts of devotion and Christian ordinances, and through the fellowship and decisions of the Church.
