There is no such special merit in monotony as to require that the worship of God should be conducted wholly in one method rather than in several. Rather it must be acknowledged that there is merit in variety if it be subjected to dignity and order. For a certain measure of variety arrests and engages the attention of the worshippers and sustains their interest.
VARIATIONS OF WORDS AND PHRASES. Much has been said from time to time concerning Extempore Prayers and Extempore Praise, as opposed to those which are more carefully prepared and agreed upon.
The discussion has been somewhat confused by the misuse of the word Extempore. Prior to the invention of Printing every one who had to conduct Services was required to know them by heart, so as to be able to say them without book. The fact that he used no book did not make the prayers extempore. In like manner one who is about to conduct the prayers of a Congregation may carefully prepare his subjects, phrases, and words, so as to avoid disorder in the subjects and unfitness in the words. His prayers in that case are not strictly extempore.
{2}
If however he determines to leave the order of subjects and the choice of words and phrases to the impulse of the moment, his thoughts may travel too fast, or too slowly, or too irregularly for the essential result: for the blessing which Christ promised is to those who unite in worship. (S. Matth. xviii. 19, 20.)
When a few people gather together with the same difficulties, temptations, dangers, sins, successes, a truly extempore prayer may be made by one of them without creating any discord of desire amongst the rest: but as soon as the congregation begins to include men and women of different occupations, tempers, ideas, talents—if moreover the persons for whom intercessions should be made are widely scattered and very variously employed—it becomes necessary to supplement by careful preparation the impulses of any one who leads the worship of a congregation. There is also great advantage in choosing the best phrases for expressing and including the worship of all.
We cannot doubt that the earliest prayers of the Collect form had local colouring; but those which have survived for our use are so expressed as to include many local applications, and a very great variety of circumstances.
Further, it will be clear that an extempore prayer may be part of a form of Service, just as much as a printed prayer. If the Service is composed of, The short Prayer, a Lesson, the long Prayer, the Sermon and several Hymns at fixed, or unfixed, places, the Service is a form. The description of the Holy Communion in the time immediately after the death of S. John the Evangelist (Justin Martyr, Apology i. 65-67, {3} see p. 58) shows us a form which provided for the essentials of such a service, with prayers, praises, lessons, offertory, Consecration, Communion, in order, although he who conducted the Service had a certain amount of liberty in using parts of it.
We may assume then that forms are good, and that it is good to have preparation and order and chosen phrases. The next question is how to provide for that Variety which shall sustain interest and engage the mind of the worshipper in the great business of his Service.
We may consider Variety of method, Variety of singing, and Variations in the component parts of the Service.