In connection with the reading of Scripture and of the Prayers, mention is made, in this same Book of Discipline, of an Order of Church officers who filled an important place in the Church of that time. It was ordained that where "no ministers could be had presently" the Common Prayers and Scriptures should be read by the most suitable persons that could be selected. These suitable persons came to be known as "Readers," and they form a distinct class of ecclesiastical officers in the Reformation Church of Scotland. The need of such an Order was evident, for the Church found great difficulty in securing men of the requisite gifts and graces for the office of the ministry. The Readers therefore, formed an important and numerous order in the Church for many years, numbering at one time no less than seven hundred, while at the same time there was less than half that number of ordained ministers. These men were not allowed to preach or to administer the sacraments, and they formed only a temporary order required by the exigencies of the times, as is evident from the fact that the General Assembly of 1581, in the hope that all parishes would soon be supplied with ordained ministers, forbade any further appointment of Readers.
In the mind of Knox, these men were the successors to the lectors of the early Church, and corresponded in Scotland to the docteurs of the Swiss Reformed Church, a Church whose organization he regarded as but little less than perfect. Although they conducted a part of the service in parishes where ministers regularly preached, yet in the original idea of the office the intention was that they should conduct public worship, in its departments of prayer and praise and reading of the Scriptures, only in parishes where a minister could not be secured. It is necessary to understand their office and their position in the Church, inasmuch as the existence of such an order has a bearing upon our appreciation of the form of public worship at this time adopted in Scotland.
In the exercise of public prayer the greatest freedom was granted the minister by the Book of Common Order. Calvin had prescribed a form of confession, the uniform use of which he required, but the general confession with which the service of the Book of Common Order opened, was governed by this rubric:
"When the congregation is assembled at the hour appointed, the Minister useth this confession, or like in effect, exhorting the people diligently to examine themselves, following in their hearts the tenor of his words."
Similar liberty was also allowed the minister in the prayer which followed the singing of the Psalms and preceded the sermon; the rubric governing this directed that:
"This done, the people sing a Psalm all together in a plain tune; which ended, the Minister prayeth for the assistance of God's Holy Spirit as the same shall move his heart, and so proceedeth to the sermon, using after the sermon this prayer following, or such like."
And finally, as governing the whole order of worship, it is added:
"It shall not be necessary for the Minister daily to repeat all these things before mentioned, but, beginning with some manner of confession, to proceed to the sermon, which ended he either useth the prayer for all estates before mentioned or else prayeth as the Spirit of God shall move his heart, framing the same according to the time and matter which he hath entreated of. And if there shall be at any time any present plague, famine, pestilence, war, or such like, which be evident tokens of God's wrath, as it is our part to acknowledge our sins to be the occasion thereof, so are we appointed by the Scriptures to give ourselves to mourning, fasting and prayer as the means to turn away God's heavy displeasure. Therefore it shall be convenient that the Minister at such time do not only admonish the people thereof, but also use some Form of Prayer, according as the present necessity requireth, to the which he may appoint, by a common consent, some several day after the sermon, weekly to be observed."
The liberty allowed to the minister in this so important part of public worship is evident, and although many prayers are added as suitable for particular times and occasions, and some, which are described as of common use under certain circumstances and by particular churches, yet none of them are prescribed as the only prayers proper for any particular season or occasion.
Even in the administration of the Lord's Supper, the directions which accompany the prayer which precedes the distribution of the bread and wine allows a similar latitude to the Minister.