Presbyterian worship has been changed in diverse ways throughout its history while holding the basic structure of the Lord's day public service: the Word and Lord's table. Most Presbyterians agree that there is no one fixed form of reformed worship equally applicable to all Presbyterian congregations. Bryan D. Spinks, Professor of Liturgical Studies and Pastoral Theology at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, Yale Divinity School, and Berkeley Divinity School at Yale, attempts to explore the aspects of dynamic changes in reformed worship by rigorously exploring the society, culture, and liturgical resources of the Scottish Presbyterian worship from the nineteenth century to the present time. Although he lives outside of Scotland and has no experiential knowledge of any of the Presbyterian churches, as he confesses, Spinks discovers the evolution and devolution to be “organic changes” of the Scottish Presbyterian worship.

Spinks examines the Presbyterian worship in Scotland by using “organic development” as a hermeneutical lens for viewing the changes in Scottish Presbyterian worship from the Disruption of 1843 to present day. In his examination of the cases of Scottish Presbyterian worship, Spinks premises that freedom is at the core of Presbyterian worship so that the Scottish Presbyterian worship has been developed into different ways and forms based on the ways of using the freedom in prayers. Moreover, he also assumes the significant functions of society and culture as factors impacting the formation of Scottish Presbyterian worship while not ignoring the basic role of theological conviction of reformed worship. According to him, the organic changes of Scottish Presbyterian worship has been the fruit of pastoral and theological discernments on the freedom of worship in the Scottish culture and society.

Acknowledging the liturgical elasticity, Spinks articulates the organic development of the Scottish Presbyterian worship by examining how the common natures and significant variations of reformed worship have shown in the liturgical practices of Scottish Presbyterian churches. The Book of Common Order and the Westminster Directory had been the common ground and guide for all Scottish Presbyterian churches. Yet, Spinks points out that “liturgical disruption” began with complaints regarding the liturgical practices recommended by the Westminster Directory: the poor quality of the traditional worship including the Communion, poor extemporary prayer, the omission of significant components of worship such as Bible readings, the Lord's Prayer and Creed. In order to respond to these liturgical conditions and practices, the Scottish Presbyterian churches had attempted to develop ministerial guides to the theology and practice of worship. According to Spinks, this liturgical innovation of organizing new resources and materials for worship prompted “liturgical disruption” in the Scottish Presbyterian churches.

Spinks charts this complicated map of liturgical devolution and evolution as organic changes of Scottish Presbyterian worship in the main body of this book from chapter 2 to chapter 9. According to Spinks, Dr. Robert Lee of Greyfriars, Edinburgh initiated liturgical disruption of the Scottish Presbyterian worship (chap. 2). Lee innovated worship by introducing the reading of prayers, kneeling for prayer, the use of instrumental music, the use of the harmonium (the organ), and the use of hymns in worship not as a departure from the Westminster Directory and the Book of Common Order but as an ideal and appropriate practice of Scottish Presbyterian worship. This liturgical disruption initiated by Lee continued and was developed in various ways with the help of the Church Service Society founded in 1865. Spinks clearly describes the place and role of the Church Service Society in terms of the development of Scottish Presbyterian worship (chap. 3). By studying and discussing the Presbyterian liturgical resources, the Church Service Society did not regard the Westminster Directory as the sole “ancestor of Scottish worship” (48) and compiled various ways of prayers in worship from ancient and modern liturgical sources. Euchologion, an example of the liturgical evolution of Scottish worship by the Church Service Society, was used as an official guide of prayer for Scottish Presbyterian public worship, including in services for the administration of the sacraments, the celebration of marriage, the burial of the dead, etc. As the theological conviction and pastoral vision of the Church Service Society, the main and ongoing emphasis of Euchologion is on the sacramental theology and practice with more frequent celebration of the Lord's Supper. Spinks continues to prove that there were organic changes of the Scottish Presbyterian worship by exploring the practices and liturgical companions of public prayers and music in worship in the United Presbyterian Church, the Free Church of Scotland and Free Presbyterian Church in the nineteenth century (chaps. 4 and 5). In particular, he examines the emphasis of the Scottish Church Society on the efficacy of the sacrament and restoration of Communion to its right place in relation to the worship of the church (chap. 6). He also traces the development of Scottish Presbyterian worship from a simple style to a complex liturgy by integrating Scottish culture, ecclesiology, and architecture affected by Romanticism (chap. 7). Yet, the groups committed to the older forms of worship represented by the Westminster Directory have been critically reacting to the liturgical revolutions in the complex context of liturgical turmoil throughout history (chap. 8 and 9).

Spinks's perceptive analysis of the Scottish Presbyterian liturgical legacy fills a gap in the history of reformed worship by showing how “freedom of prayers” in the Book of Common Order and the Westminster Directory have been organically developed in the practices of Presbyterian worship from the nineteenth century to the present day. By reading this book, readers can learn how Scottish Presbyterian worship has been negotiating to be reformed while embracing various traditional liturgical resources in the forms of prayers, music, reading the scriptures, and the Lord's table. For those who would like to identify themselves as Presbyterians both inside and outside Scotland, this book would help them with tracing the roots and historical developments of variants in the practices of Presbyterian worship.