The Historical Development of the Book of Church Order

Chapter 47 : The Principles and Elements of Public Worship

Paragraph 7 : Of those who attend

47-7. Public worship differs from private worship in that in public worship God is served by His saints unitedly as His covenant people, the Body of Christ. For this reason the covenant children should be present so far as possible as well as adults. For the same reason no favoritism may be shown to any who attend. Nor may any member of the church presume to exalt himself above others as though he were more spiritual, but each shall esteem others better than himself.

[DIGEST: What we have now as chapter 47 was not part of either the Proposed Book of Church Order (1973) or the Book of Church Order as adopted by the first General Assembly later that same year. Rather, this chapter, with its nine paragraphs, dates to 1975 when this text was presented by the Constitutional Documents Committee, as part of its proposed revision of the Directory. [M3GA, 3-15, pp. 55-56] This chapter, originally numbered as chapter 48, presents entirely new text not previously part of any prior Presbyterian Book of Church Order. The chapter was renumbered as chapter 47 when the original chapters 8 and 9 were merged in 1980. No changes to paragraph 47-7 have been made since adoption in 1975.

ANTECEDENT TEXTS:
1975, 48-7, [M14GA, p. 339]
Public worship differs from private worship in that in public worship God is served by his saints unitedly as his covenant people, the Body of Christ. For this reason the covenant children should be present so far as possible as well as adults. For the same reason no favoritism may be shown to any who attend. Nor may any member of the church presume to exalt himself above others as though he were more spiritual, but each shall esteem others better than himself.

[No comparable text in any of the following editions:]
1. PCA 1973, Adopted text, as printed in the Minutes of General Assembly
2. Continuing Presbyterian Church 1973, Proposed text
3. PCUS 1933
4. PCUS 1925
5. PCUS 1894

COMMENTARY:
Morton H. Smith, Commentary on the Book of Church Order, 6th edition, 2007, p. 400.
Public worship is defined as the worship of the saints as God's covenant people. One of the implications of this is that the whole covenant people should be included. In particular, covenant children should be present. The "so far as possible" phrase allows for the practice of dismissing the little children prior to the sermon. The argument for this practice is that little children cannot understand the preaching, but may be distracting to the adults around them.
Provision is often made for them to have Bible stories taught to them. On the other hand, there are many congregations where the children remain in the service. Though they may appear not to be listening, a questioning of them afterwards often shows that they are hearing more than might have been expected. The earlier that children can be trained to sit with their parents though the entire worship service the better for both the children and the congregation. There are passages
of the Bible addressed to children, and the minister would do well to address portions of the sermon to the children. The sentence indicating that no favoritism to any does not exclude particular address to any special group. For example, the minister may well address the elderly, or the young married, or the singles with particular applications of the Word to them. What is forbidden is any favoritism to individuals or groups in the sense that James forbids favoritism to the rich over against the poor (James 2:1-10). The last sentence cautions against spiritual pride on the part of any members of the congregation. All should obey the teaching of Philippians 2:3-4.