48-6. Let every person and family, in the morning, by secret and private prayer, for themselves and others, especially for the assistance of God to their minister, and for a blessing upon his ministry, by reading the Scriptures, and by holy meditation, prepare for communion with God in his public ordinances.

DIGEST : The current PCA text remains unchanged from that of PCUS 1894.

BACKGROUND AND COMPARISON :
1. PCA 1973, Adopted text, as printed in the Minutes of General Assembly, p. 155
2. Continuing Presbyterian Church, Proposed Book of Church Order (1973), DfW, 1-4, p. 63
3. PCUS 1933, DfW, I-§306
4. PCUS 1925, DfW, I-§306
5. PCUS 1894, I.-IV. (p. 100)
Let every person and family, in the morning, by secret and private prayer, for themselves and others, especially for the assistance of God to their minister, and for a blessing upon his ministry, by reading the Scriptures, and by holy meditation, prepare for communion with God in his public ordinances.

RPCES 1973, III-4
There should be private preparations of every person and family, by prayer for themselves, and for God's assistance of the minister, and for a blessing upon his ministry, and by such other exercise as may adequately provide a profitable communion with God in His public ordinances.

COMMENTARY
Morton H. Smith, Commentary on the Book of Church Order, 6th edition, 2007, p. 409.
Here is a general statement of the duty of the congregation regarding all occasions of public worship. The principle is that all should be in attendance. It would be well if this were set forth to all those being received into the membership of congregations, and that each new member understood that he was thus committing himself to the worship services of the congregation. An allowance could be made for special services, otherwise a person should so order his affairs as to be present at the worship services of the congregation. The benefits would be two-fold. First, there would be the general encouragement to the minister and elders in the fiill attendance of the congregation. Second, there would be the spiritual feeding that would take place with the additional occasions of the ministry of the Word to the whole congregation. All members of the Church would thus benefit and grow spiritually.