The pulpit
A raised pulpit at the centre with an open Bible, and no altar at all.
The room is arranged so that everyone can hear. Height is not status — it's acoustics and sight lines.
Seen in · Presbyterian and Reformed churches
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Presbyterian / Reformed
The Word preached at the centre, plainness on purpose, psalms sung, and churches led by elders rather than one figure.
Geneva, Scotland and the Netherlands. The Reformed instinct is that God is sovereign and speaks — so the room is built around the Bible being opened, and anything that distracts from that is stripped away.
Read the storyA service
How a service usually runs
Call to worship
A verse of Scripture calling the congregation together, then a psalm or hymn.
Confession and pardon
Prayer of confession, an assurance of pardon read from Scripture.
The Word
Readings and a substantial sermon, often working through a book of the Bible week by week.
Response and sending
Prayers, offering, sometimes the Lord's Supper, and a benediction.
The room
What you'd see there
The Geneva gown
A plain black academic gown, sometimes with white bands at the throat. Many ministers wear an ordinary suit instead.
It is a scholar's gown, not a priest's vestment — the point is that the person is a teacher of the text, and that their own taste in clothes stays out of it.
Seen in · Scotland, the Netherlands, older congregations
The communion table
A plain table brought forward on communion Sundays, often only a few times a year, with people served in their seats.
A table rather than an altar, because the Supper is a meal of remembrance and communion, not a sacrifice repeated.
Seen in · Communion Sundays
Words
Prayers from this tradition
A prayer of illumination
Lord, open our ears to hear your Word, our minds to understand it, and our lives to obey it; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prayed before the Bible is read — Reformed worship expects God to speak through it.
Calvin's prayer
My heart I offer you, Lord, promptly and sincerely.
A prayer of trust
Sovereign God, nothing today will reach me that has not first passed through your hands. Give me a quiet heart under your care. Amen.
Language
Words you'll hear
Elders / session
The group of ordained lay leaders who govern the congregation.
Presbytery
The regional council of ministers and elders.
Psalter
The psalms set to metre for singing — in some churches, all that is sung.
Expository preaching
Working steadily through a book of the Bible.
The Westminster Confession
The 17th-century statement of belief many Presbyterians hold to.
Sacrament
Baptism and the Lord's Supper — two, no more.
The year
How the year is kept
Traditionally light on the church calendar — some congregations keep only Christmas and Easter, on the principle that every Lord's Day is a full feast. Others now follow the seasons.
Illustrations are artist's impressions, drawn to show the usual pattern. Every church varies.