Worship in Calvin's Geneva

Here are a couple of quotations that give a little insight into what a normal Lord’s Day would have been like in Calvin’s Geneva:

 ‎”Sunday Worship was the central and most important liturgy of the week. There were, however, various Sunday services, a total of four in fact. At dawn (4 a.m. in summer, 5 a.m. in winter) a regular preaching service was held for servants or others who may have domestic duties the rest of the day. This service had certain similarities to the main service; on the Sundays the Lord’s Supper was celebrated the dawn service was also a supper service, because no one should be excluded from sharing that most special sacrament simply because he or she was not free to attend the main morning service. The dawn service was a favorite time for baptisms and marriages. The latter were prohibited on days the supper was celebrated, and baptisms also were not usually held if the supper was, although this was essentially a matter of convenience, not precept.” ‎

“The other three Sunday services are better known. The central one was the main mid-morning service (usually 8 a.m.) at which all the important announcements were made, and at which Calvin usually preached…The third service was the weekly catechism at noon, to which all children and others not yet able to give an accounting of their faith were obliged to come, until they could demonstrate publicly a a sufficient understanding of the faith to be admitted to the Lord’s Supper. The fourth service was the Sunday afternoon preaching service, usually mid-afternoon (3 p.m. in the summer and 2 p.m. in the winter). Calvin usually preached at this service and since this was the other time weddings were held on Sundays, this is when Calvin would most often perform weddings.”

– From “John Calvin: Writings On Pastoral Piety” pg. 98

Also here is a normal liturgy for the main morning service:

Psalm #55 “O My God Hear My Prayer” (congregation usually seated for this and other singing)

Invocation

Confession of Sin

Psalm #27 “The Lord is My Light” (Part I)

Minister’s Prayer and Prayer for Illumination

Biblical Text and Exposition

Prayer

Psalm #27 “The Lord is My Light” (Part II)

Benediction

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