In recent years I’ve observed a number of Reformed-type churches trying to institute corporate handraising in certain sung parts of worship. This often does not seem to work very well. 1. Some people don’t do it. 2. Some do it half-way. 3. Some do it with one hand. 4. Some dramatically stretch to the ceiling with both hands. 5. Some put their hands out wide into the faces of their neighbors.
So I have some questions.
1. What is the Biblical basis for trying to institute this? Traditional Reformed/Presbyterian liturgical practice enjoins the pastor to pray with his hands raised. 1 Timothy 2:8 says “the men (aner)” are to offer prayer. Since this is a pastoral epistle, THE men are taken to be the pastors/leaders in worship, not all the men in the room.
2. All the instances I can find of lifting hands are either to place a benediction, or in prayer. I don’t see any instances of raising hands during song.
3. If we come to believe there is some value in corporate handraising, then it makes sense for it to be in prayer, or in sung prayer. Perhaps the reason it is not “working” very well in many churches is that the Doxology and the Gloria Patri are NOT prayers. They are not addressed to God. There’s no one to lift your hands to in the Doxology and Gloria Patri, so the act seems absurd at some level. Both songs (which are actually the same song) call on others to praise God, but are not prayers or praise directed to God.
4. That might change, in the Gloria Patri, if instead of singing “Glory BE to the Father…” we sang “Glory to the Father….” In that case, we would be directly glorifying God.
5. And it would make sense in the Gloria in Excelsis: “we praise Thee, we bless Thee, we worship Thee, we glorify Thee” etc. That is, if the churches started singing things like that.
6. There is also the problem that the two common Gloria Patris in common use in non-liturgical churches are both musically pretty sorry, and the Doxology is usually sung as slow as molassas. Nobody’s going to feel like lifting his hands up during such drippy songs. Nor will they be much inclined during a slow and gooey singing of “Holy, Holy, Holy” or something else actually addressed to God. If the musicians are not going to support the congregation with vigorous playing, nobody’s likely to get excited!
Conclusion: I see three things that are problematic with modern Reformed/Presbyterian corporate handraising:
A. The Bible does not seem to teach it in any clear way, so people are dubious.
B. People are asked to raise their hands during things that are not prayers.
C. People are asked to raise their hands during dreary slow music.
I write this not as someone opposed to corporate handraising per se, but as someone opposed to pointless ritual acts stuck in for some reason I cannot fathom. The minister is to have his hands raised during ALL prayers. If the congregation is asked to raise hands, it should be in prayers they say, or in prayer-songs. Not at random times.
What about congregational lifting of hands during the Sursum Corda? There seems to be Scriptural warrant for a symbolic linking of lifting hands & hearts to Yahweh. I’m thinking mostly of Neh 8:6 where the congregation lifts hands as an affirmation, but there are other occurrences. The lifting of hearts & hands is linked in Lam 3:41.
Thoughts?
Jim,
I know you’ve talked about the doxology not being a prayer before, but I’m not sure I’m with you on that. Sure, there’s a call in the second and third lines for “all creatures here below” and “heavenly hosts” to praise God, but that doesn’t mean the entire thing is simply a call for others to praise God.
When I say/sing “Praise God,” I am not merely calling on others to praise him. I am praising him with that address. Raising my hands during the doxology, I praise Father, Son, and Holy Spirit by singing “Praise Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”
No?
This is an interesting issue but my question is what about clapping (Psalm 47:1). I don’t see that (yet) in covenant renewal services.
Jeff, it seems to me that the Doxology has to be stretched to make it as direct a form of prayer/praise as, say, the Gloria in Excelsis.
Kevin, we used to clap the Genevan Psalm 47 routinely in Tyler. It’s been tried elsewhere, often with much less clappable versions. The Genevan was made for clapping! Part of the question, though, is whether this means all nations are to “clap their palms” or to “CLASP their palms,” as Hirsch suggests. He argues that all are to clasp palms/hands with Israel around the throne. An attractive alternative. Still, palms are just human cymbals, so I think rhythmic clapping of some Psalms is a good idea.
I’d much rather sing the Doxology in a good fast 3/2 time, as it was written, and clap along with it. I’d rather do that than just raise my hands.
Barb, sursum corda might be a good place, keeping the hands up through the Sanctus?
I agree that we ought to remind our people that the Bible does not mandate that we raise our hands at these particular times (Doxology/Gloria Patri), but that the elders as the leaders in worship have judged that it is fitting and right to do so at these particular times. It should not be odd to our congregations if we instead lead them to raise hands corporately during the Lord’s Prayer.
The same is true of kneeling in prayer. There is no Biblical example of kneeling during a confession of sin. Kneeling occurs in prayers of adoration, dedication, intercession (if it even helpful to categorize prayers this way), but there is no example that I can find in Scripture of keeling to confess sins. But the church has found that kneeling during a corporate confession seems fitting and helpful.
I don’t believe that the examples that we have of postures are exclusive, but rather instructive. Solomon knelt and lifted his hands in the same prayer – this is not something I’ve seen advocated by us yet, but it would seem permissible. When Jesus interceded for us he lifted up His eyes to Heaven, but the text does not say that He lifted up His hands, so I’m not sure that the minister must have his hands lifted during all prayers (though I must say that this practice might help limit the prayer of intercession to a reasonable length – assuming the minister didn’t get someone to support his arms:).
I don’t agree with your view on the Doxology and the Gloria Patri (and by implication the songs of Mary, Zacharias, the angels and most of the psalms). To say: “God be praised”, “Praise God”, “Bless His holy name”, “Praise Father son and Holy Ghost”, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God almighty, the whole earth is full of His glory”, “Glory to God in the highest” can surely be prayers as well as commands or statements. Are you saying that we must phrase things very specifically like, “Praise TO YOU Lord” before it counts as a prayer?
I agree that we should not perform ritualistic acts for no good reason – or even worse to perform rituals which send a confusing or counterproductive message. Your article of some years back concerning assuming a normal posture of sitting to eat the Lord’s Supper rather than kneeling to receive the elements was extremely helpful to me. But it seems to me it is fitting and following Biblical principles of worship for the people “to lift up our hands in the sanctuary and bless the Lord”. And I think to say “Hallelujah” can be a praise and not just a command. The language of the Doxology and the Gloria Patri are just an extended Hallelujah, just like Psalms 148-150.
Blessings,
Mahaffey
Useful thoughts, Sean.
Many liturgical theologians distinguish between songs/psalms that are prayers directed to God, and those that are not. If you look at the Service Book and Hymnal, you’ll see that only prayer-hymns end in Amen. Eric Routley, the great hymnologist, makes this point quite often.
People can raise their arms during the entire service, as far as I’m concerned. My question concerned the way this rather chaotic practice has come into our circles, and to raise questions about its basis and how it’s being used. It does not appear to me that much thought has been given to it. Rather, I suspect it’s more a matter of considering that charismatics do it, and the Bible does say things about it, so let’s do it too, though in a more corporate and orderly way. Okay, that’s fine, as a way to get started. But I’d like to see more reflection on it.
Fact is, Gloria Patri and Doxology are just the leftover liturgical fragments of high worship. They are the doxologies that conclude psalms. They just get stuck into Ref/Pres services as “elements” that are largely evacuated of meaning.
I think part of the Ref/Pres problem is that such services are not very “liturgical” in flow. As I said at AAPC, they are a series of framed events. A good flow into the Sursum Corda followed by the Preface and Sanctus, with good music, would naturally impel hands to come up. On the other hand, stopping after the last event and then, well, okay, now let’s do the Doxology, nice and slow, and put your hands up and space out — well, I’d rather not.
Also, if handraising is important, then it should be taught we should all do it the same way. A friend described the best way, a version of the early church orante position. At least, we should be thinking about this, I think, and questioning whether the present chaos is really useful.
The raising of hands in prayer is a posture that has ample biblical warrant: Exod 17:1-12, Neh 8:5-6, 1 Kings 8:54, Ps 28:2; 141:2; 1 Tim 2:8, Ps 63:4.
When one examines the specific contexts and contents of these texts more closely, two distinct occasions or types of prayer are associated with raising of hands in the Bible are:
1. Intercession or petitionary prayer: Exod. 17:1-12; 1 Ki. 8:54; Ps 28:2, 141:2; 1 Tim. 2:8
2. Praise: Ps 63:4; Neh. 8:5-6
I believe that we should aim (eventually) to corporately raise hands for the following occasions in the liturgy:
(1) The Sursum Corda (praise) This would be an occasion of raising hands in praise to God. After the pastor invites us to “Lift up our hearts,” it is entirely natural to lift our hands when we respond with “We lift them up to the Lord.” The lifting up our hands would complement and facilitate the lifting up of our hearts in praise and thanks to God. Arms could remain lifted at least through the end of the preface, or through the Sanctus (if the the song at this point is a fixed response that the people will have memorized as opposed to a hymn with this general heavenly theme that changes).
(2) The Lord’s Prayer (petition/intercession). This would be an occasion of raising hands in petition or supplication to God.
(3) A doxology or some other short hymn of praise. This would be an occasion of raising hands in praise to God. There could be many places where this might be appropriate in the service. Some good places might be the end of the eucharistic prayer, the end of the post-communion thanksgivings, or at the end of the service right before or after the benediction.
(4) The benediction. Although there is no biblical proof-text for this, nevertheless holding out one’s hands with palms facing up is a kind of receptive posture that indicates that we are receiving God’s service to us in blessing at this point.
Even though the reference to raising hands in 1 Tim 2 is probably to ministers, it is still very appropriate for the whole congregation to raise hands with him because during intercession the minister is leading the whole congregation in prayer. I think too many people think of this as the “pastoral” prayer, i.e., something the pastor prays on behalf of the rest of the congregation rather than as an act of corporate prayer in which all are to participate actively. Everyone raising hands for supplication to God would emphasize this corporate and active participation in the prayer.
By raising hands at all three of these points, the liturgy would include all of the different biblical occasions for raising of hands. Also, at all three of these points the congregational response is short, and thus one would only need to maintain the posture for a short time. Furthermore, if each of these responses is part of the weekly liturgy, the congregation will not need to look at the bulletin because they already have them memorized.
Mike,
What you write make sense. Currently we raise our hands to praise God with the doxology as the offering is being presented. We then immediately recite the Lord’s prayer with our hands still raised.
The only point you make that I don’t quite understand is the raising of hands for the benediction. I know a lot of people do this, but I’m not sure where it comes from or why it “works.” I’ve noticed that some people that do this close their eyes and bow their heads. That seems inappropriate to me. Raise you head and look at the Pastor as he delivers the benediction.
Standing an looking full-faced at the pastor seems like more than enough. I’m not quite sure I’m getting the meaning of the posture for the benediction.
I wonder if getting down on one knee while facing forward might even be better. The posture of one being blessed and commissioned to serve his Lord.
I may be wrong. I’m not trying to start an argument over that, just throwing out my own thoughts.
Jordan writes: “Since we are lifting our hearts toward God, it makes sense to me to hold my hands up, palms up, in front of me at about shoulder height.”
This seems to me a very doable position for any prayer. It’s not taxing, nor is it dramatic. It’s about the same as folding one’s hands. I think we’d have better response from our congregations if we taught this way.
Anyway, we are having just the kind of discussion I wanted to see.
Jeff,
Certainly no one should have eyes closed and head bowed when receiving God’s benediction, whatever one’s bodily posture.
I am also unsure where the hand raising for benediction comes from.
We brought this practice to our congregation from our mother church. I think it “works” because it is a kind of receptive posture. When someone gives something to us, we usually stretch out our hands to receive (like holding out one’s hands to receive a gift). Of course, it would be impractical to do this every time we received something from God in the liturgy because we would have to spend the entire service in this posture. So it’s hardly necessary, and it doesn’t have the clear biblical basis that the other occasions for hand raising do.
I really like your idea of looking up at the pastor while kneeling on one knee. Ties blessing and commissioning together much more clearly.
From my inside sources (i.e., my relatives and friends: Augusta is my hometown), Robertson did indeed introduce the handraising for the benediction when he arrived at First Pres. He also had kneelers installed for the prayer of confession. That’s all good stuff.
Sorry to be so dumb about this, but about kneeling for confession (i.e., Comment # 7); what is the biblical posture for humility? It’s prostrating yourself, right? So maybe we should do that for the confession of sins…Or is there some ‘cultural’ wiggle room here that allows us to do something else that signifies humility and penitence? (Though I don’t think it is a particularly believable argument to say that our culture no longer recognizes prostration as a sign of humility)
Xon, I think the “wiggle room” is that the Confession of Sins in worship is not a prayer-closet prostration and confession of my own evils, but is also a confession of the sins of the world, acting as we do in union with Christ as mediatorial-firmament between God and the world. We join in Jesus’ intercessory work and confess our sins, and also the sins of Moslems and dirtbags, asking God to spare us and the world. Because this is a communal act, doing it in a communal way makes sense. People kneeling together and facing the same way is an act of humility, but also a corporate action.
For this reason I do not like turning away and kneeling into the chair/pew. I understand where this comes from, that it’s at least a way of kneeling. But it seems to me that we should kneel facing the same way we face for all of our other interactions with God in the liturgy. If you don’t have kneelers, either stand or else teach the people to sit on the edge of the chair/pew and put their arms on the chair/pew in front of them. This is almost kneeling, and I think accomplishes the same effect. I think the act of turning around and facing away is more problematic than the act of not quite kneeling. (Thoughts?)
Mike, we started doing the “knightly commissioning” position at benediction at the BH conference a few years ago and it’s gone quite well. But the room we meet in has chairs and no kneelers. I don’t know how well this would work in close-together pews with kneelers. But folks have liked it.
[...] Jim Jordan shares some thoughts about handraising in worship HERE. [...]
What my wife and I have been doing, is practicing for church with our children after breakfast. My wife lines up some chairs and then says, now let us confess our sins, and has been working on getting the kids to kneel facing forward with their heads bowed and thier hands folded in their lap. It may be something small, but that way, they all know what we are doing when we get to church. at the actual call to confession, I try and end with a call to kneel and confess the corporate sins of the church in a time of silence, since their individual sins are the corporate sins, and then lead a prayer confessing the sins of our church, the sins of the broader church, and the sins of our city, ending each Prayer with, “Lord Send Your Spirit.” and then we Amen and Stand with “kneeling we confess, justified we stand.” Kneeling is probably just one step forward, similar to corporate hand raising, but If we are doing it on purpose, the Lord will continue to reveal his pleasure to us (meaning what pleases him). I do appreciate finding a place where these discussions are still on the table. One question though, how legitimate is using culturally recognizable bodily motions that aren’t mentioned in the bible, like the commissioning of a knight?
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