Our Tradition of Worship
Worship services at King's Chapel have evolved over more than 300 years. In many ways our services both shape and express the character of our religious community.
Worship at King's Chapel, the first Unitarian church in North America, follows a distinctive blend of Anglican liturgy and Christian theology. The congregation is creedless in the sense that it does not require affirmation of or adherence to any particular doctrine or interpretation of religion other than what is implied in the words of the Covenant subscribed to by the members of The Society of King's Chapel: "In the love of truth and in the spirit of Jesus Christ, we unite for the worship of God and the service of man" (from our Book of Common Prayer, page 120).
The yearly cycle of worship services at King's Chapel follows the familiar calendar of the Christian liturgical year. In addition to Morning Prayer each Sunday at 11:00, a half-hour Midday service is held each Wednesday at 12:15 p.m. Holy Communion is celebrated during Morning Prayer on the First Sunday and during Midday Prayer on the Third Wednesday of each month, and at other special times. Communion is open without restriction to all who wish to receive at the Lord's table.
In addition to regularly scheduled services, there are a number of special services throughout the year, including Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and the days of Holy Week, including an Easter Vigil on Easter Eve.
During the academic year, when the Church School is in session, an Early Service is held at 9:45 a.m. in the "Little Chapel" at the King's Chapel Parish House, 64 Beacon Street. Though primarily intended for children and their parents, this service, like all services at King's Chapel, is open to all and welcomes visitors and newcomers to our community.
Our congregation's prayerbook, "The Book of Common Prayer According to the Use in King's Chapel," is unique. The first edition was published in 1785 under the ministry of the Rev. James Freeman. At that time the congregation voted to make certain changes to the 1662 Anglican prayerbook then in use in order to give expression to a classical Unitarian Christian theology. Among other things the recitation of a creed was omitted and the prayers were directed to God alone. In the words of the Preface to the current (ninth) edition of the Prayerbook published in 1986: "The resulting liturgy is both reformed and catholic. It is reformed because it is based on Scripture and is open to periodic amendment. It is catholic, as the early Unitarians used this word, because it includes a broad spectrum of Christian beliefs and is open to many interpretations."
Music is also an important element of worship at King's Chapel. King's Chapel was the home of the first church organ in New England, acquired in 1713, and music has taken a central place in Morning Prayer and other services since the congregation's founding in 1686. The King's Chapel Choir is a professional chorus of great distinction, seventeen voices augmented on occasion during the year by volunteer singers from the congregation. Hymns and chants, as well as anthems accompanied by the organ or other instruments, punctuate the reading and hearing of the Word. Heinrich Christensen, Music Director and Organist, carries forward a long tradition of musical excellence that has always been a notable feature of our worship.
The final element of worship in King's Chapel is preaching. The sermons are generally based upon or inspired by Bible readings appointed by a schedule which, with some variation, follows that of the Revised Common Lectionary. King's Chapel has long cherished a tradition of freedom of the pulpit. Its ministers have traditionally preached from a Unitarian Christian viewpoint. Guest preachers from time to time include other ministers affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Association as well as ministers and priests from Roman Catholic, Episcopal, Baptist, United Church of Christ and other Christian denominations and occasionally leaders of non-Christian religious communities.
The space in which we worship, the beautiful Georgian sanctuary designed by Peter Harrison, completed in 1754 and lovingly maintained by the congregation ever since, is also an important component of the experience of worship at King's Chapel. This sanctuary has been the center of religious life for generations of families for whom it is a spiritual home, and today it is visited annually by thousands of tourists who walk Boston's Freedom Trail.
