The Liberal Catholic Church uses a Liturgy which emphasises the love, beauty and; justice of God, rather than the sinfulness of human beings. It aims to combine the traditional sacrament of worship incorporating stately ritual and; deep mysticism, with the wide measure of intellectual liberty and; respect for the individual conscience on matters of doctrine and interpretation. Members of the church are proud of the fact that it pioneered for half a century much of the liturgical and; doctrinal progress now emerging in other denominations.
In explaining how the Liberal Catholic Rite was developed, Bishop Wedgwood states:
"We set to work to eliminate the many features which from our point of view disfigure and weaken the older liturgies. References to fear of God, to His wrath and to everlasting damnation were taken out, also the constant insistence on the sinfulness and worthlessness of man and the frequent appeals for mercy. The services were made as clear and free from repetition in their structural sequence as possible. And every opportunity was given to the congregation to join in the worship with all the resources of mind and will and emotion and self-dedication they were able to command. The sentiments put into the mouth of the worshipper are such as those who are filled with the spirit of devotion and service can honestly and sincerely utter. It stresses the idea of co-operation with the Divine Father rather than that of supplication, and being outward-turned in the service of God and His world soon enables a man to realize something of the boundless resources of his own being. They are his by right and not simply by grace."(Beginnings of the Liberal Catholic Church, 1937.)
In explaining how the Liberal Catholic Rite was developed, Bishop Wedgwood states:
"We set to work to eliminate the many features which from our point of view disfigure and weaken the older liturgies. References to fear of God, to His wrath and to everlasting damnation were taken out, also the constant insistence on the sinfulness and worthlessness of man and the frequent appeals for mercy. The services were made as clear and free from repetition in their structural sequence as possible. And every opportunity was given to the congregation to join in the worship with all the resources of mind and will and emotion and self-dedication they were able to command. The sentiments put into the mouth of the worshipper are such as those who are filled with the spirit of devotion and service can honestly and sincerely utter. It stresses the idea of co-operation with the Divine Father rather than that of supplication, and being outward-turned in the service of God and His world soon enables a man to realize something of the boundless resources of his own being. They are his by right and not simply by grace."(Beginnings of the Liberal Catholic Church, 1937.)
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