I’ve just uploaded the text of a Deist Evensong rite from 1776.

It was composed by the Welsh clergyman David Williams, in collaboration with Benjamin Franklin.

It is essentially a rite for worshipping the rationalist God of the Enlightenment.

I’m calling it a “ghost liturgy” because it reflects a kind of religiosity that came and went a long time ago. There is no real living tradition that preserves Williams’ outlook, save perhaps for the small Unitarian subculture.

One wonders if anyone would be interested in celebrating Williams’ Evensong today.