Public Worship
Defined in 4 dictionaries — Cyclopedic (1922), Ballentine's (1916), Bouvier (1914), Black's (1910)
The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary
Walter A. Shumaker and George Foster Longsdorf; ed. James C. Cahill · 1922
"May mean. the worship of God, conducted and observed under public authority; or it may mean worship in an open or public place, without privacy or concealment; or it may mean the performance of religious exercises, under a provision for an equal right in the whole public to participate in its benefits; or it may be used in contradistinction to worship in the family or the doset. In ttiis country, what is called 'public worship' is commonly conducted by voluntary societies, constituted ing their places of worship, and admitting to their religious. services such persons, and upon such terms, and subject to such regulations, as they may choose to designate and establish. A church absolutely belonging to the public, and in which all persons without restriction have equal rights, such as the public enjoy in highways or public landings, is certainly a very rare institution, if such a thing can be found." 14 Gray (Mass.) 586, 602.
Ballentine's Law Dictionary
James A. Ballentine · 1916
Bouvier's Law Dictionary and Concise Encyclopedia
John Bouvier; revised by Francis Rawle · 1914
A negro preacher who interrupted another preacher and began a harangue, but claiming in good faith the superior right to preach in that church, was not guilty of disturbing public worship; Woodall v. State, 4 Ga. App. 783, 62 S. E. 4S5.
Black's Law Dictionary
Henry Campbell Black, M.A. · 1910
This term may mean the worship of God, conducted and observed under public authority; or it may mean worship in an open or public place, without privacy or concealment; or it may mean the performance of religious exercises, under a provision for an equal right in the whole public to participate in its benefits; or it may be used in contradistinction to worship in the family or the closet. In this country, what is called "public worship" is commonly conducted by voluntary societies, constituted according to their own notions of ecolesiastical authority and ritual propriety, opening their places of worship, and admitting to their religious services such persons, and upon such terms, and subject to such regulations, as they may choose to designate and establish. A church absolutely belonging to the public, and in which all persons without restriction have equal rights, such as the public enjoy in highways or public landings, is certainly a very rare institution. Attorney General v. Merrimack Mfg. Co.., 14 Gray (Mass.) 586.
Defined under Worship in Black's Law Dictionary.