A reader wrote in his observations on current liturgical events, and I decided to post part of it here, since it highlights many of the reasons this blog exists:
“I am a convinced Protestant, though I was confirmed in a predominantly Anglo-Catholic communion (Anglican Province in America) last year. My hopes are to return to a more Reformed/Presbyterian liturgical communion sometime in the future, but for now I felt this was the best I could find. I joined the APA for a number of reasons, probably more than I can list here. There were no other liturgical churches in my area that I could join, mainly because most all of them are liberal. The ones that aren’t have caved in to incorporating contemporary worship styles and so aren’t truly liturgical anymore. The Reformed churches that would claim to be liturgical that I’ve been to generally don’t seem to understand what “liturgical” really is. I think that the Reformed churches that claim to be liturgical are often on track in general with some of the elements they include, such as weekly communion and the kneeling for the confession. But many elements don’t make sense to me. Why have lectionary readings when the pastor doesn’t preach from the lectionary texts? Why claim to be liturgical without a procession and recession, without a sung or chanted liturgy, or without orderly formal movement by those leading the service? As Jordan points out, those leading the service should move in military fashion, and at right angles. In a liturgical service, the ones leading the liturgy shouldn’t feel at liberty to ad hoc verbally in between the elements of the service, even if his ad hocing is very spiritual ad hocing. I’ve seen this happen way too often in those churches that claim to be liturgical. But this suggests to me that we really think everything going on is merely horizontal, and that we are forgetting that we are there to worship God. How can a service be liturgical if the pastor doesn’t wear a robe, and the seasonal colours aren’t displayed?
These are some of the things that concern me, and while I think theologically alot of these churches are on track in a number of areas, I think there is a great need for growth aesthetically. The “liturgical” Reformed services are often choppy. A liturgical service should flow like a symphony. There’s no need for, say, announcements during the service (people can pick up a bulletin), or for every element of the service to be announced (”our communion hymn will be…” – the people should be able to read the order of worship). These things detract from the flow of the service and are unnecessary. The only place I’ve seen this done consistently right is at an LCMS congregation (my congregation fails at this sometimes, sadly) and it does work.
Reformed people need to think more holistically about liturgy, rather than atomistically. The worship service is a unit, not a bunch of little pieces thrown together.”
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Gregory Soderberg
necdum videmus
tjsumpter
revjatb
Bryan Maes
aaroncummings
Aren’t we talking about “degrees” of liturgical worship? In other words, this stuff is not taught well in the evangelical and reformed world. And even among followers of Jordan [Leithart, Meyers, etc.], there are different ways in which this works out on a liturgical scale in most churches that are moving in this direction. Outside of Jordan, where does one go to find help in terms of the movements of the service and things like that?
James Grant
Hi James,
It is a matter of degrees in one sense. Some churches are certainly more liturgical than others. And in one sense, I’m happy for any church that is making the smallest of steps in a better direction. If you’re a Baptist pastor who’s been wearing a suit and doing an altar call at the end of every Sunday morning service, for instance, you can’t just show up one Sunday in vestments, start chanting the service, and replace the altar call with the Lord’s Supper without doing serious damage to your parishioners. Or, at least, you’d be out of a job real quick. But what I was addressing in part was self-professed “liturgical” churches that are still holding on to non-liturgical patterns when they should be jettisoning them. There are folks who think that Jordan and co. are the greatest thing since sliced bread, but they aren’t really doing much to put into practice what those guys teach. So I’m addressing those I believe should know better or practice better. And I know we all come from different backgrounds, and have different experiences which shape how we perceive things. So we (or, more importantly, those of you who are pastors and elders) need to be patient with people. I know, for instance, that it took Jeff Meyers’ church years to abandon a prohibitionist mindset and begin using wine in communion. But they finally got there, and God is sovereign over that, too.
In part, I’m criticizing myopia. Unfortunately, some of our Reformed forbears cast off too much of the liturgy. They recovered many good things, but they made some mistakes, too. The Lutherans, I think, remained the most on track, though each of the other groups (I’m thinking specifically the Reformed and the Anglicans) contributed things as well. So I’d like us to begin to look more historically. The “matter of degrees” is a recent problem historically. Worshipping liturgically was never a problem until the 16th century. We also need to look more broadly. Anglicans get some things right that the Reformed don’t. Lutherans get some things right that Anglicans don’t. We need to allow ourselves to be more broad-minded culturally. What things can we Americans learn from Christians throughout the world, both in our time and before our time? First of all, we can learn that American pop music has no place in worship. Probably the biggest battle a pastor and elders will have to face is the battle against the pseudo-culture of commerce that wants to control every nook and cranny of our lives. As long as we allow it to reign, chanting is going to seem pretty bizarre to most people. And I think all this involves maturity and repentance. We recognize that we haven’t been doing what we should, or that we can do better, and then we seek to apply that knowledge.
I’m not saying that every liturgical service must look the same. There are variations that can take place from church to church. When you look at the history of liturgy, you find a wide variety of services, though the basic order of the Eucharist, for instance, is pretty consistent from place to place, with some slight variation. Pastors and elders need to be solidly grounded in their understanding of the historic liturgy and the Biblical/theological reasons for it. Also, part of what I was getting at involved atmosphere. Worship should have a certain atmosphere about it, and everything from the order of service to the color of the carpet should contribute to that.
As far as learning these things, there are various ways. Reading is important. If you don’t have it, get Jeffrey Meyer’s book The Lord’s Service and read his “Bibliographical Essay” in it. He recommends about anything I could in that essay, and he comments on the books as well. He discusses books and essays from many different theological perspectives.
To name just one book that has helped me, the book The Study of Liturgy, edited by Jones, Wainwright, Yarnold, and Bradshaw, is a good one to look at.
But as an Anglican priest said to me once, “The only way to learn the liturgy is by doing it.” So you have to practice it, or at least watch it being practiced. You can do a lot on your own. I have several service books and prayer books, and I use them for private devotions. The 1928 Prayer Book. Several old Lutheran service books. The old PCUSA Book of Common Worship. Catholic prayer books. One of my favourites is an Eastern Orthodox prayer book. Scour used bookstores – nobody wants the old service books once the new ones come out. I’ll follow the lectionary for daily devotions, usually the one from my denomination, and we use the ’28. I’m also reading consecutively through certain books, and I haven’t chosen to bind myself very tightly to the lectionary. I might skip a day here or there. But you might want to follow it closely. It’s all what you want to do.
Work liturgical elements into your family worship. At least do the Lord’s Prayer and one of the creeds. Recite Psalms, maybe responsively. When you have company over, let them sit in on your family worship and see what you do. Demonstration does a lot more than direct didacticism.
There’s a lot you can do to expose yourself to the liturgy. If you have cable, watch the Mass on EWTN. The website of the Greek Orthodox Church in America has recorded liturgies that you can watch. I’m sure with a little Googling you’d find similar things available. Is there a holiday that you’re church doesn’t celebrate coming up? Check the newspapers and the web to see if one of the liturgical churches that follow the church calendar is having a service. Go to Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services. This is especially rewarding at an LCMS church. Go to Ash Wednesday services somewhere. Go to Wednesday Advent services if a congregation nearby is having them. My Anglican church has a Thursday noon Eucharistic service. A local Lutheran church has Wednesday morning prayer. Anglican churches will occasionally have midweek Morning or Evening Prayer services. One local RC parish has two Masses every week day morning. Just slip in the back and sit and watch. One of our local Greek Orthodox churches has a Greek festival every autumn. They have a tour of the sanctuary, and the priest gives a talk on Orthodox worship and culture, and takes questions. Those are the sorts of things I’ve done.
And there are a lot of websites from various theological perspectives that you can check out. Liturgica.com is one of my favourites.
I hope that answers the questions. Let me know if I didn’t answer sufficiently, or if you have any other questions.
Thanks…that was very helpful. JHG