For beginners, read the Introduction to this series, then visit the categories menu and hit “Evangelical Liturgy” for all previous entries. In a sentence, I’m walking through all the parts of the traditional Protestant worship service and discussing the value of recovering our own liturgical tradition.

Singing. Oh yes….singing. I love to sing. I learned to sing before I was a Christian, first at school and then at church. I miss singing more than I can say. Our students don’t sing. Most of the adults I work with don’t sing much. I loved choirs and hymn-sings as a young Christian. It’s one of the worst things about the evangelical wilderness. Nothing is as wonderful to me as singing in church.

Congregational singing. One of evangelicalism’s great legacies, thanks to Isaac Watts, the Wesleys and some great music in the midst of the not-so-great flood of music out of revivalism, the Jesus movement, CCM, etc.

Not somebody or a group singing to the audience….uh…congregation, but congregational singing. Worship by singing. Proclamation by singing.

First, off, let’s be clear. Singing is mentioned in Paul’s instructions about worship in a descriptive way and in a prescriptive way, so it’s part of worship. Second, that doesn’t mean from that point on, we can do whatever we want because it’s mentioned in the Bible.

Music is dominating most evangelical worship these days and I, for one, am ready to have less of it in most instances. There’s a serious need for regulation and moderation of music in an atmosphere where many “churches” are becoming more like entertainment venues than any previous conception of worship.Continue reading “The Evangelical Liturgy 9: Singing.”

For beginners, read the Introduction to this series, then visit the categories menu and hit “Evangelical Liturgy” for all previous entries. In a sentence, I’m walking through all the parts of the traditional Protestant worship service and discussing the value of recovering our own liturgical tradition.

In March 07, I wrote “The Strange Case of the Missing Scripture Lessons.” It is a good companion to this topic.

In most liturgical worship services, somewhere between 10-15 minutes of the worship service is taken up in the public reading of scripture. In the most common traditions, the lectionary texts for the day are read or sung responsively and/or by readers. This may include a Psalm of the day, an Old Testament lesson, a New Testament lesson and a reading from the Gospels, which is often the basis of the sermon. Scripture sentences may punctuate other portions of worship and it isn’t unknown for the sermon to occasionally make use of a different text than any of the lessons.

In many evangelical churches, particularly those of a more contemporary flavor, public reading of the Bible is avoided. Scripture will be scattered across a few song lyrics and inserted as point prompts or proof texts in the sermon. There will be no scripture lessons, no reading of scripture outside of the use of scripture in some function of the service and no sense that extended scripture reading is a high and worthy use of time in worship.

Ironically, it will be the liturgical church and its scripture saturated service that will be called “liberal” by the Bible-waving, but not Bible reading evangelical church. Declarations of confidence in the Bible as the inerrant Word of God will dwell in puzzling juxtaposition with worship services where the most scripture encountered is in popcorned bits projected between film clips and other visuals.Continue reading “The Evangelical Liturgy 8: The Public Reading of Scripture”

Another good example of Evangelical/Protestant liturgy. This from the First Baptist Church, Edmonton, Alberta.

This one is a very complete example of the kind of Protestant liturgy I have in mind as we work through these components.Continue reading “The Evangelical Liturgy-Example 2: FBC Edmonton, Alberta”

A reader has sent along an order of service from a shared worship gathering of two Protestant churches, and you can see many of the elements we are discussing.

I’d love to see other orders of service from the Protestant/evangelical side illustrating all or parts of the evangelical liturgy, especially if you are a Baptist or other evangelical using moderate amounts of formal liturgy in your worship.

You can see the entire list of components at the introduction post in this series.

I did not attempt to reformat this, so it’s a bit clunky, doesn’t have boldface, etc. Continue reading “The Evangelical/Protestant Liturgy: Example 1”