Part I: The Value of Liturgy

The liturgical impulse is closely related to the impulse of worshipping God in song. Both are forms of verbally expressing one's worship to God. Old men who used to "Amen" in the Baptist services I grew up in certainly have that liturgical impulse; liturgy gives them an opportunity to express themselves in a more intelligent way. Liturgical services encourage more participation from the congregation, thus allowing the congregation to feel less isolated and more unified. As well as giving one a chance to verbalize worship, it teaches deep, Biblical truths to the congregation (which are very unknown to most today).

My only experience of liturgy in my childhood was at Catholic wedding services of uncles and cousins, at which I was completely lost. When I moved to Nashville, I visited a few churches that incorporated liturgy, but ended up at a PCA Church that did very little. It was when I arrived in Birmingham that I started to see the value of liturgy. I started attending Red Mountain Church, which is very liturgical without being formal, and I instantly loved it. I visited some other churches, including Christ the King Anglican, of which my Evangelism professor Dr. Lyle Dorsett is minister. I loved the way he led the liturgy, so full of passion and and moved by the Holy Spirit. It was liturgy with heart, if you will, as opposed the dry, monotonous, repetitive liturgy in most high churches. Cahaba Park Church, now my Church, is a good mix of Red Mountain and Christ the King.

I foresee myself one day being at a church that incorporates a good deal of passionate liturgy in their worship, without being formal. I believe this would be especially relevant in areas that have a remnant of traditional, possibly dry liturgical services, places like Ireland and Scotland. But there are many people in the U.S. that prefer this style of worship and can't find it. I think one of the many errors of the seeker-sensitive movement is to assume that all seekers want services that are completely unstructured. This does allow them to blend in, as if that's a good thing, but not every seeker wants that.

I am so in love with liturgy that I compiled my own liturgy for my family's worship on Thanksgiving. Though I think there was some skepticism coming in, I can confidently say that it was a valuable time of worship for all who were there.

Below is part of the liturgy from this morning's service at Cahaba Park.

(From the Belgic Confession)

Leader: What do you believe about the work of God?

People: We believe that God - who is perfectly merciful and also very just - sent His Son to assume the nature in which the disobedience had been committed, in order to bear in it the punishment of sin by His most bitter passion and death.

Leader: And what do you believe about the work of Jesus Christ?

People: We believe that Jesus Christ presented Himself in our name before His Father, to appease His wrath with full satisfaction by offering Himself on the tree of the cross and pouring out His precious blood for the cleansing of our sins, as the prophets had predicted.

Leader: Why did he endure all this?

People: He endured all this for the forgiveness of our sins.

Leader: What comfort does this give you?

We find all comforts in His wounds and have no need to seek or invent any other means to reconcile ourselves with God than this one and only sacrifice, once made, which renders believers perfect forever.