The Return to Tradition and Liturgy

While driving around LaGrange, Georgia in desperate search of the local Wal Mart,  I found myself in the parking lot of St. Peter’s Catholic Church during its Saturday night mass. The place was packed, and from the outside I could hear the muffled harmonies of a choir.
 
It’s hard to explain, but I suddenly felt the urge to go inside. I’m not Catholic or Anglican, but I’ve recently felt a strong pull toward more traditional, liturgical expressions of worship.

Apparently, I’m not alone. U.S. News & World Report has a great article about what many see is a return to liturgy, ritual, and symbol among young evangelicals.
http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/national/2007/12/13/a-return-to-tradition.html

As we participate in Holy Week, I’m wondering if any of you feel the same way.  What do you think accounts for this renewed interest in tradition-observing the religious calendar, reciting daily prayers and ancient creeds, incorporating symbols into worship, etc.

I was raised to believe that Christianity was not a religion, but a relationship. In my more seeker-sensitive, “low church” upbringing, religious traditions tended to fall into the “religion” category in my mind. And yet as an adult, I find tremendous comfort and peace in these very religious practices. They make me feel closer to God and more connected to the historic Church. Surrounded by commercialism and consumerism, they represent to me a sort of purity and authenticity that reminds me that I belong to something greater than myself.

Jason Clark has an interesting view on all of this on his blog.
http://jasonclark.ws/2008/01/03/recovery-of-liturgy-ritual-in-the-emerging-church-2/

He writes that “within liturgy there is the invitation to participation, of repeating and enacting something together as community, that reminds us that there are beliefs that we order our lives around, rather than a world that asks us to choose whatever we want to believe.”

The U.S. News & World Report article also presents some theories as to why young evangelicals are drawn to tradition.

“People of the postmodern mindset—particularly 20- and 30-somethings—question the hyperindividualism of modern culture. They search for new forms of community but tend to be wary of authority figures and particularly of leaders…The young neotraditionalists also have an almost intuitive attraction to liturgy, ritual, and symbol as forms of knowledge that complement the dominant rational, scientific one.”

What do you think? Anyone else done any research on this?


Micah
Comment
Re: The Return to Tradition and Liturgy
Reply #1 on : Thu March 20, 2008, 11:32:23
You can go to mass, but you can't take Communion, since you're not a member of a church.

Tradition is a beautiful thing, though, so it's worth checking out.
Seth Kempf
Comment
Biblically Speaking...
Reply #2 on : Fri March 21, 2008, 11:11:51
Great thoughts, Rachel. It seems so many of the answers to questions like this can be answered by asking why we do what we do. The whole "it's all about relationship and not about religion" concept is a true one in many respects, but it's absurd to think that Christianity is something that we were meant to experience only in our prayer closets. Corporate worship is a key part of what the church needs to be about, so long as the worship is directed at our Lord and not at the experience itself. As we read the Scriptures, what do we find the early church doing? Considering passages like Colossians 3:16, they were likely singing at least some songs that were very traditional that coordinated with the Biblical teaching they were receiving/giving, and all this with thankfulness in their hearts to God. There is certainly a very appropriate comfort that comes with organized, community worship that is God-directed and God-inspired. Anything less than or apart from this is idolatry. It seems that such questions like the one that you have posed must be answered in much the same way as any others that the Christ-follower faces. Is my desire for (fill in the blank) rooted in a desire to have more of my Lord, to be nearer to Him, to know Him more fully according to the ways in which He has revealed Himself in His Word? And a follow-up question might then be, "Are the people that I will be closely aligning myself with in such and such situation of this same mind and aim?"
Kedric
Comment
I could see this coming
Reply #3 on : Sun March 23, 2008, 13:38:55
From what little I've read of your blogs, I'm not the least bit surprised in your "discovery", if you will, of the more structured, liturgical worship.

Part of my return to a more structured worship came through attending Westminster. I had come under the mindset that it was this type of structure that led to a dead church. God had to show me that this wasn't true. I can't say I will ever join an Anglican body, but I appreciate it. I have not gone to a Roman Catholic mass. I'm not sure I would be able to take communion unless I am brought into the RC church. At any Anglican church any baptized Christian may partake.

In the World Wide Anglican Communion, there is a diversity in belief that you don't find in many places. This diversity usually refers to worship structure and theological differences, but for the most part there is a unity of spirit that is refreshing. Hawks, owls, robins, blue jays, and cardinals all are together. One problem is that there are those, particularly in the US, who want to say that turtles are the same as birds. Therefore, they introduce things that cannot be supported from Scripture, Church teaching, and experience. So, right now there there are battles going on in the WWAC over certain important issues.

I don't know if you've ever talked with Dr. Kennard about some of your thoughts, but I found him to be someone who is personable and very well read, able to dialogue about anything.
Jarrett
Comment
Re: The Return to Tradition and Liturgy
Reply #4 on : Wed March 26, 2008, 18:44:33
Rachel, I agree. I go to a church (and have for the past few years) that is very high church in many respects. We follow the liturgical calendar, recite creeds, etc. I've come more and more to appreciate it over the years. To me, it really builds anticipation - the calendar peaks with Easter, Christmas - and all the weeks leading up to build joy.

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