Step Eight

The little church I did most of my growing up in was a place of orderly worship. The folks there weren't into emotional displays and they liked their routine. There was also a sense of reverence that took precedence over pageantry. When pastor was praying, we didn't move people around like scenery. He was talking to God, and we were supposed to respect that space as sacred, not as a good place for a scene change.
I still love order and reverence in my service. Liturgy comes naturally to me. I like it that we go through the entire Bible every three years. If I never hear another sermon out of Romans it won't adversely affect my lifetime average. The push to get through the entire Bible keeps stirring things up and uncovering forgotten gems. At the same time, since the pastor gets to choose what he wants to base his homily on it isn't rigid forcing us to listen to a sermon on the begats. I love it that everything we are commanded to do in the way of praying and such is covered in the order of service someplace.
One place where Protestant freedom has led to bewilderment is in the current lack of any system or theology of worship, or maybe it's that it changes so frequently and freely that it feels like there is no order or theology of worship. One week you stand for the reading of Scripture, the next you sit. One week you have communion, another you don't. Many services are highly orchestrated entertainment experiences with notable, impressive scene changes and dramatic presentations. The preaching tends to be haphazard, whatever appeals to the pastor gets preached what he doesn't find interesting is ignored. The push to have an emotional experience leads to all sorts of strange and strained things being done with music. I just can't relax and worship in the current milieu.
St. Mary's offers me a consistent worship experience that has it all. Worship, confession, prayer, preaching, the presence of Christ even such physical expressions as bowing, kneeling, standing and raising hands. It's all the good stuff without the excess or confusion. I can do without the fancy props and drama. I can't do without the quiet reverence liturgical worship cultivates.
This series begins Here. This series continues Here.