This is the final post in a series that highlights five ways the contemporary evangelical church can learn from church history about spiritual formation. This post focuses on liturgical traditions. For more on this topic, see my previous article: Tired of Church? How to Rediscover the Joys of the Christian Tradition.
Contemporary evangelicalism has rejected nearly all formal rituals in its worship in favor of a pragmatic approach to whatever will increase Sunday morning attendance. This overreaction swings the pendulum from a dead, dry religion to an unmoored and unhistoric worship. Today’s church would do well to consider what traditions it has abandoned and ask why those traditions existed in the first place. Each church should consider what valuable traditions have been lost and revive them in a way that aids in the spiritual formation of its members.
Creeds & Other Elements of Worship
Historically, the most popular creeds in the church have articulated orthodoxy to its members and guarded against heresy. Luther had his followers catechized by the ten commandments, the Lord’s Prayer, the Apostles Creed, and the Nicene Creed, among other instructional tools.[1] Evangelical churches would do well to reincorporate them during Sunday worship gatherings.
Many evangelical churches no longer employ some of the historic weekly elements of Christian worship (e.g., the offering, which dated back to the apostolic age, as well as the call to worship, the passing of the peace, confession, the benediction, etc.). Many of these traditions served liturgical purposes, and the contemporary evangelical church ought to consider how it may reclaim from them what may be valuable for the spiritual formation of today’s believers.
The Church Calendar and Holidays (Holy Days)
Similarly, the church calendar has historically provided an annual reiteration of the life of Christ from birth to death, resurrection, and ascension. The corresponding liturgical times trace back to the patristic era. Sources from the second century explicitly attest to the celebration of Easter and Pentecost, but the observance perhaps dates back to the apostolic age.[2] Christians celebrated Christ’s birth and baptism on January 6th (Epiphany) dating back to the late second or early third century, and sometime in the fourth century both Christmas and Lent came into widespread observance.[3]
Different practices and decoration accompany each of these seasons in many traditional churches, serving as teaching aids to the worshipping community. This annual retelling of the gospel narrative helps provide a corporate practice for spiritual formation every year. In the Roman Catholic Church, certain Saint’s Days commemorate illustrative examples of faithful discipleship.
Preventing Liturgy from Becoming Rote Tradition
Some liturgical traditions are worthy of termination. Some ought to be revived. Two extremes, however, must be avoided. We must not discard traditions simply because they are old. Additionally, we must not reject valuable traditions simply because they may not increase attendance.
Those who reject all liturgy on the basis that it may make guests feel lost or left out fail on two accounts. First, they value the experience of the guest over the value to the believer. Second, they neglect the need to reexplain these traditions constantly. A tradition is only valuable insofar as it reminds the worshipper of the truth or meaning thus conveyed.
Various churches will likely disagree on what liturgical traditions to embrace or reject. Each local church (or denomination, network, etc.) must decide for itself on the matter. The good news is that these traditions are not prescribed in Scripture; therefore, no church is bound to observe or avoid them. Any adopted change, however, will require time and growing pains, but convenience is not a pretext for maturation – faith is. Some liturgical traditions may help form one’s faith.
What I’m saying is this: do not throw the liturgical baby out with the traditional bath water.
[1] Sten-Erik Armitage, “Lecture –Spirituality of the Lutheran Tradition”. Dallas Theological Seminary, October 2024.
[2] Bradshaw, Early Christian Worship, 88, 93.
[3] Bradshaw, Early Christian Worship, 94-97.