What even is liturgy? (Part 1 in Liturgical Church)

Have you ever heard a church talk about liturgy? Perhaps you know of a church that describes itself as “liturgical.” If you grew up like me, a church’s greatest desire was to be “biblical” so why on earth would a church aim to be described as something else?

All churches have liturgy

Liturgy is a word that describes a certain way of doing worship that is communal, structured, organized and shared. All churches have liturgy, or an order of service, such as how everyone stands for singing and sits during the sermon. Liturgical services emphasize those movements or words in a very intentional, formative, rhythmic and shared way. Many people find the shared nature and sameness of liturgy to be powerfully comforting, especially during the chaos of life. Liturgical worship is an ancient way of praying and living in a community together.

Jesus worshipped in a liturgical fashion

You may be surprised to know that Jesus worshipped in a liturgical fashion. The Jewish liturgy followed a reading of scriptures appointed for the day, prayed the same set of prayers and had intentional bodily movements throughout the service. Moreover, this set of practices was shared in different Jewish communities.

Most Christians worship liturgically

When the first followers of Jesus started the church, they carried their Jewish way of worship and let it adapt to the common cultures where the Church was carried. Today, large swaths of Christians follow a very similar way of worship that reads the same scriptures and follows a typical flow of the service. During this service they share in the same customs of standing, sitting, kneeling, and the use of candles or incense to worship in a holistic and ancient way. You will find elements of the same service in different churches such as Anglican, Eastern Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Lutheran, Methodist, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian and more. This liturgical way of worship represents the vast majority of Christianity and has been throughout all of the Church’s history.

What is it like to worship in a liturgical way? It is to engage in a story with your whole person in a community. Liturgical worship often encompasses all of you by providing physical stimulus to help form the person. And I think that idea of formation is one of the main benefits of liturgical worship—the intentional, holistic and universal forming of a community.

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If you’d like to learn more about liturgical worship, subscribe to learn more about the significance of bowing, crossing, candles or incense. Subscribe to learn why liturgical churches often have four scripture readings that are read every three (or six) years. Subscribe to see the layout and evolution of how Christians worship in different parts of the world throughout history.

But in the meantime, remember the power of worship and that worship includes all of you—mind, body and soul.

This is part one of a series on Liturgical Churches. Part two can be found here when it is published.