{"id":1040,"date":"2007-05-09T05:34:54","date_gmt":"2007-05-09T05:34:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hypersync.net\/wordpress\/?p=1040"},"modified":"2007-05-09T05:34:54","modified_gmt":"2007-05-09T05:34:54","slug":"why_liturgy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hypersync.net\/wordpress\/?p=1040","title":{"rendered":"Why Liturgy?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Coming from an American-Evangelical\/Pentecostal\/Charismatic background as I have, the idea that a “liturgy” can really add much at all to the life of a true Christian is pretty anathema. Dead ritural or tradition that takes the place of a true experience of God, which must be “real” in the moment and from the heart – as if a liturgical expression excludes such a thing.
\nAfter a good number of years of being in a liturgical church, and particularly the past four years of being in a very liturgical church (Anglo-Catholic of the progressive kind), I am still learning the power and the prose of life within liturgy.
\nI like the way Rev Sam from Mersea Island, Essex, GB, on his blog Elizaphanian<\/a> puts it (and this is only a small part of his complete post):<\/p>\n

Why liturgy?<\/a>
\nSo that I can learn how to speak; and pray; and praise.
\nSo that the centre of gravity does not lie in my own feelings and vocabulary but in the expression of the church.
\nIt is not important how I feel when I say ‘Glory be to the Father…’; nor is it important how wholeheartedly I believe what I say. It is a question of obedience – feelings and thought will ebb and flow in my life, but the persistence of discipleship is primarily manifested through obedience.
\nLiturgy assumes a) that I don’t yet know all that I need to know about Christianity, and b) that the church has learnt some of what it needs to know about Christianity. Liturgy is how that learning is passed on, and developed.
\nLiturgy is mystery.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Via: Transfiguration Community<\/a><\/p>\n


\nWhy liturgy?<\/a>
\nSo that I can learn how to speak; and pray; and praise.
\nSo that I can be taught the truth.
\nSo that I can be shaped by the church; so that I can be made into a disciple.
\n“When you pray, do this….”
\n“Do this, in remembrance…”
\nSo that the centre of gravity does not lie in my own feelings and vocabulary but in the expression of the church.
\nThere are times of walking in the desert. There are also times of entry into the promised land. The point is to maintain the faith and trust in the pillar of fire and pillar of cloud, whether it is day or night within me.
\nLiturgy assumes a) that I don’t yet know all that I need to know about Christianity, and b) that the church has learnt some of what it needs to know about Christianity. Liturgy is how that learning is passed on, and developed.
\nLiturgy is properly pluriform, fluid, and evolutionary.
\nLiturgy is a whole body activity; when done correctly, liturgy is also an ecstatic, out-of-body activity.
\nThere is no greater tyranny than the tyranny of choice. I need to fall in with something that is more important than my own perspectives, within which I can find myself. Anything that I feel competent to choose is automatically diminished by that assessment.
\nLiturgy is the spacious room in which the Lord has set my feet.
\nLiturgy is mystery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Coming from an American-Evangelical\/Pentecostal\/Charismatic background as I have, the idea that a “liturgy” can really add much at all to the life of a true Christian is pretty anathema. Dead ritural or tradition that takes the place of a true … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faith"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hypersync.net\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hypersync.net\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hypersync.net\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hypersync.net\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hypersync.net\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1040"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.hypersync.net\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1040\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hypersync.net\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hypersync.net\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hypersync.net\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}