Every church has its own worship style, its own liturgy, that it pretty much follows from week to week. I like ours. Now, in years past the next words to come out of my mouth would have been about why what we do is so much better than what others do. The point would be a comparison and a critique. I try to stay far away from that kind of attitude these days. It's just dumb. It's also not loving. So, whatever I write here has nothing to do with criticizing anyone else.
The reasons for my writing about this have to do with something quite different. The fact of the matter is that our kind of liturgy is not exactly common these days. So, what I'm going to write is, first, for the sake of those who do worship using this kind of style. It's good to know why you do what you do. It helps you to do it well. But it's also for the sake of those who don't worship using this kind of style. I have learned some good things from that crowd, and I actually think that they might learn some good things from me. So, this will be a series of posts to explain to both groups this particular style of worship.
It's important that you know that while our liturgy is rather formal, our manner of worshiping isn't. We are a pretty relaxed group. None of us who lead wear a robe or the like. In fact, we don't even wear jackets or ties. The liturgy is formal. Our enjoyment of it isn't.
The best thing to do at this point is let you know what we do on Sunday mornings. Here's our liturgy:
Call to Worship
Prayer
Doxology
Reading of the Law of God
Confession of Sin
Declaration of Pardon
Hymn
Psalter Reading
Hymn from the Psalms
Scripture Reading
Hymn
Gospel Reading
Lessons from Jesus
Pastoral Prayer
Sermon
Celebration of the Lord’s Supper
Closing Prayer and Benediction
I have six posts. So, over the next two weeks I'm going to work through the elements in that list, a few at a time, and describe them for you. I hope this will help you understand this kind of liturgy.