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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: RITUAL (01/20/22)
A few years back an unusual pattern was detected by those who make it their business to identify and analyze such things. They discovered an increasing number of young people were leaving newer styles of churches in favor of older, more traditional churches whose ranks had previously been decreasing and whose average age had been becoming high enough for it to endanger their very existence. Such an unexpected turn of events demanded a detailed explanation and so they drilled down even further to the individual stories that made up the statistics.

In nearly every case it was found that those making such unexpected choices were responding to the sense of regular patterns that make up the worship service of mainline Christian denominations. For these young people whose lives were increasingly lacking any form of consistency, these older forms of worship provided exactly the kind of regular, expected ways of connecting with God that fed both their spirit and their deep desire for familiar, consistent ways to be followers of Jesus. The fast-pace of modern life that young people are maturing in is a difficult place to become solid and steadfast and unexpectedly it is the older, traditional forms of worship that offer a solution.

I attended a church that experienced just this phenomenon. I was part of a Pentecostal church that prided itself on hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit and being open to allowing God to direct our service order and redirect its patterns as necessary. While such an approach opens up the ability of God to do many amazing things in the service, it can also be uncomfortable for those whose lives are already lacking any places to stand firm. A group of young people began to attend whose appearance and lifestyle made them stand out among our group. While they were initially excited about attending, they became less so over time until one by one they ceased attending. They related that mainline forms of worship were just the tonic they required to make their lives and their devotion to God secure and comforting.

Many in the church see being open to the moving of the spirit an essential in order to worship and live for God in ever-deepening ways and they do have a point. Still, that doesn’t mean that there is no place for older, more traditional ways of encountering God. For many knowing the manner in which the worship service will flow and being able to anticipate many of the words that will be said and the songs that will be sung enable them to open up to God without overly engaging the mind. While the Bible does decry mindless repetition, it doesn’t condemn all forms of patterned worship if done in the right attitude of heart.

God has created a widely diverse number of people with temperaments all over the spectrum. Some thrive on constant change and get great pleasure in seeing what unexpected things God will do on any given day. Others crave the regularity that comes from standard ways of worship that lead them into the presence of God. The church of Jesus Christ is big enough for a variety of forms of worship and some forms that can hardly be called forms at all. From time to time a movement begins that catches us off-guard, but God is never surprised. He loves the amazing uniqueness of those he has created and the amazing forms of worship we create under his leading that bring us to him for physical, emotional, and spiritual healing in this life and in the life to come.
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Member Comments
Member
Date
Philippa Geaney
02/03/22
I found your entry very interesting. I would have enjoyed reading that research. I have moved the other way, but deeply respect the sincere heart-felt practices of the Mainstream. And I fondly remember the stillness inside a church (I’d sometimes sneak in to whisper hello to Jesus during lunch break), the unforgettable smell of candle wax, the musical drone of the Nuns’ vespers, the Priest who held up the Eucharist- he surely was Jesus’ favourite☺️. The liturgical rhythms of prayer. All beautiful when alive.