Revitalization – The Power of Liturgy

Millennial Liturgy

This is part 3 of a three part series – A case for Anglican church revitalization. In the final post of this series, I’m zeroing in on a trend – Millennial and GenXr’s being drawn into liturgical worship.

Over the last 17 years, I have been involved with churches of various identities and liturgy styles all with the same concern — remaining or reconnecting to the historic church.  It has been loads of fun.

Through those experiences, I have come to this single observation: liturgy is a powerful tool capable of shaping our thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors.

So if liturgy is so powerful, then every generation needs to (re)examine the thought, forms and language of the liturgies being used. Why? Because we had better be certain that what “we are saying” lines up with “what we ought to believe.”

Drawn In

This brings me to my central concern of this blog series: shepherding future generations in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Why am I concerned?

For almost two decades, new generations of millennial and Gen Xr’s have been drawn to the ceremonies and styles of the liturgical church. Colleen Campbell surveyed this trend in a book published nearly 13 years ago, “The New Faithful: Why Young Adults Are Embracing Orthodoxy.” She likens the attraction to ‘Romantic Orthodoxy.’

She highlights that the attraction of liturgy is its ability to connect generations together through liturgical forms that generally transcend todays constantly changing culture.  Campbell points out, “They’re [Millennial] looking for something that’s stable, but they don’t really know what it is” (p. 60).

For a generation raised in uncertainty, inconsistency, and constant social upheaval, the attraction to deep connected liturgies naturally has developed. Such deep connection manifests itself beautifully through the mystery, reverence and awe portrayed by ancient church liturgies.

As a member of the Millennial – Gen X generation, I understand all too well this attraction.

What contributed to this trend?

This liturgical renewal occurred precisely as evangelical Baby Boomers were pushing protestant evangelical churches to the limit of the entertainment boundaries – tearing down every Christian symbol “in order to be relevant” and purging generations of their previous traditions.  But what they failed to realize is they inadvertently alienated their children through further disconnection from the universal church. What was left, then, was a form of protestant evangelicalism divorced from its foundation and incapable of providing any deep answers to the complexities of an increasingly hostile culture. God became a big buddy in the sky rather than its cosmic creator.

With the dawn of the new hyperconnected culture, Millennial – Gen Xr’s began to be drawn to styles other than the “commercial church forms” and some sought to discover religious forms of Christianity that were very different from their parents.

The Vanilla Gospel

This leads me to a pressing point. I believe that “living into a heritage,” as my critics demand, first starts by re-examining the bedrock that forms the foundation of our heritage. We have to know where we came from in order to know where we are going.

Reformational Anglicanism is our heritage. To deny that fact is to be agnostic of the heritage. Therefore returning to those principles is the fundamental key to the revitalization that will need to occur in this generation and the next.

This may be, as my critic’s decry, “Vanilla Protestantism,” but in a generation saturated by icons, corporate liturgies, and entertainment competing for our attention, perhaps the vanilla gospel is the sweet flavor we need.

So long as our liturgy is clear, understandable, and presents the story of our faith –  fellowship with God through faith alone by grace alone because of Christ alone –  then we should embrace these liturgies.

Likewise, if millennials like myself are looking for deep roots, then returning to classic Anglican theological formulations not only continues to keep us moored to the universal church, but is also keeps us from sliding backwards into the errors of that church of which faithful men sacrificed their lives to overcome.

Ecclesia semper reformanda est!

(The Church is always to be reformed!)