One of the things that may confound some folks who wonder about me leaving the Pentecostal denomination I grew up in is how I go to a place that has liturgy. I mean, it “repeats” every Sunday! Where is the moving of the Spirit?
(Of course, no one actually asks me these things. Silence is the code these days.)
Eugene Peterson in As Kingfishers Catch Fire offers the use of liturgy as worship:
“That’s the pattern we repeat every time we gather in worship. It doesn’t matter if we are bored with the repetition. It is cutting a channel for something lasting. (Emphasis added) Worship is the action that centers our lives in the holy life of God and sets us firmly in the glories of creation and salvation. Faithful and intelligent and reverent worship keeps us in touch with what is real.”
This is what I have found to be true. I have also found that I have not been “bored.” I constantly have a sense of the holy… and the Holy Spirit… in each worship service. I have found myself anchored in the reality of the Kingdom in a very real way with liturgy. I am grateful for this anchor in my life.
Apprentice 2 Jesus 