Liturgy is trending
This may surprise some of you, but there is a significant movement of young people moving away from contemporary worship-style services to churches that emphasize liturgy in their services. While I don’t think every church should become Anglican, there are important lessons to learn from this trend.
Moving away from plastic to raw material. Gen-Z has been the first generation to grow up in the massive seeker-sensitive movement in the United States. This has caused many churches to abandon the roots of Christianity, throwing the sacraments (such as communion) out of their service flows. One young adult put it this way, “the modern church in the West feels like a plastic consumer good, with no rootedness. We desire the real and raw elements of the Christian tradition.”
Running from individualism towards a community. Because of the emphasis on individualism in the West, faith has become a personal matter, not based on a community. And while there is validity to making your faith your own, there’s beauty when you join in with believers worldwide, praying the same prayers, songs, and practices. Instead of participating in a community trying to become more relevant, young people desire to join in with the generations before us.
Moving past the intangible towards the physical. The sacraments served as a middle point between the sacred and the secular. The bread, the wine, baptism, and more served as a gateway vision of the coming Kingdom. But today, the church has taught much of the faith based on intangibles, and followers of Jesus have nothing to physically practice to help them see the realities of the Kingdom.
Have you seen this trend in your area? What are your thoughts on the young moving towards a liturgical expression?
