Julian Hardman: The Curious Death of Evangelical Liturgical Worship

We had a nice week in Brittany for the first half of our family holiday a few Augusts ago. But the place was rather like Britain —Devon in a beret or Cornwall with baguettes. I was expecting to find differences but had to look hard to see past all the similarities.

I have often had similar feelings after playing truant from my own (Baptist) church and visiting conservative evangelical Anglican churches. Familiar services: the same songs either in words or style; more or less the same Bible versions; similar sorts of sermon (a bit shorter perhaps and more to the point). The surprise is the relative absence of liturgy. One had none at all, not even the Lord’s Prayer, (which I habitually include when I am leading). Some have a brief home-made confession. In the charismatic Anglican churches I visit it is the same story: they are pretty much liturgy-free zones.

Historically this is a startling and monumental change. Although the Baptists (and other Nonconformists) and the evangelical Anglicans were 90% agreed theologically, for hundreds of years you could never have mistaken one service for another. In one, Cranmer’s sinewy prose dominated. In the other, the homespun piety of the minister shaped the congregation’s encounter with God in prayer.

It was far more than a difference in preference, but one of deeply held principle. Part of the glue which was thought to hold the Church of England together was the Book of Common Prayer, used in every parish throughout the land, ensuring some sort of uniformity of practice – and thus conformity with a shared theology. In theory at least. There was a fear of lower standards, theologically and linguistically; of slip-shod, dull, interminable, repetitive, unbalanced, and even unsound prayers. Surely no one who has been in evangelical prayer meetings or Baptist services can argue that these fears were completely unfounded. Liturgy was also more inclusive, allowing the whole congregation to speak to God simultaneously. Keep reading

Photo: Holy Trinity Brompton