What is a liturgy?
By: Pastor Travis Boles (Harbor Church Magnolia)
Lit·ur·gy - a form or formulary according to which public religious worship, especially Christian worship, is conducted.
Recently I was talking with an older pastor in our denomination (Baptist) and I asked him if he had a liturgy for a Christmas Eve service I could look at to make sure I was on the right track for our first Christmas Eve service. He promptly responded, “We are Baptist. We don’t do liturgy.” The word liturgy for him was clearly a throwback word tied up with baggage and assumptions. I quickly pivoted and asked him for an “order of service” for a Christmas Eve service.” We then both had a good laugh.
A liturgy is simply the pattern and rhythms a church uses to order it’s worship. All churches from every denomination have an order of worship (or a liturgy). Most churches will offer up prayers, worship in song, preach the word, partake of the ordinances, pray, and send their people out at the end of the service. This is a liturgy. Some have even correctly argued that all people have a liturgy to life. If you wake up in the morning, eat breakfast, drink coffee, read your Bible, pray, listen to worship music or a sermon on the way to work, then go to work, cook dinner and pray with your kids before bed, you are practically living out a liturgy.
Some might see the liturgy or the order of service as stifling the Holy Spirit (as if you could stop the omnipotent Triune God). This sentiment also assumes that the Holy Spirit takes some time off when the pastor prayerfully orders the service and chooses songs and scriptures to be read (we know this is not the case). For some reason, this argument is not used when a pastor studies and prepares a sermon. In addition, Paul the Apostle tells us that our worship service should be “decently and in order” (1 Cor. 14:40). We want to be biblical, intentional, and thoughtful in how we order our worship.
We have recently experienced people yearning to have a more robust and less performative worship service that is more biblical and historically grounded. Historically, churches have written out their liturgy or “order of service” in a bulletin. That bulletin was handed out in paper form to the congregation to use during the church service. When churches used a bulletin, it helped the congregation understand where they were at in the service and what element of the service they were currently on. Bulletins are currently less popular and are fading away in our technologically driven society. Church leaders need to then graciously help the congregation understand where they are at in the service and what the particular meaning is behind that element of the service.
For a case study, let me walk you through the liturgy we are currently using in our worship service. This liturgy is borrowed from church history. Our liturgy is Gospel shaped. We begin by highlighting God, who man is, who Christ is, and the salvation offered through Jesus’s work on the cross, and then we respond to the good news of the Gospel (God, Man, Christ, Response).
This also may be a new concept to some, but we see the pastor(s) as the worship leader, who works with the music minister to choose songs that fit the entire order of service and the sermon. We will often rotate who leads the service so the church understands there is a plurality of elders/pastors who are spiritually leading the church. (This is also an opportunity to disciple and train future pastors).
Welcome, and Announcements:
We have elected to make our announcements at the beginning of the service. We see announcements as a way to orient the church and communicate our mission and vision. Announcements are like mission planning or letting the family know ways in which they can serve, evangelize, fellowship, and use their gifts. We do the announcements at the beginning of the service because we see them as distinct and separate from the worship service itself. The congregation is given ways in which they can worship through their service throughout the week.
Pastoral Prayer or Prayer of Adoration:
Our service truly begins with a pastoral prayer. A pastoral prayer is led by a pastor/elder on behalf of the congregation. We combine our pastoral prayer with a prayer of adoration. A prayer of adoration is a prayer to the triune God, voiced on behalf of the congregation, praising Him for who He is and what He has done for us (Eph. 1:3–14). We like to mirror Paul’s prayers in the beginning of his letters. We praise God, thank him, pray for the city (and the lost), pray for our church family, pray for a local like-minded church, and pray that the service would disciple and equip our local church for ministry (Eph. 4:12).
Call to Worship:
The congregation is called to worship God from a passage of Scripture (Ps. 95:1–5). This Scripture is used to remind and encourage the congregation to focus their affections and praise to the Lord.
Theocentric Worship Song:
Jesus sang a hymn with his disciples (Mat. 26:30; Mark 14:26). The early church sang hymns and worship songs (Acts 16:25, 1 Corinthians 14:26). We try to then select a theocentric or God-centric song that focuses on God and His attributes. We also see worship in the church service as a congregational act and we want to place the emphasis on the entire assembly worshiping (this is not a performance). Often the music minister will purposefully pull back so the congregation can clearly hear one another worshiping God and be encouraged by their worship.
Corporate Confession of Sin:
Confession of sin is often misunderstood in our modern protestant circles. Some view it as something done in the salvation process and then of no further use. Confession is simply the admission that what we did is wrong and it is an agreement with God that our actions, thoughts, words or even in-action was a violation of his Law and his Word. Ezra (Ezra 9-10), Nehemiah (Neh 1:4-11), and Daniel (Dan 9:3-19) all provide examples of corporate prayers of confession. Confession reminds us that we need to cling to the Gospel.
We will often read out loud a confession of sin from the Bible, Valley of Vision, Book of Common Prayer, or a confession written by an older Godly saint.
Worship Song:
We then try to select a hymn or worship song that highlights our sin and our need to cling to the grace of the Gospel.
Assurance of Forgiveness (Assurance of Pardon):
We read a promise from Scripture assuring the repentant sinner of God’s forgiveness and cleansing through Christ (1 John 1:9).
Christo-Centric Worship Song:
We then sing a song or Hymn that highlights Jesus, His attributes, and the forgiveness He has offered us through His work on the cross.
Prayer:
We then pray for the preaching of God’s Word and that it would impact our hearts and lives.
Scripture Reading:
We then have a church member in good standing publicly read the Scripture that will be preached (1 Tim. 4:13).
The Preaching of God’s Word:
We see the sermon as a form of worship (both the listening and the preaching). Preaching and the sermon are biblical (Acts 20:9, 20:27; 2 Tim. 4:2). Preaching at Harbor is expositional, meaning that it seeks to declare the point of a particular Biblical passage. Regularly, our sermon series alternates between the Old and New Testaments (Acts 20:27). Sometimes we will preach a topical sermon that still exposits Scripture and seeks to be true to God’s Word. All preaching is driven by the Gospel, the Bible’s main message of God saving sinners through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
We encourage our church to bring a physical copy of their Bible, take notes, and bring their questions and thoughts to their small group (or a pastor).
The Lord’s Supper:
It is our conviction that the early church took of the Lord’s Supper every Sunday (Acts 2:42; 20:7). This is the second of two church ordinances commanded by Christ in which members of the church eat the bread and drink the fruit of the vine signifying their present faith in Christ, communion with God through the new covenant in Christ’s blood, and communion with God’s people in Christ, as we anticipate the Lord’s return (Lk. 22:14–23; 1 Cor. 10:16–17; 1 Cor. 11:23–34).
Response Song:
A hymn or song that allows the church to respond to the preached Word and to the Gospel.
Doxology:
A short hymn of praise to God in worship.
Benediction:
A bi-directional address, when appealing to God, a pronouncement of the blessings of God’s grace in Christ is voiced upon God’s people, encouraging them to live faithfully in light of God’s Word and grace (Rom. 16:25–27; 2 Cor. 13:14; Heb. 13:20–21.
We often end our service by sending out our members on mission by charging them with this: “Church, let us go forth to know, love, serve and obey Christ, and to make Him known to others.“
Additional Resources:
Elements of Congregational Worship