What I Dislike About Evangelical Services

[SQLservant]

I I've stumbled upon a reason for why I find the average Sunday service at an Evangelical church to be shallower than a liturgical service.

Most non-Eucharistic services in Protestant churches follow the same basic structure of the Daily Office, that is, song and then instruction. However, the average Evangelical service takes the Bible out to do so! Rather than go through the Psalms, it doubles down on the hymns and anthems (or choruses and praise-n-worship songs). Proclaiming the Word of God has been cut to allow for an extended sermon. If the defining mark of Evangelicals is supposed to be their respect for Scripture, then why isn't it given more attention in their services? Why isn't the living and active Word allowed to speak for itself? Is there a reason? Am I missing something?

What do you think?

 

[heavenlessstar]

Every fellowship is different. Besides, there should be a great emphasis on strengthening each members personal relationship with God and that includes bible study outside of church service.

 

[sunlover1]

I I've stumbled upon a reason for why I find the average Sunday service at an Evangelical church to be shallower than a liturgical service.

Most non-Eucharistic services in Protestant churches follow the same basic structure of the Daily Office, that is, song and then instruction. However, the average Evangelical service takes the Bible out to do so! Rather than go through the Psalms, it doubles down on the hymns and anthems (or choruses and praise-n-worship songs). Proclaiming the Word of God has been cut to allow for an extended sermon. If the defining mark of Evangelicals is supposed to be their respect for Scripture, then why isn't it given more attention in their services? Why isn't the living and active Word allowed to speak for itself? Is there a reason? Am I missing something?

What do you think?

How many evangelical churches have you attended in the past year??
And which denominations were they?

 

[Albion]

I I've stumbled upon a reason for why I find the average Sunday service at an Evangelical church to be shallower than a liturgical service.

Most non-Eucharistic services in Protestant churches follow the same basic structure of the Daily Office, that is, song and then instruction. However, the average Evangelical service takes the Bible out to do so! Rather than go through the Psalms, it doubles down on the hymns and anthems (or choruses and praise-n-worship songs). Proclaiming the Word of God has been cut to allow for an extended sermon. If the defining mark of Evangelicals is supposed to be their respect for Scripture, then why isn't it given more attention in their services? Why isn't the living and active Word allowed to speak for itself? Is there a reason? Am I missing something?

What do you think?

I agree with the others who have replied so far. We need to know what churches you are speaking of because I see something in what you say when I think of one but not of others, etc. The Evangelical churches I've attended seem to spend an adequate amount of time on the Bible, and you know that one of the common complaints about the liturgical churches is that they do read selected verses during the service but they are often just read and nothing more.

So...I dunno. I think we need to be more specific in order to get to the heart of the issue you raise.

 

[SQLservant]

Every fellowship is different. Besides, there should be a great emphasis on strengthening each members personal relationship with God and that includes bible study outside of church service.

To the exclusion of that study WITHIN the service? Maybe I'm naive, but shouldn't that be the time above all that Scripture is proclaimed? When we come together as Christ's family to render thanks, set forth his most worthy praise, and ask for those things which are necessary to us, shouldn't we also pay attention to hearing his most holy Word?

Or is the purpose of an Evangelical service more like a classroom for individual life instead?

 

[Albion]

To the exclusion of that study WITHIN the service? Maybe I'm naive, but shouldn't that be the time above all that Scripture is proclaimed? When we come together as Christ's family to render thanks, set forth his most worthy praise, and ask for those things which are necessary to us, shouldn't we also pay attention to hearing his most holy Word?

Or is the purpose of an Evangelical service more like a classroom for individual life instead?

Gotta say that I'm still a bit confused. You say that the service shouldn't be like a classroom, but you also apparently feel that the scripture should be examined during the service and not just read. That's all that it gets in many liturgical services--a reading and no elaboration. As for proclaiming it, wouldn't the sermon be doing that, if it takes its theme from some passage in scripture? I never hear a sermon in an Evangelical church for which the preacher doesn't relate it's themes back to something in scripture. But again, I don't know what churches you've attended and have in mind.

 

[heavenlessstar]

To the exclusion of that study WITHIN the service? Maybe I'm naive, but shouldn't that be the time above all that Scripture is proclaimed? When we come together as Christ's family to render thanks, set forth his most worthy praise, and ask for those things which are necessary to us, shouldn't we also pay attention to hearing his most holy Word?

Or is the purpose of an Evangelical service more like a classroom for individual life instead?

Wear the shoes that fit. If a particular church doesn't spend as much time in the scriptures as you'd like to spend, find a church that does.

 

[BBAS 64]

Good Day,

It just happens to be a liturgy that you do not like.... does not mean that all churches follow the same liturgy.

a form of public worship; ritual.
a collection of formularies for public worship.


a particular arrangement of services.

 

[PaladinValer]

I I've stumbled upon a reason for why I find the average Sunday service at an Evangelical church to be shallower than a liturgical service.

Most non-Eucharistic services in Protestant churches follow the same basic structure of the Daily Office, that is, song and then instruction. However, the average Evangelical service takes the Bible out to do so! Rather than go through the Psalms, it doubles down on the hymns and anthems (or choruses and praise-n-worship songs). Proclaiming the Word of God has been cut to allow for an extended sermon. If the defining mark of Evangelicals is supposed to be their respect for Scripture, then why isn't it given more attention in their services? Why isn't the living and active Word allowed to speak for itself? Is there a reason? Am I missing something?

What do you think?

I think your position is, by and large, true.

I have attended a few Evangelical Protestant services before and found them wanting.

A return to ancient liturgical practice is something that many have begun to realize is best, and a small but growing population of Evangelical Protestants are returning to it. Heavily modified at times, but liturgical nonetheless, and I welcome it quite happily.

We recently have a Non-denominationalist attend my parish's liturgy. The youth actually said it was nice to actually hear the Holy Scriptures. That's become an increasingly popular reaction, and why many of these types of groups are beginning to loose members...or augment their services to be at least semi-liturgical.

 

[SQLservant]

Gotta say that I'm still a bit confused. You say that the service shouldn't be like a classroom, but you also apparently feel that the scripture should be examined during the service and not just read. That's all that it gets in many liturgical services--a reading and no elaboration. As for proclaiming it, wouldn't the sermon be doing that, if it takes its theme from some passage in scripture? I never hear a sermon in an Evangelical church for which the preacher doesn't relate it's themes back to something in scripture. But again, I don't know what churches you've attended and have in mind.

Thank you for the earnestness there.

What I meant above about the classroom was that the service is seen more as a means to equip one for his individual spiritual walk first, and secondarily to praise God in community and the rest.

I'm thinking of my experience in the Restorationist church I was born and raised in, mostly. While they had Communion every week, the services still followed the same general format, and at least for the current pastor, preaching is not usually expository. Not to say that that's bad, but there seems to be an imbalance, almost as if the Scriptures were primarily a collection of proverbs. It's been the same in the other church of that tradition I've visited, and in the non-denominationals as well.

The more I write, the more I feel like I might be making my claim too hastily, perhaps to hear myself give a hearty 'harumph!' to my own preferences in a church service.

 

[Knee V]

It really depends on the congregation (and often that follows denominational lines, but not always). While there are plenty of churches like that (and I've been to more than a few of them), there are also plenty of churches that use the Scriptures a lot more.

Apart from the more historical-type liturgies used by some of the more "high church" Protestant churches, I've seen three basic Evangelical/Protestant liturgies:

1) The God-initiates-man-responds liturgy. It is popular in Reformed circles (reflecting the Reformed soteriological principles) of which I - and my extended family - was a part. The basic structure is the pastor proclaiming something that God has commanded in Scripture, and then the congregation responds to it. So it starts out with the "call to worship", and the pastor reads something from Scripture where God commands people to worship Him, and the congregation responds with some hymns or psalms. And the rest of the service follows suit, pretty much adhering to the "regulative principle" of worship (only doing that which is explicitly commanded in Scripture).

2) The "non-denominational liturgy". An introduction, several songs, a prayer, announcements, a sermon, a few more songs, a closing prayer.

3) Whatever the Holy Spirit may be leading them to do that week.

I find that number 1 up there is typically very Scripture-oriented. Numbers 2 and 3 really depend on the congregation using them. Some use a lot more Scripture than others, while I agree that many in those two groups often don't use that much of it in their services, apart from the sermon (and the amount of Scripture in the sermon also varies pastor to pastor, and congregation to congregation).

 

[seeingeyes]

I I've stumbled upon a reason for why I find the average Sunday service at an Evangelical church to be shallower than a liturgical service.

Most non-Eucharistic services in Protestant churches follow the same basic structure of the Daily Office, that is, song and then instruction. However, the average Evangelical service takes the Bible out to do so! Rather than go through the Psalms, it doubles down on the hymns and anthems (or choruses and praise-n-worship songs). Proclaiming the Word of God has been cut to allow for an extended sermon. If the defining mark of Evangelicals is supposed to be their respect for Scripture, then why isn't it given more attention in their services? Why isn't the living and active Word allowed to speak for itself? Is there a reason? Am I missing something?

What do you think?

I attend a thoroughly Evangelical non-denominational church, and being 'in the Scripture' is not an issue at all. The worship service is like a 'lecture' or a 'Bible class', but there is no shortage of Scripture.

I think that your mileage may vary depending on the style of the particular church.

 

[bbbbbbb]

Having visited some Restorationist churches I can understand the criticism. However, there is such a variation among Protestant churches, as has been noted, that it is quite possible to find a church which more than fulfills these requirements. My difficulty with liturgical churches is that unless one is an insider, it is quite confusing to attempt to follow the liturgy, much less understand its nuances. I think the LCMS has made great strides in recent years in making their services much more comprehensible to non-Lutherans. BTW, I have found the LCMS to be quite saturated with scripture in their services.

 

[SQLservant]

I'd actually done research beforehand on the liturgical churches I'd visited, so I never really had to think about outsider accessibility before. I think maybe that's something I should be more sensitive toward in the future as well.

 

[Tangible]

Having visited some Restorationist churches I can understand the criticism. However, there is such a variation among Protestant churches, as has been noted, that it is quite possible to find a church which more than fulfills these requirements. My difficulty with liturgical churches is that unless one is an insider, it is quite confusing to attempt to follow the liturgy, much less understand its nuances. I think the LCMS has made great strides in recent years in making their services much more comprehensible to non-Lutherans. BTW, I have found the LCMS to be quite saturated with scripture in their services.

Thanks for that observation, 7b. The writers of our new hymnal, the Lutheran Service Book, took great pains to annotate almost every line in the liturgy with scripture references. Our liturgy really is saturated - fairly dripping! - with scripture.

 

[jannikitty]

This quote comes to mind: Hope it has meaning in the context of this thread. If not, it is a good one anyway!

"God will speak to the hearts of those who prepare themselves to hear, and conversely, those who do not so prepare themselves will hear nothing even though the Word of God is falling upon their outer ears every Sunday." A.W. Tozer

 

[Tangible]

This quote comes to mind: Hope it has meaning in the context of this thread. If not, it is a good one anyway!

"God will speak to the hearts of those who prepare themselves to hear, and conversely, those who do not so prepare themselves will hear nothing even though the Word of God is falling upon their outer ears every Sunday." A.W. Tozer

So the Word of God will in fact return void unless we prepare ourselves beforehand? That quote flies in the face of scripture, my friend. The Word always accomplishes what God intends for it to do, whether the hearer is prepared or not.

 

[SQLservant]

So the Word of God will in fact return void unless we prepare ourselves beforehand? That quote flies in the face of scripture, my friend. The Word always accomplishes what God intends for it to do, whether the hearer is prepared or not.

But, as a Lutheran, you believe that man is always free to reject or resist that which is offered him, don't you?

 

[Tangible]

But, as a Lutheran, you believe that man is always free to reject or resist that which is offered him, don't you?

"Free" is problematic, but yes, we believe that one may foolishly reject what is given by God through his word.

 

[jannikitty]

So the Word of God will in fact return void unless we prepare ourselves beforehand? That quote flies in the face of scripture, my friend. The Word always accomplishes what God intends for it to do, whether the hearer is prepared or not.

Consider also the parable of the sower..maybe a reread of that will help you see Tozer's point!