Posted on 02/07/2019 11:21:30 AM PST by CondoleezzaProtege
The biggest thing that Evangelicals can learn from Catholics is how to worship. This might seem like an odd thing to say because many Catholics who leave the Church to join an Evangelical congregation often mention the “dead” character of Catholic worship as one of their main reasons for leaving. It’s true that a shoddy execution of the liturgy, combined with content-free homilies, and a lack of vibrant fellowship, can make a parish seem lifeless.
However, liturgy, when celebrated reverently, can also give worshipers a connection to the sacred that is just not available through the type of worship service that currently prevails in Evangelical churches.
What exactly is liturgy? And why do Evangelicals avoid it? Broadly speaking, the liturgy is the way the Church consecrates time, space, and matter for the worship of God. It consists of rituals—the ceremonies, prayers, and sacraments of the Church. The Mass is the best-known example of a liturgical rite, but the Church calendar is also another expression of liturgy.
Another area where Evangelicals could learn from the Catholic Church is its pursuit of unity.
Their organizational structure does not allow for any unity beyond mere assent to a core set of beliefs. This was always true with the wide variety of Protestant denominations, but it has been exacerbated in the past 25 years by the development of the mega-church.
Mega-churches are frequently completely independent. They are unaffiliated with any governing church body. The fortunes of a mega-church rise and fall with its ability to attract and retain a charismatic pastor. The incentives for the pastor are to grow the individual church so the tendency is to focus on gaining new members...
(Excerpt) Read more at dailyedify.com ...
“I don’t care who ya are ... that’s funny ...”
Latin?
I was raised Southern Baptist and switched to Lutheran when I got married. I liked the change from emotional manipulation experienced at Baptist sermons to a more reasoned approach.
I also liked the structure liturgy provided to the service.
I think God is more interest in how you live and the sincerity of your heart in however you worship. (”I desire mercy not sacrifice.”)
Be careful what you wish for, Evangelicals
(or haven’t you been paying attention to the news
coming out of my church over the past few years?)
The “how you worship” part is for your benefit, not God’s.
To some degree everything is for our benefit in the end. God doesn’t need a thing from us. But I don’t see that elaborate ritual benefits us more than any other type of sincere heartfelt worship.
This is of course... humor?
Revelation describes a heavenly liturgy. That's what our earthly worship is supposed to emulate. "Sincere" and "heartfelt" reflect how the worshipper feels, not what the liturgy does to him or her.
RE: The biggest thing that Evangelicals can learn from Catholics is how to worship.
Catholics pray to Mary and the Saints ask for her/their mediation. Should Evangelicals learn to do the same?
Not to hire a Argentine Jesuit as CEO!
What!? LOLOL! Oh I see, the Catholic Church trying to “Lord” over others using power they once had long ago.
No, sincere and heartfelt deascribe whether the worship is honest or wether someone is just going through the motions.
I first started attending Catholic Churches in Chicago in 1964, both Polish, Italian, Mexican and Irish dominated churches. The music was major key, very joyful. Very Kingston Trio and Beach Boys.
Now in both Illinois and Georgia, in both gay and straight Catholic Churches the music is in the minor key and very depressing. I would expect the minor key on Good Friday. But 365 days a year is a little much.
Why did the music change?
Right now Evangelicals can learn from the Catholic Church how to lose it altogether and go down the drain.
All true Christians are Evangelicals: witnesses to the Evangelium, the Gospel, the Good News.
The abuse of this term, and its promulgation by the secular press, is a perversion of the truth.
In addition to being misused, it is both vague and ambiguous with respect to who exactly is one such.
I will ask my learned Catholic friend, who is the organist and director at her orthodox Catholic church.
These responses are innate: hard-wired into the human brain. Baby Wolfgang Mozart smiled at the sound of major keys, and cried at the sound of minor keys.
It is called “The Doctrine of Affects”: the universal emotional (affective) responses to music, and how to trigger them.
Ancient Babylon apparently had a seven-tone major key music system.
(The Beach Boys are my favorites - the reason I studied music, and became a semi-professional chorister.)
And I would wager that structure is even more pronounced and alive in the Catholic Church with a vibrant priest.
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