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"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven; a time to be born and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up...; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance;" (Eccl 3:1-4)

There is something beautiful and transcendent about a congregation reciting the Apostle's Creed in unison. They are repeating words recited by the saints for 2,000 years. There is something profoundly powerful and mystical in partaking of the Lord's Supper, feeding on the Body of Christ by faith, drinking His life-giving blood, very often with tears in one's eyes, tears of joy and gratitude.

In the congregational singing, there is something wonderful about knowing that the saints and martyrs gathered before the glassy sea are even now singing before God their Maker.

You may want to visit a sound liturgical church sometime and find out.

"Let us wonder! Grace and justice
Join, and point to mercy's store;
When through grace, in Christ our trust is,
Justice smiles, and asks no more;
He who washed us with His blood;
Has secured our way to God."
- John Newton, Let us love, and sing, and wonder

You may want to visit a sound liturgical church sometime and find out.

Having been raised in a liturgical church there are some very special practices. I went to a Serbian Orthodox vespers and I love the chanting and the incense

I do not think I would choose to go back to the liturgical worship , but I do agree on reciting the Our father or the apostles creed has a sense of history and unity .

Did you know that it was Luther that brought in congregational singing ? I have always loved it , and I do find it in my church as well..We also hold hands and sing the doxology .

I spent a number of years in a Presbyterian Church (USA) congregation whose liturgy could be considered "high middle," that is, pastors in robes with color changes according to seasons, repetitive prayers with pastor and congregational responses, repetition of the patristic creeds, Advent candles, Holy Week services, old hymns, etc. I have also attended Catholic masses, and Episcopalian and Methodist services with plenty of ritual and ceremony. In none of these churches did I hear the clear exposition of the Gospel. Other than the canned Scripture passage called for in the liturgical calendar or the church's "play book," there was little exposure to the teachings of the Bible. The sermons or homilies were vapid and often consisted of 15 minutes of "Jesus loves you." In the case of the PCUSA church I attended, the pastor was a flaming political liberal and the congregation supported charities that aided Marxist radicals in Central America.

Since we live in an era where "feeeeeelings" are paramount, mine were quite negative. I did not feel any closer to God after 50 to 70 minutes of mainline, liturgical Protestant or Catholic worship. I saw little other than a way to kill an hour or two of time on Sundays.

It is by God's grace alone that I became a Christian believer. At a crucial point in my life, I was exposed to the radio ministry of Vernon McGee and to James Dobson's "Focus on the Family." These radio ministries helped me on my journey far more than the liturgical rigmarole and vain repititions of the mainline Protestant and Catholic churches. For over a decade, I have been blessed by hearing the Gospel preached in Bible-believing churches (PCA, Southern and independent Baptist, and independent Bible) where worship was neither ritualistic nor seeker-sensitive, but reverent and centered on God's Word. Because I live in the Bible Belt (near Dallas, Texas), there are many Christian radio stations where the expository preaching and teaching of men like Chuck Swindoll, John MacArthur, and R.C. Sproul are readily available.

Mark 12:30 tells us that we must love the Lord with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind. It is only through the mind that we may understand the Word, which John 1:1 states is God. Neither the tired liturgies of the mainline Protestant and Catholic churches nor the vapid stage shows of the "seeker sensitive" churches engage the mind. Evangelical churches based on Scripture alone can and do engage heart, soul, and mind.