During the past decade, interest in a modified observance of the Christian year has been growing in some independent evangelical churches, despite longstanding disdain for liturgy and formalism. Following the Christian year has allowed some congregations to foster Christian maturity in a balanced way.
Many independent churches and other evangelical churches with roots in revivalism have been most suspicious of any observance of liturgy in whatever form, especially observance of the church year. An anti-intellectual, anti-formal, and anti-liturgical mindset is part of the heritage of these churches. At the beginning of the twentieth century, many pastors had little seminary training and many had received their only education in a Bible school. Thus, they had little basis for appreciating liturgy. Hence clerical robes, use of candles, liturgical colors, and so forth were left for certain “formalist denominations” (Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, and of course, the Roman Catholics). The independent church was not the choicest of soils for germination of worship renewal. Nevertheless, it has occurred and continues to grow.
Change in One Independent Church
Our church, a typical independent church, is one that has found observances of the Christian year to be a source of vitality. While the liturgical calendar has not been fully adopted nor has the lectionary cycle been embraced, serious attention is being given to the seasons of Advent, Christmastide, Lent, Eastertide, and Pentecost. Advent wreaths and banners and an emphasis on Holy Week are some of the most common adaptations. Observance of the Maundy Thursday service has become more frequent as an emphasis on Holy Week strengthens. More and more families in the congregation have begun to celebrate Advent with their own wreaths at home and show genuine interest in family worship, especially during this season of the year.
How did a church that was rather anti-liturgical and baptistic come to the point of enthusiastic participation in a modified version of the Christian year? These observances began when the church hired a minister of music and worship. For the first time, someone was given responsibility for worship. Often senior pastors have so many responsibilities that the organization of the Sunday morning service is left to the last minute. The result is usually a carbon copy of the previous week’s service with a few hymns or songs changed.
This church wanted a change, and change has been implemented in a variety of ways. The bulletin each week lists that Sunday’s status in the church calendar, e.g. first Sunday in Advent. When appropriate, the hymns, anthems, and additional music are coordinated with the themes of the season, especially during Advent.
The church has been celebrating Communion monthly. The worship leadership decided to mark the beginnings of the seasons with a morning Communion when possible. The first Sunday in Advent, Lent, and Pentecost were natural times for morning Communion. Special mention was always made of the reason for the season in these services focusing on the Second Advent of Christ, the coming of the Holy Spirit, and so forth.
Since there was a missions conference in the middle of the year, it was natural to make it coincide with Epiphany and the taking of the gospel to the Gentiles. While major emphasis was not placed on Epiphany, the people were exposed to an explanation of the season and its relationship to our church life.
Several in the congregation are Messianic Jews and thus the choir sings music of Jewish origin during the High Holy Days, even though these days are not part of the traditional church year. One year we used a modified prayer from a Yom Kippur service. The service included brief comments on the Jewish roots of Christian worship and the significance of the Atonement.
The minister of music and worship began writing a weekly hundred-word paragraph in the bulletin called “Notes on Worship” which described various aspects of the service. In addition, a thought-provoking devotional paragraph was placed at the top of the bulletin to assist people in their preparation for worship. People began to read the order of worship as it varied slightly from week to week. The bulletin became a key tool in worship.
Over a period of years, the congregation began to assume a more active role in the worship. When that happened, the importance of the church year grew as it opened new avenues of learning, understanding, and experiences in worship. People were given a context for the various worship events.
Response to the Change
Within the evangelical church, there is a growing number of people born during the middle years of the twentieth century who are hungry for deeper worship than they have known in the past. They have a keen interest in a greater understanding of the historical roots and significance of various worship practices. The more common superficial treatment of the profound things of God is not satisfying. For example, many of these people feel cheated of the anticipation, wonder, and celebration of Advent when it is only marked by one “Christmas service” on the Sunday nearest December 25. People are eager to see, experience, and understand the interconnectedness of time and faith. The observance of the church year does that in a clear way.
Invariably one of the first comments made by newcomers attracted to the church is “we’ve come because of the sense of worship and reverence here.” Over the years the attendance at the Maundy Thursday service in Holy Week, for example, has grown from 250 to around 1000. This service is easily the most intense and serious of the entire year. Yet people appreciate the care with which it is structured. It is a service of darkness, with candles being extinguished gradually during the service. Often it concludes with J. S. Bach’s “Come Sweet Death,” followed by everyone leaving in silence. A single candle provides light in the emptying sanctuary, a simple reminder of the Resurrection. During the first years, people were concerned that it was too morbid. Yet in time worshipers came to see that after focusing on the depth of despair and loneliness in Christ’s suffering, the celebration Easter morning becomes all the more glorious.
Modified Observance
A modified observance of the church year may work best for evangelical churches. Observance of the four Sundays of Advent, with the lighting of the Advent candles, use of banners, and gradual decoration of the sanctuary in succeeding weeks culminating in a Christmas Eve service of lessons and carols constitutes a solid beginning. The use of Advent carols throughout the season is also imperative. The hymnal entitled The Worshiping Church contains an outstanding collection of material in the evangelical tradition useful for the observance of Advent and the entire church year.
Missions and Epiphany may work together. The Lenten season may provide a setting for great choral music. It may also be a time to encourage the congregation to take spiritual inventory, including periods of fasting and praying. Palm Sunday, the various services of Holy Week (perhaps weekday noontime services), Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Resurrection Sunday all provide a setting for the great drama of the faith to be recalled in light of the present-day circumstances. Eastertide culminating in Pentecost offers a joyous season concluding with a focus on the ministry of the Holy Spirit. The season of Pentecost provides roughly six months of outward-focusing ministry to the world.
The alternation between the life and ministry of Christ and the outward mission of the church each year provides theological and educational balance for congregational life. It is great protection against ruts.
Frequently, evangelical churches are tempted to make getting more people through the doors the driving motivation in worship planning. While there should be a great concern for the unchurched person, too often worship leaders are unwilling to provide genuine worship opportunities for the believer who comes week after week. Participation in the Christian year provides educational and inspirational opportunities for the church of Jesus Christ to grow in faith and maturity.