Dear Friend Letter: Isn’t Liturgy Roman Catholic?

Dear friend,

Sometimes you confuse “liturgy” with Roman Catholicism. I do not wish to attack Roman Catholicism, but suffice to say, liturgy–which means “the work of the people”– is a fairly historical method of doing church used in various Protestant traditions. When you hear “liturgy,” think “order.” This is what we are after when we structure our services in a liturgical fashion.

We could also add that every church has a liturgy, but some churches are more intentional about organizing and ordering their services. So, the problem with your assessment is that you have allowed one way of looking at a church service to control your entire narrative. Further, you assume that anything that is not creative or new is, therefore, originated in some Roman Catholic practice. But the reality is that a structured liturgy–one with repeated elements each Sunday–is actually found in any Protestant denomination or tradition whether Anglican, Lutheran, Presbyterian, and even many Baptist Churches that adhere to more classic Baptist theology. And, of course, we are not even delving into the rich liturgical traditions of the Old and New Testaments.

I don’t state these things to belittle your knowledge but to supplement what you already know with a more catholic view of the faith. Oh, there’s that word again, “catholic.” The word simply refers to “wholeness” or “completeness” and is sometimes translated as “universal.” Therefore, when the Creeds speak of “One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church,” we are not offering you a secret Roman Catholic handshake. We are simply saying that to be biblical is to be a part of a Church that encompasses a greater territory than where you live and that treasures purity and is founded on Apostolic teaching.

I hope this helps you get a better perspective on liturgy and why we do–and have done–things a certain way for a long time.

Mighty cheers and I look forward to future conversations.

Sincerely,

Pastor Brito