Yes! All of this. Give me context within Jewish tradition, give me Hebrew and Greek lexicon, give me proclaiming the Lord’s death through holy communion readily 🙌🏼
I can relate to much of this! We’ve moved from a nondenominational background, spent time in the Anglican Church and now attend a fairly “high church” conservative Lutheran congregation. They’re still things I don’t love, wrestle with or feel constrained by. Sometimes I joke that we’re as Catholic as one can be without being Catholic (this is actually quite true based on church history). But the liturgy and communion were big for us. For me the liturgy has been so restful - I can attend and receive in whatever state I am in and still be fed without having to muster emotions I may or may not feel.
I love this. I totally agree that liturgy is restful. It’s grounding when I don’t know what to pray or how to worship, and it reminds me that millions of people around the world understand that same struggle and are in it with me.
Wendi, you have articulated so well many of the same thoughts and struggles I have had over the last few years attending the thousand-member church my family and I are a part of. They are warm, beautiful people, faithful in their service in the community and beyond, dedicated to biblical literacy and the faithfulness to the scriptures, and lots of fun! The eucharist is only shared once a month, however, which is tragic, and it is, as you mentioned, presented as a symbol only, not the real and actual presence of Christ. The liturgy is devoid of anything resembling common prayer or holy rites, and is driven instead by the concert-like music each week. The sermons are topical, not expository, not preaching the "whole counsel of God." And there is almost never any mention of the historical saints or the history of the church, outside of the Acts of the Apostles. It saddens me that the faith our church presents and practices could be so, so much deeper. Thank you for this post. It was a comfort to hear someone else wrestling with things very familiar to me.
Yes! All of this. Give me context within Jewish tradition, give me Hebrew and Greek lexicon, give me proclaiming the Lord’s death through holy communion readily 🙌🏼
Amen 🙏🏼
I can relate to much of this! We’ve moved from a nondenominational background, spent time in the Anglican Church and now attend a fairly “high church” conservative Lutheran congregation. They’re still things I don’t love, wrestle with or feel constrained by. Sometimes I joke that we’re as Catholic as one can be without being Catholic (this is actually quite true based on church history). But the liturgy and communion were big for us. For me the liturgy has been so restful - I can attend and receive in whatever state I am in and still be fed without having to muster emotions I may or may not feel.
I love this. I totally agree that liturgy is restful. It’s grounding when I don’t know what to pray or how to worship, and it reminds me that millions of people around the world understand that same struggle and are in it with me.
Wendi, you have articulated so well many of the same thoughts and struggles I have had over the last few years attending the thousand-member church my family and I are a part of. They are warm, beautiful people, faithful in their service in the community and beyond, dedicated to biblical literacy and the faithfulness to the scriptures, and lots of fun! The eucharist is only shared once a month, however, which is tragic, and it is, as you mentioned, presented as a symbol only, not the real and actual presence of Christ. The liturgy is devoid of anything resembling common prayer or holy rites, and is driven instead by the concert-like music each week. The sermons are topical, not expository, not preaching the "whole counsel of God." And there is almost never any mention of the historical saints or the history of the church, outside of the Acts of the Apostles. It saddens me that the faith our church presents and practices could be so, so much deeper. Thank you for this post. It was a comfort to hear someone else wrestling with things very familiar to me.
Thank you for reading, Jason, and thank you so much for your kind words! I'm finding more and more that there are many of us who share these concerns.