Tomoz
17th April 2007, 04:41 AM
I just thought I'd share something that I found very encouraging recently (encouraging anglican-wise, that is :) )
At our church we have two services - a traditional prayer book service at 8:30 and a contemporary service at 10. On Good Friday, though, we just had the one, with the whole congregation together. We did it as a traditional service, which meant that those who usually go to 10 o'clock got to experience the more liturgical framework.
But here is the encouraging thing - most of the people my age go to the 10 o'clock...and they loved the more traditional style! And a few have started coming to the 8:30 service occasionally. Also, some of the youngens who came along to the service usually go to Baptist or COC churches where communion is celebrated in your seat, with little cups of wine and pieces of bread passed around so everyone can commune together at the same time. They said they really loved having communion from the common cup and common bread.
I personally love both the traditional and contemporary styles (though I am a prayer book man at heart) - but I was so encouraged to hear that, contrary to popular belief, there are young people out there who DO appreciate a more traditional holy communion service with traditional music, and it excites me that, if this is true in greater numbers, traditional churches (and the prayer book) aren't well and truly on their way out!
At our church we have two services - a traditional prayer book service at 8:30 and a contemporary service at 10. On Good Friday, though, we just had the one, with the whole congregation together. We did it as a traditional service, which meant that those who usually go to 10 o'clock got to experience the more liturgical framework.
But here is the encouraging thing - most of the people my age go to the 10 o'clock...and they loved the more traditional style! And a few have started coming to the 8:30 service occasionally. Also, some of the youngens who came along to the service usually go to Baptist or COC churches where communion is celebrated in your seat, with little cups of wine and pieces of bread passed around so everyone can commune together at the same time. They said they really loved having communion from the common cup and common bread.
I personally love both the traditional and contemporary styles (though I am a prayer book man at heart) - but I was so encouraged to hear that, contrary to popular belief, there are young people out there who DO appreciate a more traditional holy communion service with traditional music, and it excites me that, if this is true in greater numbers, traditional churches (and the prayer book) aren't well and truly on their way out!