I sometimes think that a person coming to a church service for the first time must find it confusing. When do you sit and when do you stand? Are you supposed to kneel? What do some of those words mean? Will someone show me where to find the next song or passage that everyone else is looking up?
Although the church I grew up in did not have a complex liturgy, there were still different elements: prayers, songs, readings, an offering, a sermon and sometimes a baptism or communion. Because I was immersed in this style of worship from a young age, I did not really question it. At about age 10 or 12, a church school teacher explained to our class that there was a purposeful structure to a worship service.
When the pastor or an elder spoke from the Bible, it represented God speaking to the people. That was because what this leader said was not just a personal opinion or something original that he wanted to talk about. There was a "greeting" that was a direct quote from the Bible, usually from a Psalm. A reading of the 10 commandments or a summary of the law would come a bit later. The reading of another Scripture would be followed by a sermon. An announcement of what the offering would be used for would also come from the pulpit.
But coming to church was not just listening to the leader speak. Each time, like a back and forth pattern, the people would have something to contribute too: a prayer saying sorry after the law was read, a song of response, giving the offering, the word "amen," another prayer asking God to bless the word as we read it, another song responding to the content of the message, another prayer that was more personal, sharing the needs of people we knew, and so on.
Many churches today have simplified their liturgy even more. They start with a welcome, 3 or 4 songs in a row, time to read the Bible and hear a talk about it, a prayer, maybe one more song and then the service is over. But even here, the gathered people are active in both listening and responding. Going to church is never passive, even if it's done online. By singing along, praying along and deeply listening, we are taking part in a conversation with the God of the universe, who knows us better than we know ourselves.
