From the author of the First Lights Blog A couple of weeks ago I was having a conversation with an old friend about my spiritual journey. We had attended church together at a contemporary evangelical charismatic Protestant church as college students. At the time, I ardently defended contemporary worship. The songs stayed in my head […]
Are You Part of the Problem, or Are You Part of the Solution? An Interview with Fr. Robert Taft
by Dcn. Andrei Psarev The legacy of Archimandrite Robert Taft S.J. is so significant that no one who is seriously interested in the evolution of the Divine Liturgy can afford to ignore it. In his interview the esteemed scholar, indeed, the “patriarch” of Byzantine liturgical studies, tells us about his life-long relations with representatives of the […]
Returning To The Eucharistic Liturgy in Ancient House Churches
by Gabe Martini Many evangelical groups today are proposing that we abandon “traditional” models of “being the Church,” and instead replace that stodginess with what is presumably a more “New Testament” model: that of the “house church” or “cell church.” Essentially, they are promoting that the local Church be a de-centralized assembly, meeting […]
Evangelical Professor, Students On Liturgical Churches And Worship
From The Moody Standard, Moody Bible Institute “Liturgy” is a word that by virtue of its mere obscurity seems to be dropping out of the common vernacular altogether, just as churches that keep the prescribed calendar and hold traditional services have been left stranded by the mainstream of evangelical culture. Liturgy, however, is more than […]
Show Up For Great Lent
No one can attend all of the services in Great Lent. But with a little plan everyone one of us can attend some of services. There is simply no excuse for not making Lent first of all the time for increased attendance of and participation in the liturgy of the Church. Fr. Alexander Schmemann Given […]