Can Evanglical Baptists Be Liturgical?

Live the Trinity has an interesting piece up at Beyond worship as emotivism or rationality – liturgy of the heart

I agree with his final conclusion that yes one can but with a "but" if I think I know what he is alluding too. More on that later.

I suppose one of the most shocking revelations I had in my conversion to the Catholic Faith which partly occurred through the Church Fathers was the purpose of Church. Church was not the primary vehicle or the vehicle at all in many cases to convert the heathen. Or to put it in modern evangelical talk "get saved"

One gets a clue of this in several areas of the Fathers. This become very apparent in the writings of Cyril of Jerusalem when he was talking about the steps one that wanted to enter the Church had to take and the fact they were often dismissed after the Liturgy of the word. See an overview of that practice here.

In essence Church was for the community of believers.

I very much like his essay and I do agree Evangelical Baptist can (and I think should) be liturgical. Touchstone had a good piece on that here at Liturgical Revival?

It is a good piece and ends this way:

This, of course, is the whole point of traditional liturgical worship. At its best, its thoughtful use over time can allow one to focus not on the clever pastor or the gifted choir director but on the God who is “the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.” (Exodus 34:6-7)

I have found such formal worship in the Book of Common Prayer, especially in its classic 1662 form. When it is used the way its authors intended (i.e., unencumbered by the fanciful medieval ceremonial they expunged but nineteenth-century ritualists revived), it is solemn yet joyful and thoroughly scriptural. I also have read it in the liturgies of Luther, Calvin, Knox and even in the plainer (but nonetheless carefully structured and meaty) worship of the Puritans.

Why these key sources have been completely overlooked by most evangelicals dismays me. This myopia serves only to confirm two unattractive features of contemporary American evangelicalism rooted in its nineteenth-century revivalist past—its ahistorical perspective and its penchant for personality cults. Some may be now seeking liturgical worship but their love of novelty and service to the cult of informality keep them essentially anti-traditional. Meanwhile, their individualism continues to promote a misplaced emphasis on the stylings of the officiating minister. The result is worship that is a step up from the revival tent but neither truly liturgical nor authentically Reformed, never mind something in which God can “take joy.”

Now let me get to that "but" I was talking about.

Live the Trinity says at the end:

The point is not “oh then this Church/denomination” but to emphasize the character of his experience.

Can evangelical Protestants ever create(?) or practice this liturgy of the heart? I believe the answer is actually yes.

That what was his experience? Well if you go to his post he is talking about a Divine Service in the Orthodox Church.

That is a different kettle of Fish. Because as can be seen one can be a pretty good Liturgical Protestant. However can one be Liturgical Sacramental Evangelical Baptist? Well maybe you can but that would be some culture and theological shock. In such a worship service these thinks such as ICONS, Statues, candles, scent , bread, wine, etc etc become not just just aids to holiness but are seen as Holy in themselves. That is matter helps convey grace. In other words they are just more than symbols alone.

I think that is really a big part of that Orthodox service he is talking about and is critical to the "Liturgy of the Heart".

So that is interesting to think about.