Whether you are aware of it or not, there is a swelling movement of people seeking out a deeper quality to their faith that is often NOT found in (their) Evangelical and Charismatic Churches. Others, such a Richard Foster and Renovaré, have been ahead of the game all along. This is probably not the only thing going on, and I will not attempt to classify the causes. I just want to get down a few of my thoughts.
What we are seeing is a renaissance of the classical spiritual disciplines, formal spiritual direction, and a return to the liturgical and sacramental traditions of the Church. "Post-moderns" seem particularly open to the ancient ways of doing things because of their longing for mystery, and one suspects, a yen for solid ground under their feet, in such a wobbly cultural scene as we enter the 21st Century more properly.
This movement has been given the term "convergence". This means a coming together of the Evangelical, Charismatic and Liturgical rivers in the Church. Indeed, Renovaré is dedicated to the promotion of several of the streams in its work, including the things which I have mentioned, but adding, social justice, contemplative spirituality, etc., Sometimes we are put off by the language used, but many times, the terms are really familiar to us under other names. For example, spirituality means not too much to the average Evangelical, but they know something of "quiet times", and "discipleship", at least purportedly! Surely, every parish, congregation or community and house-group has some sort of "liturgy", and might even be plagued by deadness to some degree, as the liturgy is often accused of being!
These various streams might seem like strange bedfellows to some, and are probably most alarming to certain Protestants. However, it is not a cause for worry, as far as I can see, but a cause for joy. What we are witnessing is a movement of the Christian Evangelical and Charismatic mainstream of the often, fragmented, and slightly (ok, very) amnesic Church in the West, harkening back to it's roots, yet without jettisoning the very valuable developments that most of us have come to take for granted (to the exclusion of other things just as valuable). It is also not about becoming Roman Catholic, but there are things we can learn from them too. We will leave aside the atrocious departure from both tradition and scripture by certain of the mainline denominations, who hold to some form of liturgy in the more formal sense (to no avail!). I assume most people understand the term liturgy. It means literally, "the work of the people", and is a combination of the words, rituals and order of worship in the Church meeting or service, when Christians gather to worship the Lord, minister to one-another, and to hear His word.
You might say that there is a danger of going overboard and cherry picking that which we prefer, and I agree in part, but I am inclined to believe that God is really behind all of this. He is in the business of uniting us in Christ, and there is a great horde of things that we have in common, rather than things that separate us. Now, some pastors and teachers may have a problem with what I am describing, especially if they are lacking in their appreciation for Church History and are blinded by some denominational or party spirit. It is terribly unfortunate the lengths (and depths of animosity) that some people will go to in order to protect their doctrinal "milk", all to the impoverishment of their communities of faith, who in actuality, take their lead from these very leaders, and who may really want more solid food, if only they knew where to look for it.
I have always thought it was wise to take a long view of things, both practically and personally. In matters such as we are discussing today, I think it is also wise to take the proverb to heart, which says, "chew the meat and spit out the bones," or to borrow from Luke in the Acts, to be "wise like the Bereans", and to check things out for ourselves by searching the scriptures!
Now again, some might have issues with the above convergence because it seems to be a fundamental shift away from scripture, but in fact, what we are recognizing is a return to the apostolic days, when the Apostles hands were still guiding the Church before even the canon was closed. A little research will show you that such is the case. I point you to the writing of the Early Church Fathers, such as, Tertullian, Justin Martyr, The Epistles of Clement of Rome, the Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus, The Didache and the Sacramentary of Serapion.
Most can be found at:
Even without giving sway to everything we find in the fathers, for instance, some wacky methods of exegesis, we can and should, happily embrace a return to Scripture, Liturgy and Openness to the Spirit, without doing harm to the current form of the Church in terms of it's vitality, but on the contrary, we may immeasurably, be adding to its profundity of meaning, it's stability, and a superabundance of life. Amen to that!
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