September 2009

Liturgy is Worship

Writing in a recent issue of Church Review and also in Friends' News, Dermot Dunne, Dean of Christ Church, explains what Liturgy is.

One is often asked what is the difference is between liturgy and worship. The words are used interchangeably to describe how we give praise to God in church in an organised way. The two terms describe the same practice. Quite often it is thought that liturgy describes something different from and more elaborate than worship. This is not true; because everything we do in church, be it simple morning prayer or an elaborate music setting of the Eucharist, is both liturgy and worship at the same time. A classic definition of liturgy is 'the customary public worship practised by a specific religious group, according to their particular traditions'. I prefer to use the word liturgy when referring to our worship in the cathedral, because the term encompasses much more than just words from a book. Liturgy is the organising of worship to make it the most beautiful way possible to offer praise to God and stimulate those who participate. It is getting away from the notion that once you have prayed the words, that is enough. Good liturgy demands good preparation and the adaptation of many different elements to form a whole act of worship. Whenever we worship, we are engaged in liturgy no matter what church we attend. From the time we enter the building to the time we leave, there are certain rubrics we follow. There are times when we stand and times when we sit or kneel. The readings and inter-cessions are prepared and read in a certain way. Hymns and music are chosen to suit the particular theme in the gospel reading and certain collects and propers (prayers proper to a season) are chosen to reflect the particular church season. We have a different liturgy for the celebration of Eucharist from what we do at Morning Prayer and other services.

Good liturgy demands that we use all our senses in giving our worship to God. Stimulation of sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch plays a central part in any celebration. When preparing a liturgy, the use of colour, sound, speech and silence needs to be carefully planned to bring a harmony to the celebration. If the service is dominated by music and nothing else then there is an imbalance that may tip the service in to the realms of performance rather than worship. It is important to maintain delicate balance in all the elements of worship to create an overall harmonious mood.

dean@ccc.ie

<<Previous | Next >>