It all started with candles. About 15 years ago, I was on staff at a church that began a new ministry to young adults. The leaders wanted to do some things that had never been done in our large, transitioning church. The long-term staff members had an array of responses. Some were supportive, while others were skeptical. Most were just worried about what in the world would happen if wax got on the carpet.

Since that time, I have seen a gravitation toward traditional elements in Pentecostal services. Written prayers, the inclusion of hymns and the congregational recitation of creeds are among the ways liturgical pieces are becoming visible.

For those of us who grew up with the King James Version and a hymnal in the pew, there was a movement away from those formal approaches to God. But most people in our evangelical churches under the age of 30 have only known informal church. Casual attire, lyrics displayed on a screen and a windowless warehouse auditorium are no longer innovations; they are the status quo.

There is a craving for what they have not experienced and a longing for something deeper. My 11-year-old daughter recently asked whether we could use the King James when working on memorizing Scripture. She said, “It’s so much more poetic than the other versions.” 

I recently discussed this topic of convergence in worship with Vinnie Zarletti, assistant professor of worship at North Central University in Minneapolis. He grew up with a mother whose background was Baptist and a father who was Catholic.

The formation of traditions is something we value in our families; why are we trying to avoid it in the church?

When Zarletti was 5, his family started attending an Assemblies of God church, mostly because of the music. Zarletti says the young people he encounters today don’t have the same negative reference point for “high church” that their parents did. They are on a quest to discover a deeper connection to God through historical spiritual practices.

“There’s a polarity in Christian worship,” Zarletti says. “We’ve decided you have to go to a majestic cathedral to emphasize the transcendent, awesome, Almighty God. For the emphasis on the immanent presence of God, it has to be casual, shorts-and-T-shirt worship. We’ve made them mutually exclusive, but no one is actually trying to say, ‘God isn’t majestic,’ or, ‘He’s only interested in being your best friend.’ Each is lacking when there’s only one or the other, but both pieces together are necessary to create the full picture.”

For those who have grown up with no background for all of this, the word “liturgy” can strike trepidation. All it means is “the work of the people.” In its own way, each church has its own liturgy: sing a few songs, do announcements, have a message, close with responsive prayer. There’s really nothing wrong with doing it the same from week to week, month to month, year to year.

God finds joy in repetition. He makes the sun rise every day. He brings the cycle of the seasons every year. The formation of traditions is something we value in our families; why are we trying to avoid it in the church? It brings a certain comfort and stability to believers when they know the pattern of corporate worship.

What are some practical ways we can explore this vast wealth of spiritual tradition? As a worship leader, I’m a big believer in allowing things to take root in my own prayer life before I try to do them on Sunday morning. I recommend the book Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices That Transform Us by Adele Ahlberg Calhoun.

I would also start with visiting a liturgical church, with the intent of finding God. As Spirit-filled believers, sometimes we think we have the corner on the Holy Spirit. But He inhabits the praises of all His people! Look for the common ground. I have had meaningful moments in the solemn stillness of an Anglican service. I have experienced the presence of God while the congregation received the Eucharist in the Lutheran church.

It is possible to blend these elements, both traditional and contemporary, into a weekly service. It requires prayer, planning and practice. When it becomes part of the form, it provides a rich diversity that people appreciate. Often, church leaders ask me whether receiving communion every week diminishes it to just a ritual. On the contrary, by doing it weekly, it is deeply etched into our church culture as a sacred moment in our service.

These experiences have opened my eyes in new ways to the depth and height of God in our midst. I believe we can share it all: being a people of the presence of Christ and having an awestruck wonder for the Omnipotent Creator. Let’s invite the Holy Spirit to broaden our understanding by engaging the past in our current worship.