Liturgical Changes: Why and How

The issue of Liturgy entitled “Future Renewals: Looking Toward the Next Fifty Years of Worship Scholarship and Practice,” was co-edited by Andrew Wymer, vice-president of the Liturgical Conference board and professor of worship at Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois, and me.

We solicited essays from a range of members of the North American Academy of Liturgy (NAAL) looking at what has changed in liturgical scholarship and liturgical practice in the years since NAAL was founded in response to the Second Vatican Council.

Here is an excerpt from an essay by Nicholas Denysenko an ordained deacon of the Orthodox Church in America who teaches theology at Valparaiso University in Indiana. He is currently writing on the Orthodox Church in Ukraine. –– Melinda Quivik

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The Orthodox Church has a reputation for strict conservatism, the preservation of apostolic practices that resist the evolution of time. . . The church celebrates St. John’s liturgy most frequently, St. Basil’s occasionally, and St. James rarely. These liturgies evolved until they became stable with the invention of the printing press. Variation occurs at the parish level when certain litanies are omitted or abbreviated to reduce repetition. The absence of evolution in the euchology has two implications. First, it is easy to learn the liturgy because of its familiarity. The people hear the same prayers recited, components performed, and repertoire of hymns sung, over and over again. On the other hand, the lack of change assumes that the euchology has a limitless capacity to move the people to engage and reflect upon the condition of the world.

It is not only possible but necessary for the church to consider the composition of a new Divine Liturgy that is both faithful to tradition and speaks to the situation of the world today. The primary component of the new Liturgy would be new material: new collect and Eucharistic prayers and a revised structure that eliminates some repetition and maximizes a healthy balance of text, rite, image, and music. New material is necessary because the people of the church live in the present and their lives are always changing. The core message of the advent of God’s kingdom and revelation in Jesus does not change, and the new compositions would follow the style of Byzantine liturgy. . .

In principle, the liturgy should not need an accompanying education program. The Liturgy is, after all, the community’s encounter with the living God, so a Liturgy that needs to be explained is not completely accessible to the people.

. . . The church’s liturgical rites portray a powerful vision of what it means to become a true Christian, a true human who loves God and neighbors. The Lenten and Paschal rites and hymns that exclaim divine amnesty and reconciliation among the alienated are profound. Prostrating one’s self before a family member or neighbor is a deeply moving gesture. . . .

One cannot assume, however, that people, or even clergy, enflesh these gestures meaningfully in their everyday lives. All too often, people perform the rites and simply resume their patterns of bitter alienation. The gap separating the rite from behavior exposes the lie. Liturgy is not magic and transformation is not instantaneous. Pastors need to learn how to integrate into pastoral liturgical ministry modulation of ritual human growth into the image and likeness of God. This is particularly essential for an Orthodox tradition that draws amply from the ascetical tradition.

One possible model for a modest religious education program that connects the liturgical rites with everyday life is the creation of small groups. The small groups would gather to reflect on the liturgical rite, imagine how it connects to daily social behavior, and discuss how applying the meaning of the rite to daily life worked out in practice. . . . Pastors should be praying and reflecting upon the liturgical event again and again, and praying for the descent of the Spirit to make all things new.

The full essay with full references is available now in the digital and print editions of Liturgy. All of the essays in Liturgy 38, no. 1 are available by personal subscription and through many libraries.

Nicholas Denysenko is the Emil and Elfriede Jochum University Professor and Chair at Valparaiso University, Indiana.

Nicholas Denysenko, “A Vision of What is Possible: Orthodox Liturgy in the Future,” Liturgy 38, no. 1 (2023): 5–10.