Quotes from Frank C. Senn

A. Make sure the liturgy is stable. People participate in something when they know what to expect, and what is expected of them.

But there is a difference between "liturgy" and "worship" in that worship suggests the honor and praise accorded God communally or individually, in the public assembly or in worldly activity, whereas liturgy suggests something that is done communally and publicly, or is at least communal and public in derivation even if it is a ministration extended to those absent from the assembly.

Liturgy is not only the assembly's public work or service to God (worship proper); it is also God's public work or service to the assembly.

To do liturgy decently in the light of the concerns Paul expressed in 1 Corinthians means that liturgy must be theologically grounded and communally sensitive.

Liturgy is essentially a service that is rendered for the public good. We saw that both individuals and groups may undertake a service project for the good of their community. Using this basic definition, liturgy is also a service that God undertakes for the good of his creation, especially his human creatures.

The earliest Christian view was that the dead in Christ await the resurrection when Christ comes again in glory to judge the living and the dead.

Liturgical practices, rightly used, communicate something right about God (orthodoxy comes from orthodoxia, "right praise"). Christ gives his body and blood, broken and shed for us for forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. The Spirit gives gifts that build up the community. These correct beliefs are also communicated in the historic liturgy and all its local uses. The continuing proper use of this liturgy builds up a community of faith in Jesus Christ crucified and risen again.

In the 1960s both Roman Catholics and evangelical Protestants turned to popular genres of music to provide songs for Christian worship. Roman Catholic songs tended to follow the folk idiom, using acoustical instruments such as guitar and flute, whereas evangelical Protestants turned to rock music, using electronic instruments.

To which kingdom (or republic) do we owe our ultimate allegiance? If we want to get "in" with the coming administration of Christ the King, we had better come to terms with the witness of Revelation: that the one seated on the throne is the Lamb who was slain, and that self-giving love is the agenda throughout his dominions.

The season of Advent looks to the coming of Christ the king in glory. But that glory was first set down in an obscure earthly setting. Even so, the celebration of the child born of King David's line in the city of David prompts consideration of the final fulfillment of the promises to David, that of his house and lineage there would be no end.