Liturgy

A “liturgy” is simply the order of the worship service.  The liturgy at First URC is a patterned dialogue between God and His people.  God speaks and His people respond.  For example, notice below at the beginning of the service that God calls His people to worship and they respond in song.  Then, God calls His people to confess their sins and they respond in song…  This dialogue continues back and forth, repeating throughout morning and evening services.  Also, notice that the preaching of the Word holds the central place in the services - nearly half the time in worship is spent listening to what God has to say to His people. 

At the dawn of the old covenant, Israel gathered for worship at the tabernacle, which they properly called the “tent of meeting” (Lev. 1:1). Likewise, in the new covenant, we still come to meet and hear from God: we “have come to Mount Zion . . . and to God . . . and to Jesus” (Heb. 12:22–24). We believe that when we gather on Sundays, we meet with God to hear from Him and for Him to hear from us. What goes on is something of a divine dialogue, and a thoughtful liturgy will be structured to reflect the back-and-forth nature of that encounter.

Jonathan Landry Cruse, What is a Liturgy?