There is an excellent reflection by Leroy Huizenga at First Things exploring the 'conservative churches grow' thesis. This follows on from the Rachel Held Evans-Rod Dreher exchange, in which Dreher notes that "that liberal churches are not benefiting from the culture shift". Huizenga notes, however, that 'liberal' and 'conservative' have a range of meanings apart from the totemic culture war issues:
Churches conservative in doctrine are often liberal in liturgy while churches liberal in doctrine are often conservative in liturgy.
The longer term consequences of 'conservative doctrine-liberal liturgy' are hinted at by Huizenga in his discussion of the growing proportion of "nones" - spiritual but religious:
To hold on to those tempted to become Gnostic “nones,” we must attend not only to doctrine but to liturgy, so that our faith becomes neither an acrid intellectual system nor an empty form but rather an all-encompassing culture embracing the whole person, body, mind, soul, and spirit, in a community of love.
Contemporary Anglicanism, of course, has a particular and obvious temptation to conform to the 'liberal doctrine-conservative liturgy' paradigm - but there is also a growing constituency in the Communion which embodies the 'conservative doctrine-liberal liturgy' ethos (think Sydney, think elements of Fresh Expressions). But Huizenga's point suggests that it those ecclesial communities which possess the 'deep church' characteristics of counter-cultural doctrine and liturgy which have the greatest potential for forming disciples and impacting the culture. If there is a distinctive role for catholic Anglicans within contemporary Anglicanism, is it perhaps to create local ecclesial communities embodying deep church?
Note: catholicity and covenant will be taking a break over the next few days.

3 comments:
At least as far as the Episcopalians are concerned, it is no longer true that they are conservative in worship. Pressure to head off into emergent/evangelical-style guitar services is increasingly strong, but one can also look at the proposed liturgical material (which goes way beyond the same-sex blessing rite) and see the continuing rejection of the old language. And by "old", we aren't talking talking Cramner's language, but rather the ancient words of 1979. One can get through the same-sex rite without using any BCP language beyond the Lord's Prayer, even for such basic stuff as greetings and responses to readings. Another supplemental rite had the nerve to rewrite the Apostle's Creed.
This is set against the rather interesting result of a survey about producing a new hymnal, which in the normal course of affairs would have started about now. The lack of enthusiasm for doing so was patently manifest. Not only did most respondents prefer a conventional organ-and-hymns service, but some of the strongest sentiment in that direction was expressed by young people, and especially young clergy.
Conservative liturgy, conservative doctrine anyone?
Enjoy your break ... hope you're headed for better weather than in this neck of the woods!
C. Wingate - many thanks indeed for the timely reminder that we cannot assume TEC will be conservative in liturgy. Thankfully, my own experience (as a tourist) of TEC has mostly been of good, conservative liturgy. There have, however, been a few horror stories - 'alternative' eucharistic prayers, and one celebrant who changed *every* reference to God as "Him". Perhaps it is more an English/British Isles 'thing' to have conservative liturgy and liberal doctrine?
Fr. Levi - a lot depends on the definition of conservative! Perhaps I am thinking along the lines of St Paul's K Street in DC for liturgy, and John Milbank for doctrine.
Thanks too for the kind comments re: the break - it was sunny in Co Wexford!
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