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June 18, 2009
Dan Kimball on Liturgy, Church Buildings, and Senior Pastors

What actually brings new people to church?



It seems that many younger Christians are attracted to formal liturgy and tradition. Are you seeing this in your area as well?

Dan Kimball: The churches I know that are winning new believers and drawing people who did not grow up in the church are not using too many liturgical elements. I think we might be seeing people who were raised within the church and are tired of the contemporary approach being drawn to the ancient practices. But, at least on the West coast, I'm not seeing young people from outside the church being drawn to liturgy. Every person I know&mdashand obviously I don't know everybody—who has moved into a liturgical context has come out of a very large, contemporary church and they just got burned out on the machine. They now find refreshment in a smaller setting with liturgy.

At the same time, our church is using some liturgical elements like responsive readings and the Doxology, but we're not following a formal liturgy. Either way, I think it's great that some people are engaging liturgy again. It's good for young people to know that Christianity was not born in 1980, but it has ancient roots. Are new people coming to faith? Whether our church is liturgical or contemporary we need to ask that question.

Read the rest of the interview.

What architectural styles attract the unchurched? See the "Sacred Space" research.



posted at 3:42 PM on June 18, 2009 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)



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