The culture within evangelicalism sometimes leads churches to bin liturgy. After all, if we want to have a modern, real faith that’s grounded in what the early, first century church did, why do we need to do all this old-fashioned, stuffy prayer book malarky?

But, as an evangelical, I love the liturgy for four reasons:

1. It reaffirms our beliefs regularly

Evangelicals think orthodoxy is important, and there’s nothing better for making sure everyone realises what Christianity is all about that reading a creed together.

The two main creeds used in Anglican churches are the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed and both are a reminder of the key ideas of Christianity and a reaffirmation of orthodoxy.

2. It teaches the Gospel in every service

The liturgy puts the Gospel front and centre in services, regardless of the topic being taught in the sermon.

Rhys Laverty argues that “a good liturgy can alleviate the ‘gospel-centred’ burden from our preaching”. He writes:

If our liturgy always delivers The Main Thing … then the burden to cram a Gospel summary into our sermon on Genesis 38 is removed. You know that someone who’s just walked in the door and never heard the name of Jesus before will hear the basic Christian message during the service, whatever you say from the pulpit. And so you’re free to better engage that week’s passage on its own terms, and to uniquely proclaim the Gospel that week in those terms, which is precisely what expository preaching is all about.

3. It refocuses us on repentence

The reflection and confession in Anglican liturgy helps Christians genuinely live as followers of God. Rather than being stuffy and dead, the confession is one of the best, most important parts of a service. Regardless of the week we’ve had, or what we’ve done or thought, we can bring that to God and hear the absolution:

Almighty God, our heavenly Father,
who in his great mercy
has promised forgiveness of sins
to all those who with heartfelt repentance and true faith turn to him:
have mercy on you;
pardon and deliver you from all your sins;
confirm and strengthen you in all goodness;
and bring you to everlasting life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
All Amen.

One of the big problems that people have is a feeling that that are not forgiven – that sense of guilt. But the liturgy reminds us that God has promised forgiveness to those who truly repent.

Refocusing congregations on repentence and on the forgiveness that God provides is an important place to bring people each week.

I don’t know what’s going through people’s hearts when they do confession, but I’d suggest that there’s a fair amount of behaviour change going on as a result of that part of the liturgy.

4. It creates interactivity

The liturgy brings those in the congregation – Christians and visitors alike – and gives them a part to play. Far from being stuffy and boring, the liturgy makes the services more interesting by making them interactive.

Christians get to express what they truly believe, non-Christians are invited to consider what is being said. Non-believers can either say the words of the liturgy without meaning or just watch.

I’ve seen interactivity done in non-liturgical churches and it can be a bit scary. Getting people to split off into groups and pray out loud, unscripted, may seem modern but may also cause terror among introverts or those worried they might not be pious enough.

On the other hand, I was sitting behind some non-churchgoing relatives of someone being baptised recently. They asked me what the wood-and-fabric bag they’d been passed was for, but they picked up how to engage with the liturgy intuitively.

5. It ensures a quality level is hit

All large organisations strive to deliver a consistent quality level wherever they operate. Starbucks and McDonald’s spent a lot of time making sure that every branch hits levels of cleanliness and freshness, while the hospitals have to hit standards for infection control and offer treatment in accordance with national guidance.

In the same way, liturgy ensures that no matter where you go, and whatever local variations are enacted, there is some consistency of quality. We don’t have to rely on the brilliance of the minister to ad lib profound prayers or give a spectacular sermon: there will be something in the service for us even if the person at the front is having an off day.

So having pre-written statements of belief and prayers to draw upon helps thousands of churches hit a quality level.