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In Church, Everything Really Old Is New Again

Gracy Olmstead has a nice piece about how some Millennials are rediscovering the liturgical churches. Excerpt: “If you ask me why kids are going high church, I’d say it’s because the single greatest threat to our generation and to young people nowadays is the deprivation of meaning in our lives,” Cone says. “In the liturgical […]

Gracy Olmstead has a nice piece about how some Millennials are rediscovering the liturgical churches. Excerpt:

“If you ask me why kids are going high church, I’d say it’s because the single greatest threat to our generation and to young people nowadays is the deprivation of meaning in our lives,” Cone says. “In the liturgical space, everything becomes meaningful. In the offering up of the bread and wine, we see the offering up of the wheat and grain and fruits of the earth, and God gives them back in a sanctified form. … We’re so thirsty for meaning that goes deeper, that can speak to our entire lives, hearts, and wallets, that we’re really thirsty to be attached to the earth and to each other and to God. The liturgy is a historical way in which that happens.”

“Cone” is Jesse Cone, a Californian who converted to Orthodox Christianity — and, as it happens, a good friend from our old parish in Dallas. Jesse is a Millennial. He tells Gracy why he and his wife found Orthodoxy so attractive (liturgy had a lot to do with it). A convert to Anglicanism and a convert to Catholicism offer their experiences and views in the same story.

This all resonates with me, because their story is my story, only from a previous generation. I’m curious to know what my readers think of the point Jesse makes above, as well as the general gist of Gracy’s article. Does this jibe with your experience? Are you seeing and hearing similar things? Why or why not?

Please note that I am not going to publish comments that trash somebody else’s religious tradition. Feel free to write critically, but do so with respect. I’m not interested in reading people one-upping others. I’m interested in hearing what you all have to say about the attraction (or non-attraction) of liturgical Christian worship. Does it appeal to you? How about your friends? If so, why? If not, why not?

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