in defense of: repetitive liturgies
I grew up in churches with highly extemporaneous prayers, long sermons, and somewhat variable orders of service. Things are much more “scripted” or predictable in the tradition in which I now find myself, but sometimes I still observe a tendency to wnat to switch things up occasionally. This is not necessarily bad—a fresh setting or phrasing can offer fresh insight into a familiar liturgical moment—but I want to offer some reasons against variety for mere variety’s sake. Stick with me here: I will get around to mentioning the relevance to moms and babies eventually.
Keeping the words of the service, particularly the participatory parts, substantially the same facilitates memorization. Memorization is good, actually. I can’t help but imagine, though this isn’t my area of expertise, that this is likely closer to the historic practice of much of the church than the sometimes excessive paper-dependence I have seen. Today’s cheap and widely accessible paper, not to mention easy photocopy technology, is a historical anomaly. With increased repetition comes increased familiarity, which can produce increased profundity of experience. Delivery is everything here: a leader’s tone of voice and articulation make all the difference between rote and boring vs. deepening perspective from anothe repetition.
Whom does it benefit to keep liturgical words the same?
The environment: less printing, less electricity, less paper.
Pre-readers and lower literacy individuals: memorization can facilitate their participation. It’s frustrating as a parent to see your prereading child struggling with the traditional wording of the Lord’s Prayer when they’d just gotten the contemporary version down pat, or vice versa.
Visitors: if the congregation in general is confident, not fumbling, they may be able to follow along more easily.
Parents of young kids: they frequently lack a free hand to juggle papers. I imagine this may also be true of those with certain physical disabilities.
Those with a strong need for routine or sameness: self-explanatory.
There definitely is a place for new liturgies, revised wordings, and updated translations—but I hope these brief thoughts may encourage thoughtful selection of liturgies and perhaps discourage change for mere novelty’s sake.