Liturgy and Christian Formation

Note: this post originally appeared on the Christ Church Anglican blog.

A couple of years ago, a small group of us formed an impromptu book club focused on Desiring the Kingdom and Imagining the Kingdom, the first two books of a planned “Cultural Liturgies” trilogy by the philosopher James K.A. Smith. These occasional gatherings afforded us some great conversations about liturgy and Christian formation, with each of us bringing our quite different backgrounds — and different questions — to the table.

Those discussions ultimately led to a series of events in Phoenix with Jamie last month, which our church co-sponsored along with Redemption Church and Fuller Seminary. Thanks to the hard work of a number of members and staff of our church, we hosted a public worship service on Friday, February 13, which many of you were able to attend, along with a number of guests from the community.

During the sermon, Jamie spoke about the vital connection between Christian formation and the liturgy, one of the key themes of Desiring the Kingdom. This sermon took place in the context of a traditional Anglican worship service, in which Fr. Chris led us step by step through the meaning of each ancient practice. It was a wonderful time together, and we hope we’ll have additional opportunities for similar services in the future.

The audio recording of Jamie’s sermon, “Christian Formation Through the Liturgy,” is available here.