Comments on: The Evangelical Liturgy 20: Silence

By: jeremyjanson

jeremyjanson — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 06:49:06 +0000

Silence is extremely meaningful and should be part of any primary worship service.

By: Phyllis

Phyllis — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 06:51:46 +0000

Where is the cartoonist out there who can illustrate this comment? It is so interesting to image David with a bluetooth, Abraham with surround sound and Noah with headphones. HA!

By: Christopher Lake

Christopher Lake — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 04:19:51 +0000

Every Sunday, my former church has a period of deliberate silence after the sermon. It lasts for perhaps two to three minutes, but what a difference it makes to even have that short time of silence! In my current church, there are occasionally times of silence, chosen by the main preaching elder, but there is no time of silence deliberately woven into the worship service. I wish that that would change, as the atmosphere is noticably different– filled with sound, with less of a sense of gravity…

By: Carolyn

Carolyn — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:45:30 +0000

I love silence. Many times when I am home alone there is no TV on, no radio going, just natural
sounds of the house and nature or the work I am doing. I like to sit quietly and hear what is being said to me. Sometimes its my mind telling me things, other times, I get a word from God and those rare moments I love. How else can we commicate with the almighty. Prayer is great but silence is golden. Listen carefully. You may be surprised at what you hear.

By: don bryant

don bryant — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 10:00:37 +0000

Our church has just recently developed a compline service, meeting the last Sunday of each month at 8 PM. The thing I hear about the most is the preciousness of the silences. In my tradition we do not trust silences. We continually cram things into the mind. In fact, we end up shoving and bruising and pushing. InterVarsity taught me a lot about trusting silence when we had retreats of silence when I was a student. It seemed that the quieter we got the more electric the atmosphere.

By: brian k

brian k — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 02:19:10 +0000

Thanks for your post, I love all things Thomas Merton. i have received much help from the Centering prayer books by Father Basil Pennington, though he tends to be a little more “structured & dogmatic” then i care for. I love almost any book from Richard Foster on Prayer, silence, & meditation he seems to take a more “organic” approach to this disipline. peace

By: brian k

brian k — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 02:10:22 +0000

mystery is a word we need more of in our churches – less teaching, more listening & learning!
peace

By: brian k

brian k — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 02:08:32 +0000

just be careful the evangelicals don’t try to make it “entertaining” (lazor light show!)

By: brian k

brian k — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 02:01:25 +0000

being quite drives the theologians crazy —- it can’t be dogamtized

By: brian k

brian k — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 01:52:27 +0000

i feel the same way, thanks for your post