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liturgy  (lĭt'ər-jē) n., pl. -gies. A prescribed form or set of forms for public religious worship. often Liturgy Christianity. The sacrament of the Eucharist. What does Liturgy mean? In the ancient world there was no ‘welfare state’, no state provision to provide an integrated infrastructure caring for the needs of society. The Romano-Greco world was broadly divided between those who ‘had’ and those who ‘had not’. The former consisted of the rich, landed, aristocracy who held high office and the latter consisted of what we would consider the ‘working class’ (although of varying degrees of wealth). In such a society it fell to the rich to provide the necessary social services in return for the loyalty and service of the working class. So a rich patron might fund the construction and running of the gymnasium, another the theatre, another the public buildings, another any necessary temples or transport infrastructure. The Arena at Verona This ‘Civic Duty’ or ‘Public Service’ acquired a greek term called leiturgos (from the greek ‘laos’=people and ‘ergos’=work). In the 2nd century before Christ the Hebrew scriptures of the Jewish people (the ‘Old Testament’ to Christians) were translated into greek because Jews outside of Israel had little knowledge of Hebrew (greek being the lingua franca of the Mediterranean region), and they chose the existing greek word leiturgos to describe the service of the Priests in the Temple - this being the ‘Civic Duty’ of the Priests on behalf of the nation. Solomon’s Temple When the writers of the New Testament were looking for a word to describe the service of Worship within the early Christian communities (which took over from the Temple Worship) they used this word. If you click Liturgy.pdf you will see a list of all the New Testament uses of the greek term ‘leiturgos’ along with it’s various derivations. This word group is translated into English differently. For comparison I’ve listed the ESV translation which uses the words, ‘service’, ‘worshipping’, ‘worship’, ‘minister(s)’, ‘ministry’, ‘ministering’ and ‘offering’. Thus, within the Orthodox Church, the term ‘liturgy’ describes the Worship of the Church as well as the Offering of the Eucharist as well as the Ministry of the Priest and the People in bringing this offering. The exact form of this Liturgy is what we call a ‘Rite’, and one can differentiate the different forms (or ‘styles’) depending on the historical development of Christian Worship. On the whole the Orthodox Church uses a form called the ‘Byzantine Rite’ (from ancient Constantinople - now Istanbul), whereas for many centuries the Western Church used mainly the ‘Roman Rite’. Hagia Sophia - Constantinople Old St Peter’s Basilica - Rome An important take home message is that ALL Christian communities, no matter what their ‘theology’, worship according to a certain form or pattern - meaning they conduct the ‘Liturgy’ within a particular ‘Rite’. Thus it would be better to avoid seeing churches as ‘liturgical’ or ‘non-liturgical’ (which would mean ‘worshipping’ or ‘non-worshipping’!) and instead concentrate on the theology and history behind the form which their worship/Liturgy takes. For an excellent and detailed discussion of the history and theology behind Orthodox (and mainly Byzantine Rite) Liturgy, click here. Liturgy_files/Liturgy.pdfhttp://www.orthodox-islington.org.uk/liturgy_commentary.htmshapeimage_7_link_0shapeimage_7_link_1
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