What Evangelicals Can Learn From Catholics

What Evangelicals Can Learn From Catholics | Joseph Pavicic | Homiletic & Pastoral Review

The biggest thing that Evangelicals can learn from Catholics is how to worship … liturgy, when celebrated reverently, can also give worshipers a connection to the sacred that is just not available through the type of worship service … in Evangelical churches.

Several years ago, I wrote an article for
HPR entitled: “What Catholics Can Learn from Evangelicals.” I argued
that Evangelical Protestant churches do a better job of teaching
Scripture to their congregations than most Catholic parishes.
Evangelicals are also more comfortable with evangelizing their neighbors
than are Catholics. These remain areas where the Catholics can learn to
improve by emulating their Evangelical brethren. However, Evangelicals
also have a lot to learn from Catholics.

The idea of Evangelicals learning from Catholics is not really a
novel one. Many Evangelical missionaries study the history of Catholic
missions to improve the effectiveness of their own missionary activity.
Some Evangelicals, obeying St. Paul’s dictum to “test everything; hold
on to what is good,” even study the writings of John Paul II on the
theology of the body. But during the Evangelical heyday of the 1980s, it
was possible for Evangelicals to view the Catholic Church as similar to
the mainline Protestant churches—as an institution that was waning in
influence. There was little reason to learn from a church that looked
like it was losing relevance.

The intervening years, however, have shown that the Catholic Church
did not suffer the same fate as the mainline Protestant denominations.
Under the leadership of John Paul II and Benedict XVI, the Church was
able to eliminate much of the confusion that prevailed in the wake of
the Second Vatican Council. Rather than becoming irrelevant, the
Catholic Church has continued to boldly proclaim the uncompromising
Christian message to a culture that is increasingly hostile to Christian
beliefs. Under these circumstances, it makes sense for Evangelicals to
view Catholics as allies. Although there are many treasures within the
Catholic Church, the two that Evangelicals might find most beneficial
are liturgical worship and an emphasis on unity.

Liturgical Worship

The biggest thing that Evangelicals can learn from Catholics is how to worship.

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