Ever Ancient, Ever New Quotes

“Silence reminds us that God is always speaking, and through many avenues, but we can easily drown out his voice with noise and activity.”
― Winfield Bevins, Ever Ancient, Ever New: The Allure of Liturgy for a New Generation

“The pragmatic consumerism that has infected the church leads us to value the elements of our faith and practice that are most “relevant” to us today. For example, many contemporary churches play worship music that echoes secular pop songs, and we’ve designed our church buildings to look like Walmarts or movie theaters, neglecting theologically informed architectural designs that were once popular in church buildings and sanctuaries. Young adults sense intuitively that today’s churches have lost a vision for aesthetic beauty that encourages us to experience the mystery and transcendence of God. And they have grown tired of shallow, alternative approaches to the historic liturgical practices of past centuries. Young adults want more. They want depth and mystery, and they aren’t afraid to say it. They are harboring a longing for a church that transcends any single culture, not an approach that simply accommodates the surrounding culture.”
― Winfield Bevins, Ever Ancient, Ever New: The Allure of Liturgy for a New Generation

“I’ve found that many young adults are looking for a faith that moves beyond these labels, transcending the “evangelical” or “charismatic,” “liberal” or “conservative” divisions. They are seeking a holistic spirituality that embraces all aspects of their person—mind, body, and soul. Many are tired of the religious culture wars and would prefer to move past them in search of a holistic Christian faith that embraces the best of all sides.”
― Winfield Bevins, Ever Ancient, Ever New: The Allure of Liturgy for a New Generation

“Those who are attracted to liturgical expressions of the faith feel these practices allow them to “inhabit” the faith that has existed for over two thousand years. These practices also provide a sense of connection, to one another and to Christians throughout the ages.”
― Winfield Bevins, Ever Ancient, Ever New: The Allure of Liturgy for a New Generation

“Today many young people are searching for truth that has been tested and tried, truth that acknowledges the holistic nature of the human person—addressing the heart, soul, mind, and body. Many are searching for this truth by looking not to the future but to the past. Looking beyond the modern age, they are looking to the premodern roots of our history.”
― Winfield Bevins, Ever Ancient, Ever New: The Allure of Liturgy for a New Generation

“Churches in North America began to define success by measuring growth, emphasizing size and numbers over traditional signs of spiritual fruitfulness and biblical holiness.”
― Winfield Bevins, Ever Ancient, Ever New: The Allure of Liturgy for a New Generation

“I have come to the conclusion that liturgy, when rightly appropriated, is one of the best ways for us to make disciples in a postmodern context. It is this emphasis—the appropriation of ancient practices for disciple formation today—that is the unifying theme of this book.”
― Winfield Bevins, Ever Ancient, Ever New: The Allure of Liturgy for a New Generation

“We won’t find the answers to our current church crisis by inventing new, innovative ideas, nor will an awareness of the past magically fix the problems of the present. Instead, we’ll find signposts pointing toward the future as we explore the intersection where the past and the present meet.”
― Winfield Bevins, Ever Ancient, Ever New: The Allure of Liturgy for a New Generation