The Ecclesiastical Pendulum Swing

This loss of experiential Calvinism has nothing to do with retreatism. Rather, many move from broad evangelicalism into Reformed churches for a time because they believe that they have found a more robust historical leg on which to stand. After all, the Reformed Church holds the foremost place in Protestant, ecclesiastical history. Confessionally Reformed churches tend to satisfy those seeking historico-ecclesiastical objectivity...at least, for a time. One of the things that those who make the full ecclesiastical pendulum swing tend to have in common is that, at the end of the swing, they end up downplaying biblical and doctrinal objectivity in favor of ecumenicalism or traditional and sacramental objectivity. Interestingly, this was one key component of Webber's own self-avowed transition. He wrote:

"One tragic aspect of the spirituality of right doctrine is that it tends to create a uniformity of interpretation that stifles growth...In the Anglican tradition I have found freedom of curiosity and openness. I regularly speak in Episcopalian churches where, during the discussion, a number of viewpoints will be expressed openly and forcefully. I've found a give and take on the local parish level that is healthy and dynamic."

Again, Webber noted:

"My pilgrimage into the liturgical church was related to my concern for rediscovering mystery...a conviction to the supernatural calls me to seek what is beyond the literal, to penetrate more deeply into the mystery of life...A sacramental view of life is not much different from a supernatural view of life. It affirms the mystery of the universe and allows that everything in life is, in one way or another, related to the mystery of the Creator and Redeemer."

Two ironies arise when reading the writings of many proponents of High Church liturgy. First, they become every bit as objectively dogmatic as the Reformed dogmatists from which they seek to distance themselves. This is usually the case with regard to their sacramentalism rather than with regard to their soteriology. Employing formulaic dogma in order to commend the "mystery" of their sacramental theology such proponents of High Church liturgy slip just as much "uniformity of interpretation" under the door of those they are seeking to win as that which they reject from the quarters of the Reformed church. 

Second, adherence to the Liturgical Calendar is analogous to retreatism--only it is a High Church retreatism. In observing the Liturgical Calendar, proponents create annual Liturgical retreats--(while convincing themselves that they are simply adhering to traditional anti-experiential worship). In High Church retreatism, proponents get excited about the prospect Ash Wednesday and Lent the way broad evangelicals get excited about the Passion One Day Conference and Walk to Emmaus. Many proponents of High Church liturgy believe that Ash Wednesday and Lent will provide them with a special experience of God. In this way, the anti-experientialist are just as experiential as the experientialists from whom they have sought to separate themselves. Those who move to High Church ecclesiology and liturgy are often simply seeking a new experience--an experience that is offered to them in the liturgy. The experience that the High Church offers is one that is more mystical and less biblically restrictive. Once the experience of High Church liturgy wears off, those who have made the shift tend to abandon experientialism altogether and finally swim the Tiber. In Rome, everything is done by the church ex opere operato and no self-examination or experiential effort is needed to benefit. 

For others, the move from broad evangelicalism to High Church Anglicanism and Episcopalianism is based on the desire to separate themselves from the constraints of "their grandpas theology." Interestingly, this seems to have also been true for some who made the switch from Arminianism to New Calvinism over the past decade. I have known several young men who enthusiastically embraced Calvinistic doctrine for a time only to abandon it for more ecumenical doctrine. At their own admittance, these young, restless men were first attracted to Calvinism on account of the resurgence of interest that occurred a decade ago. It was, for them, something new and exciting rather than something built on biblical convictions. Once that excitement wore off, the current trendiness of High Church liturgy swooped in and picked them up. As Webber himself noted, in High Church liturgical fellowships biblical objectivity falls by the wayside in favor of historico-ecclesiastical objectivity. This makes the High Church a perfect place for those shifting their doctrinal convictions based on historical experience rather than biblical criterion.