Liturgy

Liturgy is the public, communal worship of a religious community, typically organized as a prescribed sequence of prayers, readings, rites, and sacraments. The term comes from the Greek leitourgia, meaning “public service” or “the work of the people.” Liturgy encompasses not only spoken prayers but also ritual actions, symbols, music, and the use of holy texts, and its exact form varies widely among traditions.

In many faiths, liturgy provides a framework for worship that structures time—weekly services and seasonal feasts—as well as content, such as proclamation of Scripture, thanksgiving, intercession, and the administration of sacraments such as baptism and the Eucharist. Lectionaries, missals or breviaries, and liturgical books guide the order of service, while colors, vestments, and candles signal the church calendar and doctrinal emphases. Clergy and other ministers lead the rites, with laity participating as readers, singers, servers, and communicants.

Christian traditions show the most visible diversity of liturgical practice. Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, and some Protestant churches maintain a highly prescribed liturgy with sacramental emphasis; others—non‑liturgical or “free‑church” bodies—favor simpler or spontaneous formats. Judaism likewise has liturgical structure through daily prayers, Sabbath rites, and festival observances. In modern contexts, reforms and ecumenical efforts have sought to renew or broaden liturgical language and practice while preserving core meanings.

Historically, liturgy has evolved from early communal worship to medieval formalization and beyond, with later reforms adjusting texts, languages, and calendars. Across traditions, the liturgy serves to express doctrine, sanctify participants, and unify a religious community through shared action and belief.