The Role of Ritual

We all have significant moments in life.  At times, there are some fairly specific actions or ceremonies that go along with those significant moment.  Just last week, I attended a couple of high school graduations.  These kind of ceremonies mark a transition from one stage in life to the next.  It brings closure to one part of life, and opens the door to the next step or stage.

As we think about our Christian life together, what is the role of rituals such as these?  For many churches, there may not be a tremendous number of rituals.  In the church I'm a part of, the most significant one I can think of is called confirmation.  It comes at the end of a period of instruction (usually fairly doctrinal), at which time the young person (in our church, at the completion of 8th grade) into the fellowship as a communicant member (which means he/she can now come forward to receive the Lord's Supper).  While local congregations may have other rituals, there really do not seem to be many that are celebrated or that mark transitions in life.

In a way, I believe that there should be more of these kind of rituals, and that we should also tie a deeper meaning to them.  When I recall my confirmation, I simply remember being able to quote back parts of Martin Luther's Small Catechism, and supposedly I learned what it means to be a Lutheran Christian.  However, I do have to admit that most of what I learned got lost along the way, and I had to re-learn it down the line.  So it seems like the ritual was significant, but perhaps lost its meaning in my life (and who knows how many others?).

Is there a place for deeper, more meaningful rituals?  Are there stages of Christian life that should be remembered and celebrated?  If you have thoughts or suggestions, I'd be happy to hear about them.  Perhaps some of these could be incorporated to make our Christian life more meaningful and significant as we grow together in Jesus.