Pilgrims revisited

In retail, a familiar statistic says that for every one ­customer’s formal complaint, about 26 more unhappy customers keep quiet.

There are no such stats for letters to the editor. I know, because when my “Pilgrims of a certain age” column (July 2026) drew a raft of reader objections, I checked. Still, all those letters may reveal larger patterns of concern, so I thought I’d address them here.

In “Pilgrims,” I reported on older single women migrating from nondenominational Bible churches to liturgical ones. I shared the stories of my friends Anita, a former Jesus Freak now confirmed in the Anglican Church, and Jill, a longtime evangelical who converted to Roman Catholicism.

My, how the letters rolled in:

• Has WORLD gone Catholic.
• Liturgy is another word for church traditions, and traditions often eclipse Christ.
• Liturgical practices substitute feel-goodism for true faith in Jesus.
• Mature Christian women should know better than to walk away from the Reformation church.

First, no, WORLD isn’t going Catholic and neither am I. In my column, I simply told Jill’s story. She was dramatically saved in her 20s, and I have known her for decades. When Jill told me she was preparing to be received into the Catholic Church, I asked a lot of questions. I believe she takes true salvation with her to Rome. And besides, who am I to pass judgment on the servant of another? At the judgment seat, each of us will give an account of ourselves individually (Romans 14). Whether we are in Christ will be the question, not whether we worshipped with the right sort of folks.

Now to liturgy and tradition. In “Pilgrims,” I wrote that I was “finding that the Anglican practices of Word and table, creed and calendar, along with rhythmic prayer, support endurance, hope, love, forgiveness, and moment-by-moment fellowship with God.” (By “rhythmic,” I meant praying the psalms at intervals throughout the day, not some woo-woo chanting.)

In response, some Presbyterian readers wrote letters painting Anglicans with a broad brush. One objected to the idea that Anglicanism is “scripturally faithful.” Another suggested that if I wanted liturgy I should explore the OPC or PCA.

I would like to gently say it was ironic to hear conservative Presbyterians dismiss Anglicanism, since their own denominations were born decades ago from the same kind of fights conservative Anglicans have waged more recently: to preserve biblical fidelity amid the drift of the larger denomination.

International Anglican Church (IAC), the fellowship I attend, is a thriving church plant sent by the Church in Rwanda and part of the conservative Anglican realignment that has explicitly rejected the Church of England’s movement away from biblical orthodoxy on sexuality and doctrine. The Sunday liturgy isn’t liberal Protestantism with candles. IAC is a Reformation church with a high view of Scripture, a rich theology of worship, deep roots in the creeds, and a prayer book saturated with the Bible.

The broader migration to liturgical churches, including Reformed ones, from nondenominational ones is well documented. So is the late-20th-century decline of mainline churches under the weight of theological drift and empty tradition even as nondenominational churches exploded, powered by gospel focus and expository teaching of the Word.

My migration theory is this: Many Bible churches have become entombed in traditions of their own—personality-­driven sermons, worship-band emotionalism, and a near-complete lack of connection to the historic church, the creeds, or any teaching to the laity of systematic theology.

That’s why, after decades in such churches, I did not learn the Nicene and Apostles’ Creeds—or began reciting them on Sundays—until the age of 63. That is also why I could completely understand Jill’s longing for more. Our walks took us to different places, but not, I believe, away from Christ.

Paul told the Romans plainly how they should respond to the spiritual journeys of other Christians: “We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. … May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another … that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 15:1, 5–6).

May we go and do likewise.