One of the objections some have against using the creeds in evangelical worship is their association with ritualism in general or one's own ritualistic upbringing. Mere mention of the creeds brings back haunting memories of compulsory confirmation classes or the stale, scripted congregational response: "we-will-rejoice-and-be-glad-in-it." And of course in the Evangelical mindset this is patently false worship. But is this connection fair?
I think we have to be careful of this word ritual.
Negatively, ritual connotes a practice characterized by apathy or indifference; the perfunctory performance of some action without any corresponding inner belief or without any appreciation of the meaning of the practice. To distinguish this negative aspect of the word we sometimes attach the suffixes -ism or -istic and say, "mere ritualism" or "too ritualistic."
On the other hand, ritual can be used positively, when we mean something done with passionate devotion or sincere dedication, as "An hour of piano practice was his morning ritual." Though in this sense we often change the word to "religiously" as in "She exercised religiously in order to loose weight."
But given these distinctions it is apparent that evangelical worship - creedless as it often is - is not immune to ritualism. Any aspect of worship, any spiritual discipline can be done ritualistically - whether saying "Praise the Lord," reading one's Bible, or praying - all can be done in a merely perfunctory manner.
On the other hand, we should recall that there are in evangelical worship rituals (in the popular, dictionary sense of the word) - baptism and the Lord's Supper. What's more we are not free to forgo these out of a principled aversion to ritual! Since God has seen fit to include these rituals as part of the Church's formal worship ritual is not bad per se. Practically speaking, they summarize tremendous spiritual realities into a brief performance; and their unusual nature draws us out from this present world to what is transcendent.
So whether one's worship is ritualistic or full of passion is more of a matter of the heart than what element of worship is included. Reciting the Apostles' Creed can be done in either way. One man likened it to the kiss a husband and wife exchange at the door when they part ways each morning. (James C. Howell, The Life We Claim, [Abingdon: Nashville], 2005, xi).
It can be done ritualistically, that is, with apathy and indifference. Or there can be even the slightest lingering with that kiss - a lingering where the taste, the scent and the feel of one another enters in - a lingering which leads to the momentary kindling of a deeper, abiding passion between them.
Done in this way, that kiss at the door in the morning says, "I love you, and you alone. I am passionate for you and committed to this marriage. I will come back to you at the end of the day."
Ideally, all our acts of worship, whether saying, "Hallelujah!" or reciting the Apostles' Creed are like this kiss - a kindling of passion for the living God, our Savior.
