About one in five practicing Christians are unfamiliar with liturgical practices like worship readings and stated creeds, according to a new report from the Barna Group.

In findings released Tuesday, Barna revealed that while 62 percent of respondents are either very familiar or somewhat familiar with liturgy, 19 percent are unfamiliar with the worship concept.

Drawn from a sample of 1,020 individuals labeled “Practicing Christians,” Barna found there to be variance among racial backgrounds for the liturgy familiarity question.

Those who are more likely to be “very familiar” with liturgy are white practicing Christians (37 percent) and Hispanic practicing Christians (28 percent). 

“Even though Catholic practice has been trending down, there are strong Catholic (and thus liturgical) roots and awareness in Hispanic communities across the country,” noted Barna.

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Among black practicing Christians, only 14 percent are familiar with the concept “likely because many black faith communities developed around less institutional and more charismatic corporate worship.”

Barna also found that older generations like Baby Boomers are more familiar and supportive of liturgy, while…

Leaders of the Sovereign Grace Churches network delivered a full-throated defense of their ministerial colleagues against former gymnast and Larry Nassar accuser Rachael Denhollander, who, they argue, has falsely characterized their handling of sexual abuse as “one of the worst, if not the worst, instances of evangelical cover-up.”

“The decisions of Rachael and others to publicly pronounce SGC and its pastors guilty of sexual abuse and conspiracy, on the basis of false allegations and with no direct knowledge of SGC’s history or the facts, have profoundly damaged the reputations and gospel ministries of innocent pastors and churches,” the leaders declared in a statement Tuesday.

Denhollander, 33, who was one of the many sexual abuse victims of Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics team doctor, alleged that when she advocated for sexual abuse victims at Sovereign Grace, referencing a case dating back to 2012, church leaders felt that her status as a survivor made her biased. In a civil lawsuit, victims alleged that church leaders, including Sovereign Grace founder C. J. Mahaney, “conspired and continue to conspire” to “permit sexual deviants to have unfettered access to children for purposes of…