Melicent Huneycutt-Vergeer Presbyterians have been gradually recovering the Christian year and most congregations now observe at least Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter. Observance frequently takes the form of family-centered activities, study programs, and a wide variety of artistic and cultural expressions.
A renewed interest in psalmody, one of the foundations of Presbyterian worship, and a new hymnal that includes the best of the past as well as appropriate ethnic materials mark contemporary services in the Presbyterian Church USA. Although Presbyterians have been cautious in introducing the visual and dramatic arts, given their historically conservative use of representational art, there is now widespread use of the visual arts and increasing use of dance and drama in worship.