Psychology for Ministry: Ritual in Spiritual Practice with Laird Edman
Ritual does the important work of binding us together with other people… Ritual helps us engage in synchronous behavior with other people. We recognize our kin because they act like us. A group of people who are all standing and sitting and chanting the same way are activating their kin recognition circuits. Unconsciously, they think, “These people are my family.” If we want to help a congregation feel like family, ritual is one of the biggest ways.