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History of the Church, Part 4: Defending the Faith

Tue, 02 Jul 2013 00:00:00 -0500

In the face of persecution, ignorance, and hostility, the Church needed to provide a stout defence of its practice and beliefs. The writers who provided this defense are sometimes referred to as the apologists (meaning those who explain or defend their beliefs, rather than apologize). Their aim was to provide a rational explanation to people more acquainted with Greek philosophy and to persuade the Jews to accept Jesus as their Messiah.

Among the earliest apologists were Aristides and Quadratus, who wrote to the emperor Trajan offering a rational explanation of their beliefs. More famous is Justin Martyr, who taught Christian philosophy in Rome in the 140s and 150s and worked to express Christian doctrines in philosophical terms. Justin was aware of the outlandish accusations leveled against the Christians by pagans, such as illicit sexual relations and cannibalism. He refuted these in his two “Apologies,” and defended the Christians against the charge of offending the gods and of not being true patriots. The fact that he could address the emperor and the senate shows the important position Christians were assuming within the empire a little over a century after the lifetime of Christ.

Perhaps the most poetic of early apologists was the unknown author of the Epistle to Diognetus, which was probably written in the late second century to explain the Christian religion to an interested pagan. “Christians,” the author writes, “are not distinguishable from other people, neither by origin, by language nor by mode of dress. They do not live in their own cities, nor do they have their own language, nor indeed do they live any special style of life. They live in their own countries, but as foreigners; every foreign land is their homeland, and their homeland is as a foreign country. They live their lives on earth, but are citizens of heaven. They obey the laws of the land, but by the tenor of their lives, they live above the law. They love everyone, but are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned; they are put to death and gain life. They are poor and yet make many rich. They are dishonored, and yet gain glory through dishonor. They are attacked by Jews as aliens, and are persecuted by Greeks; yet those who hate them cannot give any reason for their hostility. To put it simply, the soul is to the body as Christians are to the world … The soul is in the body but is not of the body; Christians are in the world but not of the world.”

Several of the apologists were also important Church leaders and theologians. Irenaeus (140–202) was the second bishop of Lyons, in the south of Gaul (modern-day France). An energetic opponent of Gnosticism and various other heresies, he wrote extensively, his most important work being the hugely influential five-volume Against the Heresies. Irenaeus was also an important theologian, who worked to clarify the canon of the New Testament and whose Presentation of the Apostolic Preaching became a standard work.

He sought to clarify what was truth and what was error by appealing to and trying to define “the Rule of Faith,” the basic core of Christian faith, as a rule by which the truth or otherwise of heretical and orthodox teaching could be judged. This core of faith was eventually to be summarized in the great creeds of the fourth century.

Irenaeus and most of his fellow apologists sought to place Christianity right at the heart of contemporary culture. In so doing, they assimilated many philosophical and cultural elements of Greco-Roman civilization. They were largely pragmatic and embraced the attitude of adapt and adopt: pagan festivals were taken over to become Christmas and Easter, and a place was found for pagan philosophy and literature in Christian thought, as a preparation for the gospel. When pagans argued that Christianity would weaken the State, the apologists countered that, rather, it would strengthen the State against the immorality that attacked it.

Some objected that in adopting so much of Greco-Roman culture, Christians were also taking on its flaws. Tertullian, in particular, opposed the marriage of Greek philosophy and Christian theology, saying “What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?” Rather than giving rational explanations of his faith, he preferred to say, “I believe because it is absurd.” His was a lone voice. The apologists’ adoption of philosophy was effective and it was to dominate the future. Christian theology was increasingly to be expressed in philosophical terms – as it still very often is today.

Although the apologists’ writings failed ultimately to convert the Roman world to Christianity, they nevertheless offered a sober defense against the sometimes hysterical attacks of their enemies, and contributed in no small way to the Church’s developing understanding of Christian doctrine.

History of the Church, Part 3: Challenges to the Early Church

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 00:00:00 -0500

From the beginning, the Church met with many challenges to its beliefs, both from within and without. First, the fledgling Church had to avoid being swallowed up by some of the influential religions of the day. Then it had to face major divisions within its own ranks.

The most significant of these internal challenges came from the Gnostics. The name is an umbrella term for a number of groups, each of which thought that it had obtained the secret key to religion. In each case, this hidden knowledge (Greek gnosis, hence the name) centered on the belief that the material world is evil but that the souls of the elect few could struggle to escape it, as well as various esoteric recipes for so doing. Beyond that, each group believed that it alone held the truth, and despised all other Gnostics and all other religions, which were but shadows of the truth.

Gnostic beliefs possibly entered the Church in the time of the Apostles, and Paul may have been opposing such teaching in his letters to the churches at Colossae and Corinth. From the late first century to the middle of the second, orthodox leaders repeatedly clashed with about a dozen different Gnostic groups, each of which tried to convert the Church to its own secret religion.

All Gnostics rejected the Incarnation, owing to their belief that matter is evil. The leaders of two Gnostic groups, Basilides in Egypt and Valentinus in Rome, taught, as the “true” Christian teaching, that Jesus had only appeared to be a man but had in fact been a spirit all the time. This heresy came to be known as Docetism, from the Greek dokesis, “appearance.”

The learned Greek convert Marcion, who came from Asia Minor and was prominent in the church at Rome by 137, combined some Gnostic beliefs, without the emphasis on secrecy, with his own radical biblical criticism. Marcion sought to make Christianity more acceptable to Greek thought by rationalizing it and cutting it loose from its Jewish heritage. In Marcion‟s judgment Paul was the only true Christian among the biblical authors, and he deleted the rest of the biblical text from his own personal canon. Having thus disposed of all the elements of Christianity he considered problematical, and having spelt out a system of beliefs that was largely Gnostic, except that it was not secret, Marcion was surprised to find himself thrown out of the Roman church in 144. He retreated to the Middle East, where he founded a large and successful sect.

Persuasive though they were, Marcion and the Gnostics were divided and offered salvation only to an elite few. The Church was universal and united; the gospel offered forgiveness to all. By the end of the second century, Gnosticism was a spent force and the Church was stronger than ever.

In the 170s, in Asia Minor, an inspiring Christian leader called Montanus claimed to have a major new revelation. He and his two female lieutenants began a thriving cult that was to remain a force in Asia Minor for a century. Its cardinal features were: the claim to have a new revelation, adding to the biblical one; Inspiring, charismatic leadership; the very high standards of behavior demanded of members, much more stringent than the rest of the Church; and the claim to be the only true Christians, so that to reject them was to reject God (all these features were to recur in many other heretical groups). The content of their “New Prophecy” seems strange today: they believed that the kingdom of heaven would shortly descend to earth in their home province of Phrygia in Asia Minor. The purity of their lives, however, and the strength of their Christian witness was such that they won a large following, including the fiery African apologist Tertullian who, fed up with the laxity of his orthodox brethren, ended his life a Montanist.

There were very many other cults and sects at the edge of the Church, such as the Ebionites, Jewish Christians who refused to abandon Jewish customs and rites. The number of such groups increased with time, as those defeated in theological debates frequently formed their own sects. In the 390s, Filastrius, bishop of Brescia, listed 156 distinct heresies, all still flourishing. The orthodox view on such groups was summed up by Cyprian in the 250s: “He cannot have God for his Father who does not have the Church for his Mother.” Augustine was even more succinct: “There is no salvation outside the Church.” This view explains the ferocity with which heresies were fought: they were robbing people of eternal salvation.

Controversies with heretics did, however, have a positive effect in encouraging the Church to clarify its beliefs. Against Marcion and the Gnostics, for example, the Church reaffirmed its faith in the Old Testament, and began to define what was and was not in the New Testament canon. Against Montanus, Church leaders declared the priority of the biblical revelation over subsequent private revelations. In the years after the crucifixion of Jesus, many of his followers were faced with the prospect of suffering a violent death, as had their Lord. Dire rumours circulated about them. The authorities mistrusted them. They had no legal right to exist.

The Roman Empire normally tolerated religions, if their adherents were willing to sacrifice to the emperor. It was a loyalty test. The Jews refused but, being long established, were still tolerated so long as they remained loyal. As Celsus put it, “The religion of the Jews may be highly peculiar, but it is at least the custom of their fathers.” The Christians could offer no such defense.

As long as Christianity remained illegal, Christians were at the mercy of imperial disfavor and popular enmity. Fortunately, no emperor regarded them as enough of a threat to institute a systematic,
empire-wide campaign against them until 249. There were, however, a number of local, temporary persecutions and many martyrs – the word comes from the Greek, “to bear witness.” Misunderstandings clouded the image of Christianity in the popular mind. Eucharistic teaching about feeding from “the body and blood of the Lord” was misinterpreted as cannibalism, and references to communion as a “love feast” gave rise to rumors of incest, orgies, and infant sacrifice. The Roman historian Tacitus, writing in c.115, describes Christians as “a class of men loathed for their vices” and says that after the fire of Rome in 64 they were “convicted, not so much for the crime of arson, as for hatred of mankind.”

These attitudes endured. Writing in c.170, Celsus claimed, “There is a new race of men born yesterday, with neither homeland nor traditions, allied against all religious and civil institutions, pursued by justice, universally notorious for their infamy, but glorying in common execration: these are Christians.”

Popular anger led to many persecutions. At the time that Tacitus was writing, Pliny the Younger, governor of Bithynia in northern Asia Minor, was asking the emperor Trajan, by letter, for advice on dealing with the increasing number of Christians who refused to worship an image of the emperor. He explained that he had been confronted with complaints against the Christians, because of whom the temples were “almost deserted.” This left Pliny with a problem: what to do with Christians who were denounced to him as unfaithful subjects of the emperor?

He wrote to Trajan: “Meanwhile this is the course I have taken with those who were accused before me as Christians. I asked them whether they were Christians, and, if they confessed, I asked them a second or third time with threats of punishment. If they kept to it, I ordered their execution; as for Roman citizens, I noted these down to be sent to Rome.” The emperor replied, approving of Pliny‟s tactics, while urging that the Christians be not hunted, but punished only when denounced by informers. Other emperors were less kind: Nero, Domitian, and Marcus Aurelius all persecuted the church in Rome.

Things did not improve for the Christians. In 177 up to 48 Christians were killed at Lyons in Gaul, after rumors of immorality. Three years later, 12 were martyred at Scilli in North Africa. In 202 the emperor Septimius Severus, worried at the growth of the Church, prohibited conversion to the Christian faith, leading to a major persecution.

Respite came during the reign of Alexander Severus (r.222–35), whose mother was sympathetic to the Christians. The emperor may himself have had a statue of Christ in his home, along with images of Abraham and the deified emperors. The emperor Philip of Arabia (r.244–49) was also a sympathizer and maintained an active correspondence with noted Christian writers. His death in 249 was the signal for vicious persecutions throughout the empire.

A Worship Leader Must Be Someone Who Actually Leads Worship

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 00:00:00 -0500

A Worship Leader Must Be Someone Who Leads

How do you lead worship? The Holy Spirit, as counselor and as guide, directs the worship through the worship leader. The leader acts as a conduit through which the Holy Spirit can flow. The great part about it is that God uses ordinary people just like you and me. He directs the worship through the worship leader, and in turn the worship leader leads the people into the presence of God.

When Moses led the children of Israel, where did they go? Were they a people wandering aimlessly in the wilderness? No, God was directing them. God guided with a cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night. Moses was called by God to lead the children of Israel, following the cloud or the pillar of fire, even when it appeared to go in an unexpected direction. In like manner, the worship leader is called to lead the people in the direction God is taking them.

All of this requires some planning, but the planning must be in accord with the leading of the Holy Spirit. Planning does not mean sitting down and deciding what song would be good to begin with, which song should be used to get people standing, what song would be good to liven up the mood, etc. Consideration should be given to some of the physical aspects, but this should not be the primary focus.

Planning means praying, and not just five minutes before you start. Once you have committed yourself to the job of leading worship, you have consecrated yourself to God. This may mean that some things in your life need to be changed.

In the Scriptures, we read about the call of the Levite. The tribe of Levi was a tribe separated unto God. Their inheritance was the Lord, not the land. Their job was to serve God in the temple and to serve his people. This is similar to a worship leader’s calling today—a calling to be in communion with God and to serve the people. All of us need a more consecrated life, but as worship leaders, we need to be even more aware of our consecration. You must be led by the Holy Spirit.

Leadership means servanthood. We are not the spiritual head of the church or even of a small group—that is the pastor or other leader’s role. Is this scene familiar to you?

“You know, Eddie, the pastor of my church just does not understand worship. I don’t know what it is with him, but he wants me to do three songs, and that’s it. He doesn’t understand what’s going on. I don’t know what to do. I’m frustrated. Last Sunday, I went ahead and kept going. I did a half-hour of worship. He’s talked to me three times and told me he doesn’t want me to go that long, but I just went for it and did what God told me to do.”

That is not right. You need to do what your pastor tells you with regard to worship. Submit to his authority, and show some respect. Pray for him. Yes, you may be right. Maybe he doesn’t understand what is going on. You might be 100 percent correct. But right now your attitude is sowing seeds of rebellion, and you’re getting into something that is not healthy for you, your pastor, or the church.

Pray for him, talk to him, and be his friend. Share some of the things you have learned. He may feel threatened, but if you show respect, he may come to trust your judgment.

You must lead by keeping the spiritual needs of the people in mind. Sometimes I get comments from people that we need more songs of one type or another or that we haven’t done a certain song in a long time. I listen to those requests, but I base my final decision on whether or not the particular request will enhance worship in this time and place.

Leadership means servanthood. We are not the spiritual head of the church or even of a small group—that is the pastor or other leader’s role. Is this scene familiar to you?

Pray for him, talk to him, and be his friend. Share some of the things you have learned. He may feel threatened, but if you show respect, he may come to trust your judgment.

History of the Church, Part 2: The Birth of Christianity

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 00:00:00 -0500

By the end of the first century, Christians had developed a clearly defined way of worshiping. The Church was growing fast and was becoming increasingly involved with the world beyond its Jewish roots. As it did so, it had to grapple with a stream of theoretical and practical questions.

The early Christians‟ pattern of worship was very similar to that of their successors today. They met on Sunday, the day of the Resurrection, rather than Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath. When they met they celebrated the Eucharist, studied the Scriptures, prayed, and sang hymns together. Buildings created specifically for Christian worship did not appear until Christianity became officially tolerated in 313, and so, having no other choice, the early Christians met in one another‟s houses. As time went by, some large houses were specially modified to accommodate church meetings.

Groups generally met very early in the morning. They read from the Jewish prophets as well as from the writings of the Apostles and evangelists. The leader of the liturgy commented on the texts that had been read, and those present may have added their own thoughts and observations. Prayers were also offered for people in need and on behalf of the sick, and Pliny tells us that they “sang a hymn to Christ as God.”

Writing in the 150s, Justin Martyr gives us some idea of how the Christians gathered for worship: “On the day called after the sun there takes place a meeting of all who live in towns or in the country. The memoirs of the apostles are read, as are the writings of the prophets, insofar as time will allow. When the reader has finished, the president, in his speech, admonishes and urges all to imitate these worthy examples. Then we all stand and pray together aloud. When the prayers are ended, we greet one another with a kiss. At that point, as we have already said, bread is brought, with wine mixed with water to the president,” who accepted them and prayed, offering up “praise and glory to the Father of the Universe, through the name of the Son and the Holy Spirit,” and then giving thanks “for our being deemed worthy to receive these things at his hands.” When he had concluded the prayers and thanksgivings, “the people consent by saying Amen – so be it.”

The bread and wine over which the thanksgiving had been said were then distributed by deacons, who later brought the bread and wine to those who could not be at the meeting. Justin said that participation in the Eucharist was limited: “None is allowed to share unless he believes the things which we teach are true, and has been washed with the waters that bring the remission of sins and give a second birth, and lives as Christ ordered us so to live. For we do not receive them as ordinary bread and ordinary wine, but as Jesus Christ our Savior.”

The form of liturgy Justin describes, centered on Bible reading, sermon, prayers, and communion, has often been elaborated on but in outline it has remained unchanged, the basic pattern of worship for most Christians for 2,000 years.

Every Sunday the fast-growing congregations needed to be taught. There were many different interpretations of the Scriptures, and, if Christians were not to be led astray, false teachers had to be rebuked, discipline maintained, and complicated questions of theology resolved. Was Jesus in fact God, in human disguise, or was he truly both God and man? Which pagan customs were acceptable for Christians, and which must be rejected? Could Christians who grievously sinned be forgiven and restored to full fellowship?

Searching the Scriptures for answers to these questions, different teachers disagreed. It fell to the bishops to decide on the basis of Scripture and of the oral tradition passed down to them from the Apostles; both were equally valued. As Papias (c.60–130), bishop of Hierapolis in Asia Minor, put it, “I shall not hesitate to set before you, along with my own interpretation, everything I carefully learned from the elders and care-fully remembered … It seemed to me that I could profit more from the living voice than from books.”

The most famous post-apostolic leaders became known as the Apostolic Fathers for their proximity to the era of the Apostles and their fidelity to the doctrine of the Apostles. The earliest is Clement, perhaps the third or fourth successor of Peter as bishop of Rome. Writing in c.85 to the same community at Corinth to which Paul had once addressed his letters, Clement reproved a number of Christians: “You will please us greatly if, being obedient to the things which we have written through the Holy Spirit, you will root out the wicked passion of jealousy, in accord with our call for peace and concord.” Other Apostolic Fathers included Bishop Polycarp of Smyrna, and Papias, who wrote the five-volume Expositions of the Sayings of the Lord, of which only fragments remain. Figures such as these provide a human link back to the Apostles, whom they knew – Polycarp claims that the boy who offered Jesus loaves and fish to perform a miracle later became bishop of Tours, in France.

Ignatius, bishop of Antioch in Syria, was another highly influential figure. He is known through the seven letters he wrote on the way to his martyrdom at Rome in c.107, in which he defended the Incarnation, insisting that Christ is both divine and human, “both flesh and spirit, born and unborn, God in man, true life in death, … first subject to suffering and then beyond it.” He also taught that the bishops guard the unity of the faith, so that “we ought to regard the bishop as the Lord himself.” As he went to be martyred, he wrote, “It is better to die for Jesus Christ than to rule over the ends of the earth.

Ignatius had an exalted view of communion, writing of it as breaking “one bread … the medicine of immortality.” This view was shared by the unknown author of the Didache, or The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, which decreed: “On the Lord‟s own day gather together and break bread and give thanks, having first confessed your sins so that your sacrifice may be pure.” Indeed, the Apostolic Fathers were as one in their view of the Church and its worship: one united body, focused on baptism, communion, prayer, and study of the Scriptures, under the rule of bishops.

Planning a Hymn Festival

Thu, 30 May 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Planning a special service for your church community? Consider a hymn festival, a blending of song and readings, often from Scripture, that appeals to people of all ages.

The apostle Paul urged the people of Ephesus to sing the words and tunes of the psalms and hymns when they were together, and to go on singing and chanting to the Lord in their hearts, “always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph. 5:20).

The hymn festival is an excellent framework for responding to Paul’s advice—gathering with other Christians to sing praises to the Creator.

Why a Hymn Festival?

The hymn-festival format is wonderfully flexible and elastic. It can be organized to challenge the gifts of a cathedral-sized congregation or structured to meet the needs of the twenty families who gather in an inner-city chapel. A hymn festival can involve the leadership of only two people (minister and musician) or many people (choirs, readers, vocal and instrumental soloists).

Basically, a hymn festival is a worship service in which most of the service is music. Usually such festivals are constructed around a single theme to add unity and meaning to the service. Themes might include hymns on the work of Christ, hymns on the work of the Holy Spirit, hymns on one of the church seasons (e.g., Advent, Lent), or hymns of one particular hymn writer. Since it is generally better to leave people wanting more than to supersaturate them, hymn festivals should generally not exceed an hour and a quarter.

Forming the Festival

Choosing the theme should be the planning committee’s top priority. After they have agreed on a unifying concept, the group should either look for a published hymn festival on this subject or begin to carefully study hymn texts, select appropriate hymn texts and Scripture, and add litanies, prayers and other parts of the liturgy that will unify the whole with a common message and purpose. The next priority should be choosing a variety of ways in which members of the congregation will interpret the hymns. Consider the following possibilities, all of which have been used with success by other congregations:

Use a Concertato. The catalogues of Augsburg, GIA, Hope, Coronet/Presser, and Concordia all contain numerous hymn settings that involve instruments, congregations, and a variety of choir voicings.

Highlight Individual Stanzas by having them read in unison instead of sung, sung by a soloist, sung by a choir, interpreted by the organist or another instrumentalist, sung by men or women alone, sung a cappella, sung as a canon, interpreted by movement and/or drama, or accompanied by descants/ instrumental obbligatos over the melody.

Use Varied Introductions and Some Interludes to set the mood of the hymn or to bridge from a prayerful, introspective stanza to one of festive acclamation (or vice versa).

Have the Choir Sing a Hymn-Anthem to give the congregation a break.

When selecting hymns for the festival be sure to use a combination of favorite hymns in conjunction with newer, less familiar hymns. If you want to avoid the “congregational rehearsal” often held at the beginning of such a festival, have soloists or choirs sing through two or three stanzas of an unfamiliar hymn before inviting the congregation to join in. As the adage goes, “We like what we understand, and we understand what we like.”

Whether you come from a large or small congregation, be sure to involve as many people as possible. Include readers, choirs, instrumentalists, and soloists. Use rhythm instruments, handbells, strings, woodwinds, and guitar. If possible invite brass players from a local high school to join in with fanfares, or ask community performing groups to add festive descants. The more people you involve, the better your support and attendance are likely to be.

And remember, when considering which members of your congregation have talents to offer to the hymn festival, don’t call only on musicians and good speakers. Consider the talents of business people, men and women whose knowledge of publicity (the local newspaper) and printing (programs, posters, and brochures) can be of great assistance. Use the artistic talents of members to design program covers, posters, and banners for the hymn event. Ask retired members to address notices and telephone each member of the congregation with a personal invitation; have them arrange carpools for members who are unable to drive. And seek out recording buffs to tape the festival for those who were unable to attend or would like to relive the festival and “continue singing.”

Planning Countdown

Planning a hymn festival takes time—about three months is reasonable. It’s very important that all key participants in the festival are comfortable with the flow of the program. All instrumentalists should rehearse in the room to get a feel for the acoustics and the ensemble balance. The choirs should be very familiar with all the texts so that they can assist the congregation. All readers should be familiar with their texts and should be given time to work with the amplification system. If everyone understands and is comfortable with these intricate details, the pace of the festival will be relaxed and poised and will proceed with confidence and great success.

Finally, as Dr. Paul Manz suggests, make your hymn event a “Te Deum” (the Latin title of the hymn “We Praise You, O God”) and not a “tedium!” Careful planning and your own personal enthusiasm have much to do with the success of the program. The most wonderful hymn services and festivals are the result of thoughtful, conscientious effort.

A hymn festival is a worship service devoted especially to congregational singing. It is a type of service especially well suited to the celebration of important events in the Christian year and in the life of the congregation. The apostle Paul urged the people of Ephesus to sing the words and tunes of the psalms and hymns when they were together, and to go on singing and chanting to the Lord in their hearts, “always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20). The hymn festival is an excellent framework for responding to Paul’s advice—gathering with other Christians to sing praises to the Creator.

Why a Hymn Festival?

The hymn-festival format is wonderfully flexible and elastic. It can be organized to challenge the gifts of a cathedral-sized congregation or structured to meet the needs of the twenty families who gather in a small chapel. A hymn festival can involve the leadership of only two people (minister and musician) or many people (choirs, readers, vocal and instrumental soloists).

Basically, a hymn festival is a worship service where most of the service is music. Usually such festivals are constructed around a single theme to add unity and meaning to the service. Themes might include hymns on the work of Christ, hymns on the work of the Holy Spirit, hymns on one of the church seasons (e.g., Advent, Lent), or hymns of one particular hymn writer. Since it is generally better to leave people wanting more than to supersaturate them, hymn festivals should generally not exceed an hour and a quarter.

Forming the Festival

Use a Concertato. The catalogues of Augsburg, GIA, Hope, Coronet/Presser, and Concordia all contain numerous hymn settings that involve instruments, congregations, and a variety of choir voicings.
Highlight Individual Stanzas by having them read in unison instead of sung by a soloist, sung by a choir, interpreted by the organist or another instrumentalist, sung by men or women alone, sung a cappella, sung as a canon, interpreted by movement and/or drama, or accompanied by descants/ instrumental obbligatos over the melody.
Use Varied Introductions and Some Interludes to set the mood of the hymn or to bridge from a prayerful, introspective stanza to one of festive acclamation (or vice versa).
Have the Choir Sing a Hymn-Anthem to give the congregation a break.

Planning Countdown

The Origin and Meaning of Sacred Actions

Tue, 28 May 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Sacred actions, however they may be named, have been significant in every worship tradition. This article examines the history and meaning of such actions as they have functioned in the Christian community.

The Hebrew Scriptures tell the story of God’s saving action on behalf of God’s people. God bound God’s self to a covenant to save the people of God. With Christ a new covenant of the kingdom of God dawned. Christians were those who believed that the covenant promises of God were now being fulfilled in the mystery of Christ. Christ was the new oath (sacramentum), the new covenant. Hebrew religious rituals, in a similar manner as Hebrew theology, were transformed into Christian rituals or sacred actions.

The term sacred action in this article refers to the relation established between the activity of Christ and the baptized community in its celebration of the liturgies of the sacraments.

Even during Jesus’ public ministry, his disciples were becoming aware that Jesus was bringing into being a new order of things, a new breaking into human history of the kingdom of God. He was providing a new perspective on God, his Father, and pointing to a new way of relating to God. However, only with the Easter experience after Jesus’ crucifixion, which made the disciples aware that Jesus was still humanly alive and mysteriously present to them in his Spirit, did they slowly grasp the profound transformation of life’s meaning that had occurred.

Gathering together, especially for communal meals, these first Christians shared with one another their recollections of Jesus’ life and death and their awareness of this enduring Christ-mystery which had changed their lives. Slowly, they developed certain rituals to celebrate the new divine-human covenant established by Jesus’ death and resurrection. In particular, they gave a special form to the practice of baptizing people and used it to initiate into the community those who accepted the gospel message. They celebrated some special meals which quickly developed into the breaking of the bread, the Christian Eucharist. Though Jesus himself did not leave these rituals as such to his followers, it was his life and particularly his death and resurrection that “instituted these sacramental rituals” by being the mystery the rituals celebrate.

Early Christians, then, lived and prayed with the awareness of sharing in “the great mystery revealed in Christ,” the mystery of God’s saving presence in the lives of people. This was, in the full sense of the term, a new life; actually, it was the beginning of that unending life which Jesus had promised to those who would receive him as sent from his Father. Through the ritual of Christian initiation one entered into this new Spirit-life that came from Jesus’ own passage into Spirit-filled risen life. As Paul explained in his letter to the Christians at Rome, in baptism one enters somehow into the death and resurrection of Christ and possesses the Spirit as the creative source of unending life.

It was this great mystery that was celebrated in the breaking of the bread. Without yet reflecting on the way in which the Eucharist gave grace, the early decades—indeed the early centuries—believed that the shared bread and wine which became the body and blood of the risen Lord was a continuing food for the new life that had begun with baptism. At the same time, they were aware that in “proclaiming the death of the Lord until he comes in glory,” they were professing together their Christian faith. They were stating their acceptance of the preached gospel, but more than that, they were pledging themselves to faithful living out of their Christianity. So, the Latin word sacramentum (which means “an oath, a solemn promise”), along with the earlier Greek word mysterion, were applied to these rituals, as well as to other Christian rituals such as ordination or reconciliation which emerged in the life of the church

The Hebrew Scriptures tell the story of God’s saving action on behalf of God’s people. God bound Himself to a covenant to save His people. With Christ, a new covenant of the kingdom of God dawned. Christians were those who believed that the covenant promises of God were now being fulfilled in the mystery of Christ. Christ was the new oath, the new covenant. Hebrew religious rituals, in a similar manner as Hebrew theology, were transformed into Christian rituals or sacred actions.

The term sacred action refers to the relation established between the activity of Christ and the baptized community in its celebration of the of the sacraments. Even during Jesus’ public ministry, His disciples were becoming aware that He was bringing into being a new order of things, a new breaking into human history of the kingdom of God. He was providing a new perspective on God, His Father, and pointing to a new way of relating to God. However, only with the Easter experience after Jesus’ crucifixion, which made the disciples aware that Jesus was still humanly alive and mysteriously present to them in His Spirit, did they slowly grasp the profound transformation of life’s meaning that had occurred.

Gathering together, especially for communal meals, these first Christians shared with one another their recollections of Jesus’ life and death and their awareness of this enduring Christ-mystery which had changed their lives. Slowly, they developed certain rituals to celebrate the new divine-human covenant established by Jesus’ death and resurrection. In particular, they gave a special form to the practice of baptizing people and used it to initiate into the community those who accepted the gospel message. They celebrated some special meals, which quickly developed into the breaking of the bread, the Christian Communion. Though Jesus himself did not leave these rituals as such to his followers, it was His life, and particularly His death and resurrection, that “instituted these sacramental rituals” by being the mystery the rituals celebrate.

Early Christians, then, lived and prayed with the awareness of sharing in “the great mystery revealed in Christ,” the mystery of God’s saving presence in the lives of people. This was, in the full sense of the term, a new life; actually, it was the beginning of that unending life which Jesus had promised to those who would receive Him as sent from His Father. Through the ritual of Christian initiation one entered into this new Spirit-life that came from Jesus’ own passage into Spirit-filled risen life. As Paul explained in his letter to the Christians at Rome, in baptism one enters somehow into the death and resurrection of Christ and possesses the Spirit as the creative source of unending life.

It was this great mystery that was celebrated in the breaking of the bread. Without yet reflecting on the way in which it gave grace, the early decades—indeed the early centuries—believed that the shared bread and wine which became the body and blood of the risen Lord was a continuing food for the new life that had begun with baptism. At the same time, they were aware that in “proclaiming the death of the Lord until he comes in glory,” they were professing together their Christian faith. They were stating their acceptance of the preached gospel, but more than that, they were pledging themselves to faithful living out of their Christianity. So, the Latin word sacramentum (which means “an oath, a solemn promise”), along with the earlier Greek word mysterion, were applied to these rituals, as well as to other Christian rituals such as ordination or reconciliation which emerged in the life of the church.

A Quick Overview of Trinity Sunday

Thu, 23 May 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Trinity Sunday is celebrated on the first Sunday after Pentecost. Trinity Sunday, a principal feast day in the church, is different from other principal days in that it does not commemorate an aspect of God’s saving deed in history. Instead, it celebrates the Triune God, the source of the historical action that brings our salvation. It is appropriate for the Trinity to be celebrated on the Sunday after Pentecost, for Pentecost expresses the fullness of the Godhead by revealing the Spirit. Although Trinity Sunday originated in the tenth century, it did not become a universally adopted feast until the fourteenth century. Today the church around the world celebrates the Trinity on the first Sunday after Pentecost. One tradition associated with this observance is the use of the Athanasian Creed:

Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the catholic faith;

Which faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly.

And the catholic faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity;

Neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance.

For there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit.

But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is all one, the glory equal, the majesty coeternal.

Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit.

The Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, and the Holy Spirit uncreated.

The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Spirit incomprehensible.

The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eternal.

And yet they are not three eternals but one eternal.

As also there are not three uncreated nor three incomprehensible, but one uncreated and one incomprehensible.

So likewise the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, and the Holy Spirit almighty.

And yet they are not three almighties, but one almighty.

So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God;

And yet they are not three Gods, but one God.

So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Spirit Lord;

And yet they are not three Lords but one Lord.

For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge every Person by himself to be God and Lord;

So are we forbidden by the catholic religion to say; There are three Gods or three Lords.

The Father is made of none, neither created nor begotten.

The Son is of the Father alone; not made nor created, but begotten.

The Holy Spirit is of the Father and of the Son; neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.

So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits.

And in this Trinity none is afore or after another; none is greater or less than another.

But the whole three persons are coeternal, and coequal.

So that in all things, as aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped.

He therefore that will be saved must thus think of the Trinity.

Furthermore it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also believe rightly the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For the right faith is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man.

God of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and man of substance of His mother, born in the world.

Perfect God and perfect man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting.

Equal to the Father as touching His Godhead, and inferior to the Father as touching His manhood.

Who, although He is God and man, yet He is not two, but one Christ.

One, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but by taking of that manhood into God.

One altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by unity of person.

For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ;

Who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose again the third day from the dead;

He ascended into heaven, He sits on the right hand of the Father, God, Almighty;

From thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies; and shall give account of their own works.

And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting and they that have done evil into everlasting fire.

This is the catholic faith, which except a man believe faithfully he cannot be saved.

It is appropriate for the Trinity to be celebrated on the Sunday after Pentecost, for Pentecost expresses the fullness of the Godhead by revealing the Spirit. Although Trinity Sunday originated in the tenth century, it did not become a universally adopted feast until the fourteenth century.

Today the church around the world celebrates the Trinity on the first Sunday after Pentecost. One tradition associated with this observance is the use of the Athanasian Creed:

Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the catholic faith;

Which faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly.

And the catholic faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity;

Neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance.

For there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit.

But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is all one, the glory equal, the majesty coeternal.

Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit.

The Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, and the Holy Spirit uncreated.

The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Spirit incomprehensible.

The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eternal.

And yet they are not three eternals but one eternal.

As also there are not three uncreated nor three incomprehensible, but one uncreated and one incomprehensible.

So likewise the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, and the Holy Spirit almighty.

And yet they are not three almighties, but one almighty.

So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God;

And yet they are not three Gods, but one God.

So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Spirit Lord;

And yet they are not three Lords but one Lord.

For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge every Person by himself to be God and Lord;

So are we forbidden by the catholic religion to say; "There are three Gods or three Lords."

The Father is made of none, neither created nor begotten.

The Son is of the Father alone; not made nor created, but begotten.

The Holy Spirit is of the Father and of the Son; neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.

So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits.

And in this Trinity none is afore or after another; none is greater or less than another.

But the whole three persons are coeternal, and coequal.

So that in all things, as aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped.

He therefore that will be saved must thus think of the Trinity.

Furthermore it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also believe rightly the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For the right faith is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man.

God of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and man of substance of His mother, born in the world.

Perfect God and perfect man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting.

Equal to the Father as touching His Godhead, and inferior to the Father as touching His manhood.

Who, although He is God and man, yet He is not two, but one Christ.

One, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but by taking of that manhood into God.

One altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by unity of person.

For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ;

Who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose again the third day from the dead;

He ascended into heaven, He sits on the right hand of the Father, God, Almighty;

From thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies; and shall give account of their own works.

And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting and they that have done evil into everlasting fire.

This is the catholic faith, which except a man believe faithfully he cannot be saved.

History of the Church, Part 1: The Birth of Christianity

Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Encouraged by the teaching and example of the Apostles, the first Christians appointed bishops, presbyters, and deacons to govern their communities and ensure their development. These ecclesiastical leaders also had the responsibility of teaching and handing on their faith. Christians soon came under attack from the State, which saw the new religion as a threat; some Christians chose to die as martyrs rather than renounce their new faith.

In spite of this persecution, the Church spread rapidly throughout the Roman empire and beyond. Christian thinkers and writers emerged who were capable of conversing with the often hostile pagan and Jewish world. Further challenges were to be found within the Christian community itself, as some individuals began to develop doctrines that conflicted with the teaching of the Apostles. This was a time of flux and a time of trial. In response, Christians came to depend on the teachings of the bishops, especially those of the most important cities of the East and West.

The Christian Church was born in the high summer of the Roman empire into an immensely cosmopolitan world. Under the Roman peace, myriad peoples of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, their goods, their ideas, and their religions, all mingled in a way that they never had before.

For religion, in particular, it was a time of curious restlessness. The ancient Roman religion was still adhered to by most in the West, although many were influenced by sceptical philosophers. In addition a number of “mystery religions” seem to have been growing in popularity, and there was considerable interest in the Jewish religion, which had large settlements in many cities, including Rome itself.

Meanwhile the emperors had begun the cult of emperor worship, largely as a way of increasing the loyalty of their subjects; in modern terms, it was more a political than a religious practice. Julius Caesar was the first ruler to be deified, and, after him, so were all the emperors (some cared less about their divinity than others). People were obliged to attend the ritual sacrifices to the emperors as part of their religious duties, regardless of whether they believed in them or not. Romans also venerated the memory of their ancestors. And each religion could be held in combination with any of the others. One could have joined them all, if one had the money. It was therefore with a certain amount of suspicion that people regarded Christians and their refusal to take part in any religious observances but their own. Indeed, when disasters happened, they were apt to blame the impious Christians for angering their gods.

At first Christianity must have seemed just another new religion from the Near East, one among many. As such, it may have aroused the opposition of more conservative Romans such as the historian Suetonius (69–140), who said, “All that is loathsome comes from the East.” He viewed Christians as “a class of men given to a new and malevolent superstition.”

The birth of this new religion did not, however, seem that important – a merely local sensation in an obscure and backward province. So how did Christianity make any headway into society amid so much competition, given the precarious position of the Christians? How did the Church convert the early pagans who confronted Christianity with either apathy or hostility?

Perhaps it was the force of its teachings and of its preachers. Perhaps the story of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus was so compelling that it challenged disbelief. For the hearer new to Christianity, its teachings were exciting. God, the God above all other gods, had become a human in the person of Jesus in order to persuade people to worship a loving God. Here was a compassionate deity none need fear. And the longing for immortality was answered by the promise of the risen Lord Jesus that his followers would join him in eternal life.

Many were also impressed by Christian community life, with its strong emphasis on family and on charity. Even some of the Church’s enemies commented on the Christians’ love – the Christian apologist Tertullian was pleased to assert that many pagans said, “See how those Christians love one another!” The unity of the Church was also a strength. Again, its enemies bear reluctant witness. The pagan critic Celsus, writing in c.170, commented of Christians: “Their agreement is quite amazing, the more so as it may be shown to rest on no trustworthy foundation.”

Maintaining unity was one of the main concerns of the Church’s leadership, now exercised by bishops, who drew their authority from what was later called “the apostolic succession.” This term refers to the fact that the first bishops had been appointed by the Apostles and had in their turn appointed successors, who were thus seen as the rightful heirs of the Apostles as the senior leaders of the Christian community. To keep the Church united, the bishops communicated with each other as much as they could. (Since the Reformation, many Protestants have disputed this view of the importance of the bishop; the pre-eminence of bishops was, however, unchallenged in the early Church.) In addition the Apostles had appointed others to help in the work of spreading the gospel, known as presbyters or elders, and had established the order of deacons to help the Church leadership in practical matters, such as dispensing charity. In the first centuries there were also deaconesses.

In the time of the Apostles, these leadership structures appear to have been fairly fluid. By the end of the first century, a standard pattern had emerged wherever the Church had become established. In each city one bishop was in overall charge of the Christian community; he was assisted by presbyters, who were increasingly known as priests. Deacons still assisted in practical matters, although their role diminished. After the Jerusalem church had been destroyed in the Jewish War of 66–70, the bishops of the leading cities of the empire, Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch, had the greatest prestige and influence among all the bishops.

Seven Tips for Pentecost Sunday

Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Pentecost Sunday is both an end and a beginning. It’s not only the culmination of the season of Easter, it also represents the dawn of a new day in the life of the church. Just as believers are empowered by the Spirit, the message of the risen Lord is trumpeted around the world.

In the early church, Pentecost was the end of Eastertide (as in the Jewish calendar from Passover to the Feast of Weeks). In the modern era, Pentecost has received greater attention because of the renewed emphasis on the Holy Spirit, especially in charismatic and holiness communities.

Like each of the great events of the church year, the focus of Pentecost is not to relive a historical event, but to yield ourselves to God and to be drawn deeper into the graces He has already bestowed on us. The Holy Spirit was poured out on the church 2,000 years ago, but the prayer of our human spirit each day is “purify me and fill me yet more.”

In fact, Pentecost Sunday is the birthday of the church. Next to Easter, this should be one of the most exciting days in the life of every believer. The major emphasis is the power of the Holy Spirit, sent forth to produce holy, living, and anointed ministry. Here are seven ways to make Pentecost Sunday memorable and meaningful.

Preparation: This is a day when all the stops are pulled out. Banners, drama, dance, special music – whatever is appropriate for your congregation, worship environment, and tradition – should be coordinated in a major celebration of our life and purposes as the church of Jesus Christ.
Before the Service: Just as the disciples waited in the Upper Room, the people should come into a quiet sanctuary and wait upon the Holy Spirit. This is a good time for all worshipers to reexamine their calling before the Lord, asking themselves questions about their personal work and mission.
The Music: The hymns and choruses should be especially focused around the power and fruit of the Holy Spirit. Whether your worship is traditional, contemporary, or blended, there are innumerable selections to help facilitate the extraordinary importance of the celebration.
The Prayers: The prayers should focus on the church’s mission. A large map could be placed on a table in the front of the sanctuary. During prayer time, representatives from the different sections of the community could be seated around the table, laying their hands on their particular part of town. This time of prayer invites the Holy Spirit to stir up our gifts and ministries for the harvest field where we have been placed.
The Sermon: Since the power of Pentecost resides in each believer through the Holy Spirit, the preaching should be a benchmark for the church year. This power is a necessity for the church, not an option. The message should be followed with an opportunity to yield and allow the Holy Spirit to be released in each person’s life. Some suggested passages for the message are Psalm 104:25–35, Joel 2:28–32, John 7:37–39, Acts 2:1–11, and 1 Corinthians 12:4–13.
After the Sermon: At the end of the message, an invitation can be given for those who sense a call to full-time Christian service, setting them apart by prayer and public confession to pursue the possibilities of a life in vocational ministry.
Communion: Communion on Pentecost Sunday should reflect the great joy of the church in receiving the Holy Spirit. While Communion is being administered, sing songs of the Holy Spirit and of the power of the Spirit. This is also a great time to administer the laying on of hands with the anointing of oil.

Praise: The Prelude to Worship

Tue, 14 May 2013 00:00:00 -0500

The phrase “praise and worship” is frequently used by Christians, and yet these two words are rarely mentioned together in the Bible. Is there a distinction between praise and worship? What does it mean to praise the Lord? What place does praise have in our worship of God? Many have different answers. Webster’s New World Dictionary tells us that one meaning of the verb “praise” is “to laud the glory of [God], as in song.”

Hundreds of times throughout the Scriptures, particularly in the Psalms, we are exhorted to praise the Lord. In fact, the whole last segment of the book of Psalms deals with praise to God, and concludes, Psalm 150:6Psalm 150:6, ESV Version 2 of the ESV API has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the developers of this app and ask them to update to the latest API version. Thank you for your patience. .

Because there are so many verses in Psalms on the subject of praise, we may tend to think that praise is Davidic. But praise is divine. We are to follow God’s pattern when we praise, not man’s. Praise is God’s idea, God’s command, and also God’s pleasure. He loves to hear his people praising him!

Praise Is Different from Worship
There is a difference between praise and worship. Worship in its broadest sense encompasses thanksgiving and praise, as well as the Eucharist, the act of giving thanks. Praise is born in faith, is an instrument of war and a method of creating an atmosphere for the presence of the Lord. Worship is born from our relationship with God. We praise him for what he has done and worship him for who he is. Praise is a sacrifice we give in faith Hebrews 13:15Hebrews 13:15, ESV Version 2 of the ESV API has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the developers of this app and ask them to update to the latest API version. Thank you for your patience. . Praise is our entrance into God’s presence. When we find him, we worship Psalm 95:2-6Psalm 95:2-6, ESV Version 2 of the ESV API has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the developers of this app and ask them to update to the latest API version. Thank you for your patience. . Praise and worship are likened to rings that are linked together. They overlap, and yet they each have their own identity.

The Importance of Praise
As stated in Psalm 150, God has told us that we are to praise him, that this is his will for his children. Over and over again throughout the Scriptures we are exhorted to praise God and in turn he will communicate with us through praise.

Psalm 81 offers a clear picture of praise and its importance Psalm 81:1-4Psalm 81:1-4, ESV Version 2 of the ESV API has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the developers of this app and ask them to update to the latest API version. Thank you for your patience. . This encourages both singers and non-singers to praise God in song. Praise is not an option for a few but a requirement for all.

All God’s creation, from the lowest to the highest, sings praise to him Isaiah 44:23Isaiah 44:23, ESV Version 2 of the ESV API has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the developers of this app and ask them to update to the latest API version. Thank you for your patience. . The Scriptures say that the sun, moon, and stars praise the Lord Psalm 148:7–13Psalm 148:7–13, ESV Version 2 of the ESV API has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the developers of this app and ask them to update to the latest API version. Thank you for your patience. . In the Apocalypse John said, Revelation 5:13Revelation 5:13, ESV Version 2 of the ESV API has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the developers of this app and ask them to update to the latest API version. Thank you for your patience. .

God’s created beings, including angels, are to praise him Psalm 148:2Psalm 148:2, ESV Version 2 of the ESV API has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the developers of this app and ask them to update to the latest API version. Thank you for your patience. . In Isaiah 6Isaiah 6, ESV Version 2 of the ESV API has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the developers of this app and ask them to update to the latest API version. Thank you for your patience. , seraphim are described as praising before the throne of God. The same is true in Revelation 5:12Revelation 5:12, ESV Version 2 of the ESV API has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the developers of this app and ask them to update to the latest API version. Thank you for your patience. .

If all the ranks of God’s creation praise him, how can human beings, the highest of God’s creation, do anything else? Praise is not optional; it is obligatory. It is not a preference; it is a prerequisite.

One of the most frequently sung songs of praise sums it up: “Praise God from whom all blessings flow / Praise him, all creatures here below / Praise him above, ye heavenly host / Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!”

Praise Testifies
Praise is a testimony. It speaks forth wondrous things of God and his ways. He is lifted up for all to see and adore when we offer praise to him. The Scripture says, Psalm 40:3Psalm 40:3, ESV Version 2 of the ESV API has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the developers of this app and ask them to update to the latest API version. Thank you for your patience. . Peter declared that 1 Peter1 Peter, ESV Version 2 of the ESV API has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the developers of this app and ask them to update to the latest API version. Thank you for your patience. .

People are supposed to see us praise the Lord. Praise is not just for our prayer closet but for public testimony. Praise is a witness of our redemption and new birth. We have been chosen to display the praises of our Savior. God is the center of attention because he is the source and the object of that praise. Our praise reveals God to the world.

Praise Is Associated with God’s Presence
It is in praise that God’s presence becomes evident Psalm 22:3Psalm 22:3, ESV Version 2 of the ESV API has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the developers of this app and ask them to update to the latest API version. Thank you for your patience. . God dwells in praise; praise is his habitat. The Bible tells us to enter “his courts with praise” (bible-hover Psalm 100:4}. Praise is the open door to God’s presence.

Praise is appropriate for believers. We read in Scripture that “praise is comely” [becoming, or suitable] Psalm 147:1Psalm 147:1, ESV Version 2 of the ESV API has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the developers of this app and ask them to update to the latest API version. Thank you for your patience. . The glow of God’s presence as his children praise him is very becoming to them. As Moses’ face shone with the glory of God, so the brilliant light of God’s presence will be upon the faces of those who spend time in his presence praising him.

His glory will be revealed in the countenances and lives of those who are close to him, for they will radiate God to the world. Their lives will emit the fragrance of his presence, causing others to realize that they have been with the Lord.

Praise Delivers
There is a power in praise that can bring deliverance. Because the all-powerful and all-knowing One resides in praise Psalm 22:3Psalm 22:3, ESV Version 2 of the ESV API has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the developers of this app and ask them to update to the latest API version. Thank you for your patience. , no adversary has a chance. The Lord our God in our midst will save us.

Praise brings deliverance from mourning, depression, and a heavy spirit. The results are as sure as God’s promises. Consider the prophetic word given through Isaiah Isaiah 61:1–3Isaiah 61:1–3, ESV Version 2 of the ESV API has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the developers of this app and ask them to update to the latest API version. Thank you for your patience. . Depression, weighty spirits, heavy burdens, and accompanying worries fall away when praise begins.

Christians who “mount up with wings as eagles” are those who have learned to “wait upon the Lord” Isaiah 40:31Isaiah 40:31, ESV Version 2 of the ESV API has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the developers of this app and ask them to update to the latest API version. Thank you for your patience. . As they confidently expect God to come, they exchange their own strength for God’s. Waiting on the Lord does not mean total passivity.

The House of Praise
In Isaiah 56 God declares that “mine house shall be called a house of prayer for all people” Isaiah 56Isaiah 56, ESV Version 2 of the ESV API has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the developers of this app and ask them to update to the latest API version. Thank you for your patience. . The word for prayer is the Hebrew word tephillah meaning “songs of praise and intercession.” God wants his church to be a place where prayers and praise are sung as well as spoken.

However, believers are praisers not because they sing for a half hour on weekends, but because they have a life of singing praise to the Lord. We are the house of the Lord; each Christian is a “temple of the Holy Spirit.” A temple is a place of worship. Wherever we go as the “house” or “temple” of the Lord, praise is appropriate. The church of the Lord is a fountain of praise to its exalted Head.

Praise Is Joyful and Loud
The Scriptures, particularly the Psalms, describe many kinds of praise. David and the other psalmists speak often of rejoicing and of expressing praise to God in an exuberant or demonstrative manner Psalm 111:1Psalm 111:1, ESV Version 2 of the ESV API has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the developers of this app and ask them to update to the latest API version. Thank you for your patience. .

Quite often praisers are criticized for being too emotional or too loud, but the Bible says, Psalm 149:2Psalm 149:2, ESV Version 2 of the ESV API has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the developers of this app and ask them to update to the latest API version. Thank you for your patience. and Psalm 89:15Psalm 89:15, ESV Version 2 of the ESV API has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the developers of this app and ask them to update to the latest API version. Thank you for your patience. . The Hebrew word for joyful actually means “earsplitting.” How many of us have ever even come close to that level in our praising? Moreover, John describes heavenly activity Revelation 14:2Revelation 14:2, ESV Version 2 of the ESV API has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the developers of this app and ask them to update to the latest API version. Thank you for your patience. . Praise is the sound that fills heaven—loud spontaneous songs from millions of saints. God desires the earth to be filled with this praise, many voices in chorus singing their own song to the Lord.

Every creature, every nation, and every person in every language will sing glorious, audible praise to our exalted Lord. He delights in the praise of his people and is completely at home in their loud praises. Praise is a sacrifice of thanksgiving and honor to the Lord. It is a declarative statement and must come from the heart. It must start with God and end with God and speak of God in between.

Adapted from Music and the Arts in Christian Worship, Abbott-Martyn Press. Used by permission.

The Use of Biblical Songs

Thu, 09 May 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Biblical songs for corporate singing are to be found throughout both the Old and New Testaments. The earliest recorded song is the Song of Moses Exodus 15:1–18Exodus 15:1–18, ESV Version 2 of the ESV API has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the developers of this app and ask them to update to the latest API version. Thank you for your patience. , and the last song is found in the book of Revelation Revelation 19:1–8Revelation 19:1–8, ESV Version 2 of the ESV API has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the developers of this app and ask them to update to the latest API version. Thank you for your patience. . The Old Testament repertoire includes the Song of Hannah 1 Samuel1 Samuel, ESV Version 2 of the ESV API has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the developers of this app and ask them to update to the latest API version. Thank you for your patience. , the Song of Jonah Jonah 2:2–9Jonah 2:2–9, ESV Version 2 of the ESV API has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the developers of this app and ask them to update to the latest API version. Thank you for your patience. , the First Song of Isaiah Isaiah 12:2–6Isaiah 12:2–6, ESV Version 2 of the ESV API has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the developers of this app and ask them to update to the latest API version. Thank you for your patience. , the Second Song of Isaiah Isaiah 26:9–21Isaiah 26:9–21, ESV Version 2 of the ESV API has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the developers of this app and ask them to update to the latest API version. Thank you for your patience. , and the Song of Habakkuk Habakkuk 3:2–19Habakkuk 3:2–19, ESV Version 2 of the ESV API has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the developers of this app and ask them to update to the latest API version. Thank you for your patience. , as well as the Psalter and other poetic passages.

The Psalter itself is made up of texts that are sung corporately by all of God’s people. These one hundred and fifty selections probably represent many other unrecorded psalms which were sung responsively by a leader and the congregation or antiphonally by two groups of singers. Thus, from Old Testament times singing was a part of the public praise of God.

Several New Testament songs were sung in Christian worship. This repertoire includes the Song of Mary Luke 1:46–55Luke 1:46–55, ESV Version 2 of the ESV API has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the developers of this app and ask them to update to the latest API version. Thank you for your patience. , the Song of Zacharias Luke 1:68–79Luke 1:68–79, ESV Version 2 of the ESV API has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the developers of this app and ask them to update to the latest API version. Thank you for your patience. , the Gloria in Excelsis or Greater Doxology Luke 2:14Luke 2:14, ESV Version 2 of the ESV API has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the developers of this app and ask them to update to the latest API version. Thank you for your patience. , and the Song of Simeon Luke 2:29–32Luke 2:29–32, ESV Version 2 of the ESV API has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the developers of this app and ask them to update to the latest API version. Thank you for your patience. .

Other New Testament songs or fragments of songs are found in Ephesians 5:14Ephesians 5:14, ESV Version 2 of the ESV API has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the developers of this app and ask them to update to the latest API version. Thank you for your patience. ; Philippians 2:6–11Philippians 2:6–11, ESV Version 2 of the ESV API has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the developers of this app and ask them to update to the latest API version. Thank you for your patience. ; Colossians 1:15–20Colossians 1:15–20, ESV Version 2 of the ESV API has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the developers of this app and ask them to update to the latest API version. Thank you for your patience. ; 1 Timothy1 Timothy, ESV Version 2 of the ESV API has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the developers of this app and ask them to update to the latest API version. Thank you for your patience. , 1 Timothy1 Timothy, ESV Version 2 of the ESV API has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the developers of this app and ask them to update to the latest API version. Thank you for your patience. , and 1 Timothy1 Timothy, ESV Version 2 of the ESV API has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the developers of this app and ask them to update to the latest API version. Thank you for your patience. ; and 2 Timothy2 Timothy, ESV Version 2 of the ESV API has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the developers of this app and ask them to update to the latest API version. Thank you for your patience. . These passages are chiefly doctrinal and didactic. However, in the case of Ephesians 5:14, the baptismal phrase, “Awake, thou that sleepest,” is liturgical. Moreover, the devotional songs of the book of Revelation discussed in Robert E. Coleman’s inspirational text Songs of Heaven (Old Tappan, N.J.: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1980) usually include a doxological stanza of praise. Three of the best known songs of this type are the Song of the Creator Revelation 4:11Revelation 4:11, ESV Version 2 of the ESV API has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the developers of this app and ask them to update to the latest API version. Thank you for your patience. , the Song of Judgment Revelation 11:17–18Revelation 11:17–18, ESV Version 2 of the ESV API has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the developers of this app and ask them to update to the latest API version. Thank you for your patience. , and the Song of Moses and the Lamb Revelation 15:3–4Revelation 15:3–4, ESV Version 2 of the ESV API has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the developers of this app and ask them to update to the latest API version. Thank you for your patience. .

Contemporary Use of Biblical Songs
All of these biblical songs are still in current use as translations or paraphrases of the original text. Their use is a part of the current renewal of interest in biblical songs in many Christian churches, both traditional and contemporary.

An early impetus to this increasing use of biblical song for congregational singing came from a number of English hymn writers in the 1970s. These concerned writers participated in an effort to provide relevant material, hoping to make psalm singing more accessible to participants in Anglican worship and informal gatherings alike. Psalm Praise (Chicago: GIA Publications, 1973) contains contemporary texts based upon scriptural passages and new music by the editor Michael Baughen and committee members Timothy Dudley-Smith, Christopher Idle, Michael Perry, Michael Saward, James Seddon, Norman Warren, and others.

Their efforts were also evident in Psalms for Today (Michael Perry and David Iliff, eds. [London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1990], available from Hope Publishing Company, Carol Stream, Ill.) designed to provide contemporary communal worship songs based upon what they called the basic hymnbook of the Christian church—the Psalms. This superb collection includes psalm texts for chanting, metrical versions for singing, special arrangements for choral speaking, along with popular known hymn tunes and new tunes.

Although psalm singing has been a form of congregational song in churches for centuries, it has had a significant revival throughout America during the latter part of the twentieth century. Always a part of Orthodox and Reformed worship, the practice of psalm singing continues in the worship services of the various Presbyterian and Reformed churches in America. This is quite evident in the 1987 Psalter Hymnal (Emily R. Brink, ed. [Grand Rapids, Mich.: CRC Publications, 1987]) of the Christian Reformed Church, with its clearly defined section of one hundred and fifty psalm selections, and in the 1990 edition of the Presbyterian Hymnal: Psalms and Spiritual Songs (Linda Jo McKim, ed. [Louisville, Ky.: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1990]), with its section of one hundred psalm paraphrases and hymns based upon selected psalm texts.

Scripture Songs
These same two volumes of the Reformed tradition also contain a number of non-psalmodic biblical songs. For example, the Psalter Hymnal offers a versification of the Song of Hannah, settings of the Song of Mary and the Song of Simeon, and a text based upon the Song of Zacharias. Likewise, the “Service Music” section of the Presbyterian Hymnal includes musical settings of the songs of Mary, Zacharias, and Simeon. Finally, the nondenominational hymnal, The Worshiping Church (Donald P. Hustad, ed. [Carol Stream, Ill.: Hope Publishing Company, 1990]), has a designated section of “Psalms and Canticles.” Here the reader will discover the First Song of Isaiah in a version by an American, Carl P. Daw, Jr., and the Second Song of Isaiah paraphrased by an Englishman, Michael Perry. Of particular interest in this section is the inclusion of eight separate Scripture readings divided by the repeated singing of a musical phrase. For example, the text of Psalm 98 is divided into three sections, with each spoken section concluding with the singing of a musical setting of the first verse by Hal Hopson, a noted American church music composer.

Adapted from Music and the Arts in Christian Worship, Star Song Publishing Group. Used by permission.

Engaging Children in Worship

Tue, 07 May 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Any program of worship education will need to have several areas of focus. The content of worship can be taught to children in some manner regardless of age. The preschooler experiencing the season of Advent, for instance, can feel the sense of expectation, sing some of the songs, and learn the names of the major characters in the Advent drama. Each time Advent is approached thereafter, new layers of understanding and participation can be added. We as Christians never outgrow our potential for perceiving new meaning during the Advent/Christmas season. The same is true for other worship concepts. Let's look at some of the content areas of worship education.

A Special Sense of Time. In order to appreciate the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, it is very helpful for the child (indeed, for all of us) to relive that life and ministry in a systematic fashion. The Christian year is such a tool. One of the important aspects of a child developing cognitive skills is that of a sense of time. Understanding and reliving the Christian year, each year offers the child an organization and experimental basis for relating to Jesus Christ as a person and friend. Without the Christian year, the events and teachings of Christ become a series of episodic activities that lack cohesive structure and intent. We weaken the message of Jesus Christ by not leading the child to an understanding of this special sense of time.

A Special Sense of Place. Children identify worship and their understanding of God with the church building, especially in the preschool and early elementary years. While adults can conceptualize worship at any time and at any place, children live in a concrete world, where such abstract ideas do not have any relevance or significance. Church buildings exist to promote a variety of ideas and feelings, including a historical tradition, fellowship, ministry to the community, and worship. Naming the parts of the sanctuary and explaining their function should be a part of the worship education. Developmentally, the child will be much more at home if he understands the place of worship. There will be time later to expand the child’s concept of where God is and where we might worship God.

A Special Sense of Order. Children need to learn why things are done the way they are in worship. How is a service organized? Where can the child participate in the service? What are the different moods expressed in the service? Why are certain words said (rites) and certain actions done (rituals)? The words, actions, and symbols of a worshiping congregation are unlike those of other gatherings and need to be explained.

A Special Sense of Community. The worshiping community gathers to praise God, to confess, to hear God’s Word, and to go from that time of worship to share what it has experienced. These are different reasons from any other grouping of people that are a part of the child’s life. Children need to understand worship so that they may more fully appreciate this special community of which they are a part.

These are some broad ideas for worship curriculum for children. There are many specifics to be answered, but it is important that these areas, at least, be covered.

From "Guiding Children in Worship, Part 2," Chorister's Guild Letters, March 1986, Used by permission.

Ushering and the Art of Hospitality

Thu, 02 May 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Every art requires a special skill that gives it particular form and beauty, including the artistry called forth in the ministry of hospitality. All who come together in worship are invited to enhance the sense of belonging, but ushers have the unique ministry of creating a sense of a caring people who gather to pray. Ushers are usually the first ministers that the people meet as they enter into the sacred space to celebrate Eucharist.

From the beginning of a celebration to its closing, the usher extends a caring presence among the assembly. Ushers, as an integral part of the assembly, should always be in the main body of the church building unless needed elsewhere. They are models of participation through their attention to the readings, their sung responses, and their attitude of prayer and reverence throughout the worship experience.

For many years, our churches have affirmed ushers as service ministers. Service continues to be an important characteristic of every minister of hospitality, but even more important is the quality of “being present” to the assembly. Indeed ushers are special “signs,” not only of doing for people, but of taking time with those who gather.

The second essential quality of this ministry is the gift of graciousness. Some personalities have a spontaneous outgoing sense of hosting, while in others this gift is sometimes latent and needs to be encouraged. Many who have been ushers for several years simply need to know what is expected of them. Their response will be generous and cordial.

Ushers may be men and women, parent and child, families, teenagers, disabled and able-bodied, and representatives of different ethnic cultures. Anyone who is gifted with a smile and a caring presence has the tremendous potential to be a minister of hospitality. Children, too, find the role of welcoming the assembly an excellent experience in hospitality.

Training programs, as well as renewal times, are as important for ministers of hospitality. Such a training session has the following segments. First, a basic understanding of the theology of worship as well as a deep appreciation of the Sunday Scriptures is essential. Secondly, some historical perspective is very beneficial. In the Old Testament, we read of doorkeepers in the temple. Second Kings 22 speaks of these persons being sent to the high priest with the offerings. Second Chronicles 9 holds such persons as responsible members of the tribes and highly esteemed. In the New Testament, Paul urges the Corinthians to “let things be done decently and in order” (1 Cor. 14:40). Ushers could certainly resonate with this as they aid the particular movement of the assembly. In Acts 6, the community set aside certain people to give collected goods to the poor. With the influx of many people into Christian faith during the first centuries, several new ministries were established.

Beyond the theological-scriptural and the historic dimensions, ministers of hospitality appreciate knowing what expectations or responsibilities are theirs. They are to be at the church in plenty of time to have matters in order and thus be able to truly greet both regular and new people, assisting the handicapped and seating people in front. Just as an usher’s responsibility begins well in advance of the service, so it concludes only after the church building is cleaned after the celebration.

The artistry of hospitality does indeed shape the life of a church. Ushers, as ministers of hospitality, are men and women of faith whose attitudes will set the tone for prayer-filled worship. Ushers, who find their ministry to be an art, have the magnificent opportunity of welcoming the people gathered in Christ’s name.

The Rise of the New Pietism

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0500

What we identify as “celebration” today may be partly a reaction to the traditional movements of yesterday. Laypersons who are expected to take a larger part in worship may well insist that it should consist of activities they enjoy. For this reason we may call the contemporary style “the new pietism” (the emphasis is on religious experience). The resultant expressions in contemporary worship are:

Emphasis on celebration—a total experience in which there is appeal to all the senses by means of new worship forms and expressions, more emotional music, multimedia, drama, new symbolism, physical movement, etc.
Updated translations of Scripture; fresh, more personal language in hymns, prayers, and sermon.
Congregational participation not spectatorism.
Renewed emphasis on Christian fellowship in worship (in the tradition of the “kiss of peace”) and in daily life.
Cross-fertilization of the sacred by the contemporary, in text as well as music.

“The new pietism” appeared first among the most tradtional churches, and its total impact may have been more revolutionary among them. After all, the movement simply validated the ancient heritage—of joy in worship and in fellowship with other persons. Furthermore, it was moving counter to the interest of some evangelicals who were seeking to develop a greater sense of reverence in public worship.

One of the first expressions of the new music in contemporary worship was Geoffrey Beaumont’s Twentieth Century Folk Mass, which appeared in 1957. As a member of the Light Music Group of the Church of England, he stated their philosophy succinctly and boldly: "Worship should include not only the timeless music of master composers, but also the popular styles of the day, which are so much a part of people’s lives."

Soon thereafter, youth musical ensembles were appearing among evangelicals in Great Britain, patterning their styles after those of the Beatles and other folk and rock groups. Their objectives were to communicate the gospel and to express Christian response in word/music languages that were comprehensible to young people, both inside and out of the organized church. Before long, traditional denominational bodies in America were following these examples in an endeavor to make worship services more relevant and celebrative.

Among typical American evangelicals, popular expressions in witness music had not changed dramatically since the advent of the gospel song about 1850. To be sure, there had been modest variations in style in the mid-twentieth century—including “Southern quartet” forms, “western” hymns, a few songs in a mild Broadway-musical style, and the beginning of a country ballad hymnody. But, by and large, evangelicalism had not shown great interest in new music since the days of Billy Sunday and Homer Rodeheaver.

There was, however, considerable awareness of the need of fresh expressions in the church, and considerable (but not universal) support for new translations of the Bible and new phraseology in prayer. Evangelicals used the available new Scripture versions and even sponsored some of their own. The musical breakthrough came with a few gospel folk songs by Ralph Carmichael that appeared in Billy Graham films and with the youth musical Good News, released by the Southern Baptists in 1967. The latter was soon followed by a flood of similar works, written for various age groups, using contemporary popular music forms and frequently performed with the recorded accompaniment of a full professional orchestra.

Soon shorter musical works began to be published in the same idioms. Older titles (and even new works in older forms, like Bill Gaither’s gospel songs) continued to appear, but in upbeat arrangements—with strong syncopated rhythms, a goose-bump-raising orchestration, and a series of “half-step-up” modulations—which added up to strongly-emotional expression.

In the last twenty years, we have also seen an unparalleled rise in the number of professional performances of popular religious music by traveling artists. Many of these young performers write their own songs and perform them almost exclusively. All of this activity has been a great boon to the religious music publishing and recording businesses and has created a multimillion dollar market centered largely in Nashville, Tennessee. It is safe to say that we have just witnessed the most significant new development in Christian witness music since Ira Sankey popularized the gospel song more than 100 years ago.

No doubt there is much that is good in the new spirit and expressions of worship. But, as in so much of life, every plus is a potential minus if we do not maintain a healthy balance. It is well to give vent to emotional expression, providing it does not lead to emotionalism and irrationality. The new humanism is good when it helps us be more aware of ourselves and our neighbors in full-orbed worship and fellowship, but bad if we substitute transcendent human experience for a full understanding of the transcendence of God.

The creativity that new forms offer may lead to a loss of meaning and identity if we forsake completely the historic expressions that are part of our religious roots. Finally, the “new enjoyment” may lead to a worship hedonism that is another form of idolatry—worshiping the experience instead of God.

Adapted from Music and the Arts in Christian Worship, Nashville, TN: Star Song Publishing Group. Used by permission.

An Overview of Worship in the Church of the Nazarene

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Although rooted in the Holiness tradition, Nazarene worship has been influenced in its historical development by the revivalistic approach to worship. Revivalism has been directed toward both initial salvation and complete sanctification. Recently Nazarene worship has been moving in two directions: one segment of the church is seeking to redeem its Wesleyan and Anglican roots while another segment is striving to displace the revivalistic form with a praise-and-worship style.

Revolution has recently come to corporate worship in the American Holiness Movement. Historically, John Wesley and some of his American interpreters shaped the theology of the movement and nineteenth-century revivalism shaped its corporate worship. But lately, many have come to believe that the revivalist influence is as much a liability to the Wesleyan heritage as it is an asset. Corporate worship patterns developed under the influence of nineteenth-century revivalism provide a very effective vehicle for proclaiming the Wesleyan doctrine of entire sanctification as an instantaneously granted “second work of grace.” But they are severely limited with respect to the other critical point in the Wesleyan understanding of Christian perfection, the point of encouraging and developing growth in grace.

Increasingly, it is being recognized that corporate worship must move beyond a solely evangelistic aim and express the basic Christian disposition to adore and praise God, to learn of God, and to learn of life in God.

Many, however, encouraged by the administrative leadership within the movement and by its corps of itinerant evangelists, retain and promote as the ideal for corporate worship a stereotype of the late nineteenth-century camp meeting service. The features of such worship include: spirited singing of gospel songs; fervent, spontaneous prayers said aloud by many; shouts of “Amen,” “Hallelujah,” and so on; spontaneous personal testimony; excited preaching that need not hew closely to the biblical text; and “altar services” in which the mourners’ bench is lined with sobbing penitents seeking either justification or entire sanctification.

The liveliness of such services is almost always attributed to the presence of the Holy Spirit, who is there, it is believed, to help people distinguish clearly between sanctity and sinfulness, to determine which class they belong to, and to act accordingly.

This boisterous ideal has tended to shut out sustained contemplation of either the divine or human nature and generally it has inhibited nurture. And, admittedly, it has tended to be susceptible to sheer emotionalism. The standard of this model is applied even to sacramental services, which are evaluated in terms of degrees of overt emotional demonstration. The safeguards against evaluating all things by emotional criteria alone are putatively located in the ultimate authority of Scripture and in rather rigorous behavioral codes. But it is true that one would seldom hear commended as a model a service characterized by a quiet, thoughtful, generally unemotional spirit.

Up until the mid-1960s the pattern of Sunday morning corporate worship varied little from congregation to congregation across the Holiness movement. That pattern is still common: opening hymn (choir and minister already in place); gospel song; pastoral prayer; announcements and offering (piano or organ offertory); choir number; gospel song; “special” music; sermon; benediction. Only one biblical passage would be read—the sermon text, immediately prior to the sermon. The pastoral prayer would be spontaneous or extemporaneous. “Read prayers” would have been considered quite inappropriate. The benediction would, more often than not, be an extension of the sermon—recapitulation, additional material, or suggested application. Seldom was it Trinitarian or even biblical; almost never was there an ascription in place of a benediction.

Processionals and recessionals were a rarity, but not unknown. However, they were simply matters of getting a choir into and out of the loft and served no liturgical function. Preludes were understood to be mood setters, but usually accompanied much socializing in the pews. The idea of silence in the moments before a service was considered to be of secondary importance, and might even be opposed. Hospitality came first and hence, socializing.

Universally until the 1960s, and still quite commonly thereafter, the Sunday evening service was constructed of the same elements as that of Sunday morning, with some exceptions: the gospel songs were chosen for their liveliness and their evangelistic content, there would often be more in the way of “special” music, and the sermon would almost invariably lead to an altar call, a call to conversion or to entire sanctification.

The heart of this model, the lively fervor or “excitement” described as the “presence of the Holy Spirit,” has remained the desideratum for the past 125 years. But since the 1960s, the means of achieving or sustaining it have changed. As the movement has become increasingly middle class, the older practices of spontaneous shouting, testifying, and praying aloud simultaneously have been curtailed. As a result, much of the “burden” for maintaining the desideratum has fallen on music, and music has also been assigned the task of mood control.

Consequently, in many places, direct congregational participation is reduced to the singing of choruses and snippets of hymns and gospel songs surrounded by elements of performance and entertainment in which members of the congregation are mere spectators. The song leader has become a sort of emcee, responsible for keeping up “a good spirit” with a line of pious commentary, observation, and introductions. The use of lush stereo tapes in the accompaniment of local musicians furthers the mood of performance and entertainment.

While very few in the Holiness movement would want to discard evangelism as an essential purpose of corporate worship, the dominance of the evangelistic model has met with increasing resistance. In many places there is a revolutionary concern to make a place for adoration, contemplation, and nurture. This concern, often only dimly perceived and poorly articulated, has not yet universally removed evangelism from its place of priority, but it has in some places and is showing signs of doing so quite widely.

Here the historical tendency of the Holiness movement to reject out of hand any worship patterns and perspectives other than its own (even failing to recognize its indebtedness to Methodism and Anglicanism) has generally left it without the basic experiences and perspectives that would permit and encourage careful discussion of change. On the one hand, it has been sharply critical of the freedom of the Pentecostals, and, on the other hand, it has declared the traditional forms to be “cold, dead, and formal.” Even where it has retained older rituals, as in baptism and the Lord’s Supper, it has developed a studied offhandedness in celebrating them, for the worst of all sins in public worship is “formalism.”

So it is that two distinct new approaches to worship have been developed, in addition to the older pattern and its modern mutation, already noted. Perhaps most common are those approaches for which the word contemporary holds high value, and which are concerned primarily with psychological or aesthetic satisfaction. The language and experience of the social sciences and the entertainment industry are given high credence. The patterns chosen are those of the gospel sing or those of the televangelists, in which the aim appears to be an emotional tone—a sense of having “gotten in touch with God” or a sense of having “refocused life,” not usually evangelism. The music, especially, is turned toward self-affirmation.

In these patterns, the choir will often begin the service with a rousing contemporary chorus of praise which often repeats a biblical verse and in which the congregation will be asked to join on a second go-round. This will be followed by an informal word of greeting from the pastor or the song leader and often an invitation to “turn around and shake hands with those near you.” Then will come another chorus or a gospel song, or even one of the livelier hymns, followed by yet another chorus or gospel song, a “prayer chorus” and “prayer time.”

“Prayer time,” which is usually directed by the pastor against a background of “mood music” is principally given over to petitions, most of them having to do with physical and emotional health and material desires. It is usually closed with the choir or the choir and congregation singing a chorus.

The mood then rapidly shifts as visitors are greeted, announcements are made, and various activities are vigorously promoted. The offering is then taken as an offertory is either played or sung. The offertory prayer is quite informal. It is always spontaneous and is usually prayed by one of the ushers. This is usually followed by a “choir special,” which, in turn, is followed by a chorus or a verse or two of a hymn or gospel song by the congregation. If the offertory music was instrumental, there will now usually be a vocal “special.”

Then comes the sermon, almost always delivered in conversational tones. While there is some tendency now among those following this model to attempt to fit the music to the theme of the sermon, ordinarily it will not show any clear relationship. In fact, ordinarily the text will not be known until the pastor reads it as a preface to his sermon. The service is closed according to the pattern set much earlier, but the aim will not be clearly evangelistic. There is often no clear aim beyond the psychological one of feeling affirmed.

At the same time some are reaching back to the Methodist and Anglican roots of the Holiness movement and seeking to reclaim more traditional forms of worship. These give high credence to the language and experience of the historic traditions. They choose patterns that aim at recognition of the sovereign God and at thanksgiving for the redemption brought to us, in our unworthiness, by Christ. They emphasize the dialogical character of worship, with the use of spoken and sung response to Scripture reading, to prayer, to the sermon, and to the offering.

Especially noteworthy is the increasing use of the lectionary for both public reading of Scripture and sermon text, of the Lord’s Prayer, and of congregational response to prayer and Scripture reading. All of this, in turn, has led to more careful observance of the high holy days in the liturgical year besides Christmas and Easter. It has also led to a redirecting of the role of music—from mood-setter and means of personal testimony to a form of active participation in worship itself.

The order of service itself is essentially a simplified form of the older Anglican service of Morning Prayer with sermon. Also characteristic is a return to more frequent celebration of the Lord’s Supper. The ritual followed here is usually a simplified version of that devised for the American Methodists by John Wesley, with strong emphasis on penitence now being replaced by an emphasis on solemn celebration and thanksgiving. For all of this, the twentieth-century hymnody of the Holiness movement has proven inadequate, so it is quite common to find bulletin inserts containing older hymns, especially those of Charles Wesley.

Almost all of the major Holiness denominations are currently creating new hymnals. This is being done with careful attention to “what the people [seem to] want,” and only minimal consultation with theologians and biblical scholars. This very deliberate policy can only strengthen the so-called contemporary style of worship and further move the unique theological and experiential identity of the Holiness movement in a mainline evangelical direction. On the other hand, the publication of the Wesleys’ hymns and worship aids point to a reviving of the liturgical spirit that gave birth to Wesleyanism.

The Holiness movement has not been self-critical or reflective concerning its patterns of worship, and has therefore not established worship commissions or even mandated courses in corporate worship for its clergy. And, at the moment, the signs of change are to be seen in local congregations, not denominational offices or schools.

What Was the Style of Ancient Israelite Music?

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0500

The crucial task in determining matters of style is one of identifying relationships that are found in available music and that can be shown also to have been present in music that is not available. Through a combination of linguistics, history of culture, and comparative musicology, discoveries have been made that make this possible to a considerable extent. Excavations have produced ancient instruments from Ur, Kara-Tepe, Mesopotamia, and Egypt, as well as from Israel. Liturgies, in whole or in part, from Sumer, Akkad, Egypt, and Ugarit, have been reconstructed. Finally, comparative musicology has endeavored to examine the most ancient melodic elements of the Near East and to set forth criteria for their age and locale.

As a result of all these efforts, certain distinguishing characteristics of Semitic oriental music may be identified (Abraham Z. Idelsohn, Jewish Music in Its Historical Development [New York: Schocken Books, 1967]): (a) modality—this is not to be confused with the later Western use of the term. A mode comprises a number of motives within a certain scale, each of which has different functions. The resulting composition is an arrangement and combination of these motives; (b) ornamentation—the modes and their motive partials are, within the arrangement of the modality, subject to ornamentation and decoration, often very florid and extended. To a large extent this depends on the skill and training of the singer, whose object it is to keep within the perimeters of the mode itself, while at the same time enhancing its basic profile with ornaments.

The contour of such ornamentation is basically steps-wise; skips of more than a third are rare. Thus the style is eminently vocal; (c) rhythm—all music is rhythmic in the sense that its sequence of tones is subject to virtually infinite temporal variations. Metrical music is that which is subject to regularly recurring, equally divided measures. Within each of these, rhythmic development takes place. Semitic music lacks regularly recurring meters. Nonetheless it is freely and richly rhythmic; its rhythmic structure is as complex as its ornamentation. In fact, it may be said that rhythm is to meter what ornamentation is to scale; (d) scale—the general nature of melody is diatonic, although this is mixed with a certain feeling for quarter tones, a distinctive which is foreign to most music to which we are accustomed; (e) monophony—Jewish music is unharmonized and depends for its beauty on elaborate ornamentation of the melody alone.

Occasionally, in group singing, intervals of fourths or fifths appear, more out of limitation in vocal range than because of an inherent harmonic vocabulary. However, it probably is true that the natural acoustical compatibility of these intervals allows for departure from the unison and therefore gives room for speculation as to the relation of this kind of primitive harmony to the development of harmonic procedures. When vocal music was instrumentally accompanied, heterophony (a way of embellishing the basic melodic line with concurrent decoration) was often employed; (f) improvisation—the performer and composer were the same person. The modal formulae were elaborated upon, as discussed above in connection with modality and ornamentation. A combination of long training and inherent ability were necessary to accomplish this.

For several centuries, musicians sensed an essential identity between archetypes of Christian chant and Hebraic counterparts but were unable to substantiate this until recently. The French musicologist Amadé Gastou established the first concrete evidence and support of this. Then Idelsohn was able to establish the essential identity of certain melodic archetypes in the Yemenite tradition with the earliest Gregorian chant. The significance of this is that the Yemenites had left Palestine during the beginnings of Christianity and have remained isolated from contact with the church ever since.

Adapted from The Biblical foundations of Christian Worship, Abbott-Martyn Press. Used by permission.

The Seven Styles of Morning Worship

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Broadly speaking, the contemporary renewal of worship in the Western world can be classified as follows: (1) liturgical; (2) traditional Protestant; (3) creative; (4) charismatic; (5) praise-and-worship tradition; (6) convergence; (7) the seekers’ service/believers’ worship pattern.

Liturgical Worship.
This model of worship is found among the oldest churches—Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran. A strong emphasis is placed on the Eucharist.

Traditional Protestant Worship.
This model of worship is found among groups of Christians that are able to trace their historic roots either to the Reformation era or to reforming movements among Protestant Christians prior to 1950. This includes mainline denominations, evangelical denominations, holiness denominations, Anabaptist denominations, and independent churches. A strong emphasis is placed on the Word. However, most of these groups are being affected by the liturgical renewal and are returning to a model of worship shaped by the early church and modern concerns. This model, often called the ecumenical model, is characterized by a fourfold shape—Acts of Entrance, Service of the Word, Service of the Table, Acts of Dismissal.

Creative Worship.
The creative model of worship is perhaps better considered a modification of any of the other models than an independent model. Creativity has always had a part in shaping any given worship experience, but its current manifestation is more far-reaching than ever before and can be found among both small and large churches, mostly of independent origins. These churches seek to contextualize worship to the masses, draw heavily on the arts, and have strong appeal to the post-Enlightenment generation, especially the baby boomers. More traditional churches exercise creativity within the bounds defined by the tradition, but that often leaves much room for creative expression. Creative worship also often involves a church rooted in one model borrowing elements from another model. The extreme of this kind of blending merges into the convergence model.

Charismatic Worship.
The charismatic tradition of worship, which has emerged since the middle of the 1960s, is a phenomena that attempts to recapture the worship of the New Testament church, particularly that of the Corinthian church 1 Corinthians1 Corinthians, ESV Version 2 of the ESV API has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the developers of this app and ask them to update to the latest API version. Thank you for your patience. . It emphasizes the Spirit and the role of the gifts in worship. While there are particular charismatic groups, the movement itself has affected the worship of nearly every denomination.

The Praise-and-Worship Tradition.
The praise-and-worship tradition of worship is a phenomenon influenced by the charismatic movement of the sixties. It places a strong emphasis on music, involvement of the whole person, and healing. It enjoys a strong following among post-Enlightenment-oriented people, especially those who desire a free-form participation in worship.

The Convergence Model of Worship.
The convergence model of worship is an approach to worship that draws on all the traditions. It seeks to achieve a balance of Word and Table, draws on liturgical resources, and incorporates the arts and music from the praise-and-worship tradition. It is an emerging worship found in nearly every denomination.

Seekers’ Service/Believers’ Worship.
In this style of worship a distinction is made between a service of outreach (evangelism) and the worship of the community of faith. The seekers’ service replaces the typical Sunday morning worship, whereas the believers’ worship is conducted during the week.

Ministry to the Sick

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0500

MINISTRY TO THE SICK

Offering care and solace for those who are sick are essential ministries of every Christian pastor and of the whole Christian community. The sick need the healing news of Christ and the power of the Spirit to both fight against disease and to find comfort and hope. The Christian community, likewise, needs the sick to teach what is most important in life and to witness to the power of the gospel.

Human life is permeated with paradox. The joy and pleasure of the act of conception result in the risk and pain of childbirth. The rich process of physical, mental, and spiritual development is pervaded by the anxiety that accompanies all human growth. And the grand promise of youth and health must eventually come to terms with the experience of limitation, illness, debilitation, and ultimately death. Promise and pain bracket human life at every turn.

The Creation story of Genesis reveals that God did not intend the great gift of human life to be experienced in this way. In Genesis, suffering and death are shown to be intruders in the Creator’s original design. They reveal humanity’s separation from God, the result of our fallen state. By human choice, sin entered the created order, and with it, death.

Jesus Christ, the Word incarnate, was sent by God into this ruptured creation to reclaim it and humanity for God. Jesus suffered. Jesus entered into the very heart of the paradox of human life by willingly embracing death on the cross. By raising him to life, God overcame death and restored humanity within the original, creative design revealed in Genesis. This does not mean that suffering and death have been removed from human experience, but that they have been conquered and made salvific, the very means of eternal life.

It is within the context of the mystery of Christ’s dying and rising that Christians who are sick are seen to have a ministry to the community of faith and to the world as a whole. With Christ, they stand in the center of the paradox of life, the grandeur of its promise and the inclination to hopelessness with which it is rife because of suffering and the certainty of death. On the one hand, by their active struggle against illness, the sick members of the community of faith witness to the fact that sickness and suffering are evil and alien to God’s plan for creation. In this, they proclaim the goodness, the gift of life, and the greatness of humanity’s place within the created order.

On the other hand, by their willing acceptance of the suffering that they cannot avoid, Christians who are sick experience and witness to the reality and mystery of suffering. In the heart of this mystery, they discover that the experience of suffering need not be one of futility and despair. In union with Christ’s own suffering and death, these old enemies of the human race, these strangers to God’s creative intent have been transformed into the means of grace and salvation.

Christians, who are sick, minister to the well first and foremost by being witnesses to and embodiments of these fundamental truths of Christian revelation. By facing the reality of sickness, the weakness, dependency, and fear that it entails, the sick Christian can help the Christian community and society as a whole acknowledge and accept the fundamental frailty of human nature that all people experience, whether or not they are sick. The denial of this reality can succeed only temporarily and is not without cost both for the individual and for society. In the individual who attempts it, this denial can result in an incapacity to deal with the changes and chances of life and one’s own weaknesses.

It can also mean an unwillingness to see change in others and can result in anger at the sight of one’s own unacknowledged weaknesses reflected in others. These characteristics can also be evident on a larger stage in societies, where frailty and the nonproductivity associated with it are viewed as having no value. In such a society, the infirm and aged are relegated to the margins of the normal life of the group and even may be viewed with disdain. They are potentially painful reminders of a fundamental frailty that no one wants to admit within a social structure where measurable productivity is the gauge of personal worth.

The tendency in each of us and in the society we inhabit to deny human weakness and dependency is the outcome of fear, a fear which has its roots in an abiding sense of our mortality. Sickness puts us in touch with mortality, our own and others’, in a direct and inescapable way. And those who are sick can minister to the well by showing them first of all that this fear is not to be denied, that it has positive value and rests on a true intuition that things were not meant to be like this. Second, the sick can help the rest learn that this fear can be faced and thereby become the way to hope and healing, the occasion for coming to an acceptance of our full humanity.

The sick are not then, in a marginal relationship with the rest of human society. Even less so are they on the periphery of the Christian community. They have an essential role at the very heart of the mystery of Jesus, dead and risen. The Gospels portray Jesus as having a constant concern for the sick and the infirm, whom he sought out, consoled, and healed. Jesus recognized that in their weakened or impaired condition the sick were allowed only a marginal existence in society. Some were considered outcasts Jesus’ ministry to them was at one and the same time an affirmation that such suffering was the result of an evil completely opposed to his Father’s design and a proclamation of the kingdom that he came to inaugurate, a kingdom heralded by Jesus’ own divine compassion and healing. And in his utter self-giving on the cross, Jesus suffered fully the effects of the evil loose in the world. In Jesus, we see the face of a God who is forever at one with the abandoned, the destitute, the victim, and all who experience hopelessness. The whole of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection show us a God passionately attached to us, to the restoration of all creation.

The community of faith needs those who are sick to teach it about the vulnerability of God in Christ, who “is still pained and tormented in his members, made like him” (Pastoral Care, 2). The sick teach the community about Christian hope found paradoxically in human vulnerability when united to Christ, the suffering servant. In the face of a society, which can view the sick only as those who are in need and for whom so much must be done, the Christian community proclaims the place and dignity of the sick by the very way in which it loves, cares for, and depends upon them. And even as the community encourages them to offer their sufferings in union with Christ, it relies upon them to pray, in the privileged way that is theirs by virtue of this union, for the whole church and for the entire world, for peace in the world, for the many needs of the church, for individuals and families in crisis, and for all those caught up in the mystery of human sufferings, whether in body, mind, or spirit.

James M. Schellman

An Overview of Worship in the Southern Baptist Convention

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0500

The traditional hallmarks of Baptist worship have been the centrality of preaching, fervent singing, and extemporaneous prayer. Worship renewal in the Southern Baptist Convention is moving in divergent directions. Those influenced by the more formal British tradition seek renewal along the lines of the ecumenical consensus. Those more influenced by the revivalist tradition draw on the praise-and-worship style and the church growth movement.

Because of its congregational polity and the wide diversity in the social status of its membership, Southern Baptist worship today takes place in a wide variety of styles. As one Baptist pastor put it, “Some burn incense, others bay at the moon.”

However most Baptist churches contain architectural clues that mark common characteristics in worship. The central pulpit predominates; Baptist worship has been characterized by the centrality of preaching. A prominent baptistry built into the wall behind the pulpit just above where the altar stands in many other communions is used in Baptists’ most distinctive worship rite—believer’s baptism by immersion. The placement of the Communion Table is in front of and below the pulpit. A prominent choir loft behind the pulpit and in front of the baptistry is a sign of the importance of music. The pews have no kneeling benches indicating that worship is more horizontal (with other believers) than vertical (a private worship of God). A scarcity, if not absence, of symbol in reaction against the heavy use of symbolism by Catholics and Anglicans is evidence that the ear is the most important organ in Baptist worship (the sanctuary is an auditorium).

Baptist worship began in the Puritan movement in England during the seventeenth century that sought to reform the Anglican Book of Common Prayer according to the “pure” Word of God. The earliest Baptist worship was held in homes and consisted of prayers, singing, and multiple sermons (by minister and lay people). There was no worship book. Worship was free, led by the Spirit. As Baptist worship developed its own standard form, these distinctives were maintained: the use of spontaneous and extemporaneous prayer (as opposed to set prayers), the centrality of preaching (as opposed to short homilies), and fervent hymn singing.

The Charleston and Shady Creek influences are the key influences shaping Southern Baptist worship. The Charleston tradition, closely tied to Baptists’ British roots, had a set order of worship. The preachers, usually highly educated, sought to combine learning and piety. Services combined orderliness and stateliness with evangelical warmth. The primary thrust of worship was vertical—toward God.

The Sandy Creek tradition began in the revival fires of the eighteenth-century American frontier. Informality, fiery preaching, spontaneous amens and shouts, gospel music, extemporaneous prayers, and personal testimonies marked revivalistic worship. It was more emotional than intellectual. Its thrust was more horizontal—toward a communal experience—than vertical. Its focus was more subjective than objective, stressing the faith and feeling of the worshiper more than God’s nature and activity. The main goal of worship was the conversion and transformation of the worshiper.

Southern Baptist worship today bears the influence of both traditions. Charleston influence can be seen in the set order of worship, formality and dignity, hymns focusing on God, and sermons characterized by learning and piety, head and heart. Sandy Creek influence manifests itself in gospel hymns and songs focusing on the spiritual state of the worshiper, extemporaneous prayers, folksy informality, and fiery evangelistic sermons that leave ample room, even if carefully prepared, for spontaneous improvisation prompted by the Holy Spirit.

A typical (if there is such a thing) Southern Baptist worship service in the mid/late twentieth century would look like this:

Prelude

Call to Worship (choral or spoken)

Hymn of Praise

Invocation

Welcome and Announcements

Scripture

Pastoral Prayer

Offering

Anthem or Solo (instrumental or vocal)

Sermon

Hymn of Invitation

Presentation of “Decisions”

Benediction

Postlude

The last ten years have seen two major developments in Southern Baptist worship. The first movement, found mostly in Charleston-tradition churches, has begun to draw upon the worship tradition of the larger ecumenical church. The congregations in this movement celebrate the major seasons of the Christian year (Advent, Lent, Easter, Pentecost). They make considerable use of symbols and other visual enhancements in worship such as banner art and sacred dance, celebrate Communion more often, and often include two Scripture readings. While the sermon is still central in these congregations, other features of worship take on an inherent importance rather than being simply “preliminaries” ancillary to the sermon.

The second movement is found mostly in conservative churches of the Sandy Creek tradition. It has been influenced by televised religion, the praise-and-worship movement, and the church growth movement. Worship is comprised of the song service, which includes the singing of many choruses and gospel songs as well as solo performances, and the preaching service, which includes the sermon and the invitation. Overhead projectors and other visual media are used to project song texts and sermon outlines. Hymn books are little used; set liturgy is nonexistent. The worship is performance and entertainment oriented, the solo and sermon being the main attractions. This movement seeks to make worship “user-friendly”—accessible and enjoyable to anyone who comes regardless of religious background. Denominational distinctiveness is minimized.

Both movements are considered “renewal” movements by their practitioners. Both are a response to a changing American religious culture where denominational lines are being blurred by social mobility. Both are trying to breathe new life into Baptist forms, some of which are becoming as ritualized as the Anglican worship that Baptists first sought to reform.

The ecumenically influenced movement responds by becoming ecumenical or multi-denominational. It also entails a recovery of the historic roots of Christian worship in the New Testament and early church period. Its weakness is a tendency toward aestheticism and theological obscurantism.

The praise and evangelism movement responds by becoming post-, non-, or anti-denominational. It is fueled by intense desire to reach the unchurched and those disaffected by mainstream religion. Its adherents try to eliminate the “strangeness” of liturgy that becomes a barrier to the visitor and seeker. Its weaknesses are a proneness to reduce worship to entertainment and accommodate worship to the whims of American consumer culture. Worship then becomes a blend of Christianity, patriotism, self-help psychology, and self-help and feel-good religion.

Possibilities for furthering worship renewal in Southern Baptist congregations include the following:

Increasing emphasis on the Table.

Greater attention to baptism. As primary as believer’s baptism by immersion is to Baptists, it is woefully neglected as a central dramatic act of worship. There are few baptism hymns and little baptismal theology.

Greater use of Scripture; often one short reading connected to the sermon is all worshipers hear.

Creative interaction with worship renewal going on in other denominations.

A refocusing on God as the first audience of worship and worship as a dialogue with and offering to God.

Continued exploration of the ever-important dialectic in worship between liturgy and liberty, order and ardor, set form and spiritual freedom.

A typical (if there is such a thing) Southern Baptist worship service in the mid/late twentieth century would look like this:

Prelude
Call to Worship (choral or spoken)
Hymn of Praise
Invocation
Welcome and Announcements
Scripture
Pastoral Prayer
Offering
Anthem or Solo (instrumental or vocal)
Sermon
Hymn of Invitation
Presentation of “Decisions”
Benediction
Postlude

Possibilities for furthering worship renewal in Southern Baptist congregations include the following:

Increasing emphasis on the Table.
Greater attention to baptism. As primary as believer’s baptism by immersion is to Baptists, it is woefully neglected as a central dramatic act of worship. There are few baptism hymns and little baptismal theology.
Greater use of Scripture; often one short reading connected to the sermon is all worshipers hear.
Creative interaction with worship renewal going on in other denominations.
A refocusing on God as the first audience of worship and worship as a dialogue with and offering to God.
Continued exploration of the ever-important dialectic in worship between liturgy and liberty, order and ardor, set form and spiritual freedom.

Unity Through Worship

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0500

The community of faith is a place of worship. In worship, unity and healing recur as the church remembers that the community was born of a divine act of deliverance. As the church experiences community, it is renewed by that same gracious act.

For ancient Israel, remembrance of divine grace was preserved by means of a sacred calendar that placed memory of the prevenient, gracious acts of God at the very heart of life. Once a year Israel recalled its deliverance from slavery at Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread; once a year thanks was given for the land and its harvest at the Feast of Weeks; once a year God’s protection in the wilderness was commemorated in the Feast of Booths; and once a year the solemn fast of the Day of Atonement was observed.

The rhythm of the order God had established for the people of the covenant was also celebrated weekly, commemorating God’s creation of the world and Israel’s release from bondage in Egypt, and reminding the people that they were a holy possession of their God. This rhythm in turn radiated outward in time to be marked by the observance in the seventh year of God’s gift of the land, and in the fiftieth year of God’s gift of freedom. This calendar lent a harmony to life, both by reminding Israel of the history of God’s covenant relationship and by placing the community within the broader context of God’s care for the entire created order.

Although the sacral calendar has fallen into neglect in many religious communities today, there is no question that much is lost when a people no longer symbolizes its communal life and the holy events of its past as parts of the much more encompassing order over which God reigns.

Only when its unity is rooted in its sense of devotion to the one true Sovereign can a community of faith transcend the webs of pettiness, parochialism, and self-interest that so rapidly belittle and destroy human fellowship. For only when a person’s primary relationship, in the ultimate sense of the term, is to God, can the inordinate and unhealthy neediness and insecurity that blights our relationships with others be replaced by a genuine sharing predicated on a sense of wholeness dependent on no human, be it self or another, but on God’s grace.

A community of faith that takes seriously the central theme of its heritage will therefore hold up before the world, by means of paradigms and symbols both old and new, the sole sovereignty of God as the only proven safeguard against the myriad penultimate loyalties that promise abundance but deliver death. To choose life is thus to submit to the only one who, as Creator of all life, is graciously willing and able to sustain the life and freedom of all. To choose life is to let go of all that holds the heart back from embracing that which alone possesses intrinsic worth, to relinquish all forms of bondage, and to find fulfillment in belonging to the order of life over which God reigns.

United in worship and reconciled with its God, the community of faith is restored to the health and wholeness that enables it to be a nucleus of health for the broader human community around it. Its own blessing and health are not gifts intended for it alone, but willed by God for all. And it is indeed in worship that the truth of God’s absolute sovereignty brings into focus a vision of God’s reign of peace and justice over all creation. This vision is the faith community’s invitation to give expression to its devotion through a life of service in the world. And its experience of having its needs fulfilled by God in worship empowers it to speak out courageously against all that tears the fabric of the human family, and to ally itself with all peacemakers and agents of caring in the world.

Paul D. Hanson, The People Called: The Growth of Community in the Bible (New York: Harper & Row, 1986), 505–507. Used by permission.

Paul D. Hanson, The People Called: The Growth of Community in the Bible (New York: Harper & Row, 1986), 505–507. Used by permission.