Worship Old and New

Robert E. Webber

• Publisher: Zondervan
• Year: 2009
• ISBN:
  9780310835127
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Rituals & Practice

A reexamination of the actual practice of worship that goes beyond the merely academic to provide a practical perspective through the eyes of the worship leader and the congregation.

The most effective approach to worship is one that blends historical and traditional practices with contemporary elements. Worship Old and New is a scholarly, up-to-date, and thought-provoking resource for anyone serious about exploring worship and how to bring about a worship renewal in the church.

Now reformatted and updated for an easier, more logical approach to worship theology, this revised edition is divided into four major sections, addressing:

• The biblical foundation of worship —found in the Old and New Testaments as well as the early Christian movement.
• The biblical theology of worship —how worship is an enactment of the Gospel.
• A brief history of worship —from ancient and medieval, to twentieth-century renewal.
• An overview of how worship is practiced —from content and structure, to the role of music and art.

New information is incorporated into each section to give you a better grasp of the biblical themes of worship, a deeper understanding of Old Testament customs, and a solid grounding in modern-day renewal movements.

This book is ideal for ministerial, classroom, and congregational settings.

Chapter 1

Introduction

On a recent visit to San Francisco I had a Sunday open to visit the church of my choice. Looking in the yellow pages I found an advertisement for St. Gregory Nyssen Episcopal Church that asserted “we follow an early church model of worship with full congregational participation and involvement.”

A visit to this church validated the advertisement. This church had a highly participatory and engaging style of worship. The congregation first gathered around a large table at the east end of the church. There we practiced the “Alleluias” we were to sing in the service. Worship then began with an entrance hymn and we all processed in a dance movement to the worship space for the service of the Word. After completing the entrance rites, we sat facing each other and listened to the Word of God read from a lectern flanked by African flags. After each Scripture reading a Tibetan gong was rung, and as its sound passed through the room, we meditated on the words we had heard. After the sermon, which was preached sitting down (an ancient custom), the congregation was invited to respond. One by one the people stood and responded. Some asked questions and received an answer. Others spoke of needs met or awakened. Still others spoke of how God had spoken to them through the sermon or how God was present in their struggles. After the service of the Word we processed with congregational dance back to the table. Standing around the table, we passed the peace of Christ, gave thanks over the bread and wine, partook, and then sang and danced around the table. Finally, a benediction was given and then bread, cheese, and fruit were brought to the table for all to eat and enjoy.

A similar experience occurred at Christ Church in Nashville, a large Pentecostal church that is moving toward what it believes to be the worship of the early church. Every Sunday morning this church celebrates a special Eucharist during the Sunday School hour for those wishing to participate. On the first Sunday of every month the entire congregation celebrates the Eucharist.

The service of the Eucharist began with spirited singing — hymns, choruses, psalms, and songs particular to the Pentecostal tradition. The singing was followed by a time of prayer during which we gathered in small circles, held hands, and prayed for each other. We then heard and responded to two Scripture readings that were followed by a brief sermon. Then the pastor called the people to gather around the table of the Lord. Again we sang and sang. The pastor led us through a confession of sin using the Book of Common Prayer and then asked if anyone present was in need of healing. Several people came and knelt for the anointing with oil and the laying on of hands by the pastor. The congregation then received the bread and wine while songs of resurrection and exaltation were sung. As we left, we greeted each other with the peace of Christ.

I have described two Christian traditions on opposite ends of the Protestant spectrum — one a liturgical church and the other a Pentecostal church. Yet both of them have moved from the particular style of their tradition to a new style, a style that has numerous common elements. This phenomenon, which is happening in nearly every denomination and all around the world, can be explained by three interrelated statements:

1) Churches of nearly every tradition are discovering the worship of the biblical and historical traditions.

2) Churches of nearly every denomination are discovering each other and are recognizing that elements of worship preserved in other traditions are relevant to today’s worship.

3) What is happening is the convergence of worship traditions, a blending of worship old and new.¹

WORSHIP OLD AND NEW

Currently, the worship of many local congregations stands at an uncertain crossroad. One of the major reasons for this uncertainty is the breakdown of distinct denominational worshiping styles. The interdenominational character of many denominations and the freedom of worship leaders to draw from the many styles of worship is changing the worship of many churches. For this reason, there seems to be a great deal of anxiety among pastors and other worship leaders. What kind of worship could possibly meet the changes that are taking place in the church?

There are three responses to this question. First, there are the traditionalists who want worship to be as it was. These are the people who resist change or are so deeply committed to a particular historical model of worship that talk of incorporating new styles of worship is intolerable. Second, there are those who wish to jettison traditional worship as irrelevant and go in search of a worship that is contemporary. Contemporary worship is difficult to pinpoint since there are so many forms of creative contemporary worship, ranging from the guitar mass to entertainment models of worship.

A third approach, which I support in this book, blends both the old and the new, a worship that respects the tradition yet seeks to incorporate worship styles formed by the contemporary church. I refer to this approach as worship old and new.

General Characteristics

Worship old and new first of all examines old questions about worship. The Reformational theme of Semper Reformanda (always reforming) is taken seriously. Ecumenical worship recently has questioned the essence of and reasons for worship; this book addresses these questions from the biblical, historical, theological, and social science perspectives.

Second, worship old and new learns from the entire worshiping community. Consequently, this book will look sympathetically at liturgical worship as well as the worship of the Reformers, the free church movement, and Pentecostals and charismatics. Worship old and new identifies what worshiping communities can learn from traditions other than their own.

Third, worship old and new has a healthy respect for the past. This work recognizes the way worship has remained faithful to its Jewish and early Christian roots, and how it has been adapted in various time periods and diversified cultures.

Finally, worship old and new is fully committed to contemporary relevance. Because worship is an act of communication between God and his people, worship must touch the lives of people, stimulate personal and spiritual formation, and bring healing to relationships.

Specific Characteristics

Worship old and new is committed to the Scriptures as the foundation for worship studies. Worship is not a human invention but a God-given gift. Consequently, research into the origins of worship in both the Old and New Testaments is not a matter of choice but of necessity. If God gifted the peoples of Israel and the early church with worship, then the Scriptures will relate principles and patterns of worship that will not only inform the church about worship but guide it in its concern to be faithful to the biblical tradition.

Worship old and new approaches the history of the church’s worship with great respect. Throughout the history of the church, God’s worshiping people have sought with varying degrees of success to give shape to a worship faithful to the biblical tradition. As a result of the work of the Holy Spirit throughout history, the church has been blessed by a great variety of worshiping styles. These styles are not mere artifacts of the past but a rich treasury of resources from which we can learn and even borrow for today’s worship.

Worship old and new recognizes theology as a discipline that reflects on its experience, particularly the experience of worship. From a theological point of view worship constitutes the gospel in motion. Worship celebrates God’s great acts of salvation. During worship God communicates to the worshipers his salvation and healing, to which the people respond with faith, praise, prayer, thanksgiving, and a life of service in the world.

Finally, worship old and new presents the practice of worship in its fullness—Sunday worship, the role of music and the arts, the services of the Christian year, the sacred actions of worship, and the ministries of worship.

The Practice of Worship Old and New

This section demonstrates how old and new can be blended into a joyful experience of worship. Consequently, the four acts of worship are presented: acts of entrance, the service of the Word, the service of the Eucharist, and the acts of dismissal. Leaders of convergence worship recognize that these four acts are characterized by a narrative quality, which tells and acts out the story of God’s saving deeds. These acts also draw the worshiper into the experience of symbolizing a relationship to God through a joyful entrance that brings the worshiping community into God’s presence, the reading and preaching of Scripture that speak to felt needs, a eucharistic response that celebrates Christ’s healing presence at the table, and a mission-oriented dismissal that sends the people forth into the world to love and serve the Lord.

The practice of a worship old and new draws on a broad range of musical content and style. For example, the gathering may be characterized by friendly folk songs or contemporary choruses while the entrance hymn may be an ancient processional hymn accompanied by stringed and brass instruments, a joyful procession of people led by a dancer, and banners and flags that express the festive nature of coming before God. The responsorial psalm may be led by a cantor with the people responding with a compelling refrain. The communion songs may be a mixture of Taizé music and appropriate contemporary choruses.

A worship old and new also draws on the arts. In worship renewal today much attention is given to the artists and to the use of their artistic gifts. The power of visual symbol, congregational movement and physical participation, appropriate uses of drama, the recovery of the senses, and the engagement of the whole person in worship have all been rediscovered.

The practice of a worship old and new also calls for the recovery of the feasts of the Christian year. The services of the Christian year are not mere rituals but real feasts. They feature the great dramatic events of redemptive history in which God brings salvation to the people: Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Holy Week, Easter, and Pentecost. The recovery of the evangelical nature of these services holds the power to not only revitalize faith but to order the spirituality of the congregation.

The practice of worship old and new may be enriched by the sacred actions that bring us into the church, nourish us, sustain us, and bring healing into our lives. Today’s renewal of worship boasts new insights into the meaning and practice of the sacraments and a rediscovery of how the evangelical practice of ordinances and sacraments renew faith.

CONCLUSION

The kind of worship presented in this book should be greeted as a challenge and not a threat. It builds on the best of the biblical, historical, and traditional elements of worship. It is concerned that worship be authentic and real and characterized by a sense of fullness, the feeling of deep joy, and the experience of comfort and healing.

It is, in a word, post-Enlightenment worship that is in tune with the dynamic faith of biblical Christianity and the changing cultural patterns of modern life. This is the kind of worship that will attract and hold people in the church and give direction to their confused lives.

For these reasons, convergence of worship old and new stands as a signpost at the uncertain crossroad of future worship. It says, “Here is a way to preserve the best of the past and to walk with confidence into the future.”

1. The preceding material was adapted from Robert E. Webber, “The Future of Christian Worship,” Ex Auditu 8 (1992): 113 – 14.

PART I

The Biblical Foundations of Worship

It is a strange and curious matter that so little has been presented in most worshiping communities about the biblical foundations of worship. While biblical students have labored over the Hebrew and Greek to interpret the Scriptures in their original language and historical setting, little attention has been paid to the language of worship in the Scriptures. While students of Scripture have examined the development of biblical thought concerning God’s initiative in revelation and redemption, few have been interested in the response of the people in worship. While students have done theology and reflected on the character of God, the sinfulness of the human condition, and the rescuing work of Jesus Christ, little thought has been given to how all this theology is put into motion in the institution of worship. Consequently, students have graduated and become pastors who direct the attention of the congregation to Scripture but have little knowledge about how to lead that congregation in the worship of God.

But all of this is now changing. One of the most important topics on the lips of both pastor and people is worship. Congregations not only want to know how to worship better; they want to know what Scriptures teach about worship.

Part I addresses these questions and grounds contemporary worship in the Scripture. Chapter 2 presents biblical themes of worship that span the testaments, chapter 3 examines the worship of the Old Testament, chapter 4 discusses the worship of the New Testament church, and chapter 5 focuses upon the worship of the early church to A.D. 200.

Chapter 2

Biblical Themes in Worship

Worship is not something tangential to the Christian story but a matter that lies at the very heart of the Christian Scriptures from the beginning to the end.¹ The importance of worship is expressed as early as the story of Cain and Abel, who brought offerings to the Lord (Gen. 4:3–5), and as late as the book of Revelation, which not only depicts a heavenly scene of worship (Rev. 4–5) but is filled with songs of praise and images of worship. Between the pages of Genesis and Revelation the Scriptures portray a moving story, which depicts the themes of worship, of how God worked in human history to initiate a saving relationship with the people of the world.

God initiated a relationship with Abraham and Sarah; entered into a covenantal relationship with Israel at Mount Sinai; continually called wayward Israel back to relationship through the prophets; and culminated the great act of redemption in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And God called the church into being as the people of this saving event. God now requires the church to remember his saving deeds, to rehearse the covenant, and to live in total obedience to his will.

This story of God initiating a relationship and of the people responding in faith is not only the story of salvation and redemption, but it comprises the very essence of worship. What lies at the heart of worship is ...