Holy Fire Fell

A History of Worship, Revivals, and Feasts in the Church of the Nazarene

Ellis

• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Year: 2017
• eBook ISBN: 9781532600692
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

Why do we worship as we do? What are the forgotten practices once central to many early Nazarene congregations? Because historical events and other factors have shaped and molded the various worship patterns found in local congregations, the way in which contemporary Nazarenes worship is no accident. Like other descendants of the American holiness movement, Nazarene worship is influenced by events predating our denominational forebears. This text explores the history behind current worship trends for a crucial reason: the very act of worship shapes and forms worshipers. Beliefs and attitudes are forged not merely by what is heard from the pulpit, but also by what is done bodily in the pew. Ellis examines the liturgical concerns and practice of John Wesley as well as those of early Nazarene pioneers in an attempt to address these issues. In so doing, the book provides a historical resource for denominational leaders, pastors, and congregations. At the same time, it aims to help congregations both to appreciate our rich ecclesial history and to critically evaluate current worship practices in order that they may truly be transformational.

Chapter 1

The Meaning of Worship for Formation

The Church of the Nazarene was born out of the holiness movement of the late nineteenth century. Although the founders of the church came from a variety of denominations (i.e., Reformed, Anabaptist, Wesleyan, etc.), they were drawn together by a mutual passion for recovering, experiencing, and promoting the Wesleyan doctrine of Christian perfection. More specifically they understood entire sanctification to be an instantaneous experience of heart cleansing occurring simultaneously with the baptism with the Holy Spirit. Although these early pioneers were interested in retaining Wesley’s central doctrine, albeit with modifications, their worship practices differed radically from his. Many of the elements central to the Anglican worship of John Wesley were left behind in favor of a spontaneous form of worship that revolved around the sermon.1 The Nazarene liturgy was evangelistic in nature, since the winning of souls became the focus of the worship experience; however, the distinctive nature of Wesley’s liturgical and sacramental praxis was lost.

The circumstances and historical setting surrounding the formation of the Church of the Nazarene led to an emphasis on Wesley’s doctrine of Christian perfection, but the practices enveloping Wesley’s theology were largely abandoned. Many factors contributed to this outcome, including the temporal distance between Wesley and the formation of the Church of the Nazarene; the influences of American Methodism; the American revivalistic movement; and the theological diversity of the holiness groups that merged to form the Church of the Nazarene.

The Rule of Prayer: Worship, Belief, and Ethics

Some may wonder exactly why a departure from Wesley’s liturgical practice matters to Nazarene spirituality and identity. The study of liturgy for Nazarenes, like many evangelicals, is off the radar. I clearly remember my thoughts during seminary upon learning I was required to take a class on worship. “What possibly could I learn about worship that I did not already know?” I was working from a deeply ingrained paradigm instilled by the worship experience I knew since my developmental years. The content of worship was simple—the preliminaries (i.e. announcements, music, prayer, and offering) followed by the sermon and altar call. If your roots are similar to my own, you also may wonder why the study of liturgy is necessary or why reading about the history of liturgical practice in the Church of the Nazarene matters.

Through the Latin expression lex orandi, lex credendi liturgical theology has long expressed the firm conviction that the practices of Christian worship have a profound effect on what one believes. This Latin label is the truncated version of a statement attributed to the fifth-century monk Prosper of Aquitaine, who was a “literary disciple and defender of St. Augustine.”2 E. Byron Anderson indicates that the phrase lex orandi statuat legem credendi, “the law of prayer establishes the law of belief,”3 is significant because it summarizes a key issue within liturgical theology: the interdependent relationship between worship, belief, and ethics.

No doubt there are those who interpret lex orandi, lex credendi in a manner which gives the liturgy predominance over doctrine. Aidan Kavanagh asserts this position by stating “the law of worship transcends and subordinates the law of belief.”4 Protestants tend to emphasize the opposite extreme. A more balanced understanding of lex orandi, lex credendi is set forth by Anderson, Saliers, Wainwright, and others who perceive a reciprocal relationship between worship and doctrine. That is to say, “liturgy ‘norms’ doctrine”5 and doctrine influences the liturgy. This assertion raises important questions regarding authority; namely, what makes a church’s worship authoritative in matters of doctrine?

Wainwright provides three criteria to determine the validity of the church’s liturgy to inform doctrine. The first of these finds its source in God incarnate. “Most weight will be given to ideas and practices which go back to Jesus. Prayers which treat God as ‘Abba’ and seek the coming of his kingdom as Jesus preached it will score heavily. . . . The post-Easter Church, as the first to feel the impact of the total event of Jesus, must be credited with an authority of historical origination second only to Jesus himself.”6

The second test is that of time and space. It is based upon the argument that God works amid human error and sets forth to correct it. Therefore, those practices within the church, enduring the test of time and experiencing near-universal acceptance are reliable sources for doctrine.7

The final criterion for assessing the reliability of a liturgical practice to inform doctrine is found in the “ethical component.”8 Wainwright states that Augustine and Prosper believed that “the holiness of the Church indwelt and led by the Holy Spirit gave authority to its liturgical practice as a source of doctrine.”9 He qualifies this test with the following statement: “A liturgical practice which is matched with some directness by holiness of life makes a weighty claim to be treated as a source of doctrine; and any link that could be traced between a liturgical practice and moral turpitude would to that extent disqualify the liturgical practice as a source of doctrine.”10

As mentioned previously, the usage of lex orandi, lex credendi, is not only concerned with the authority of the liturgy in substantiating or affecting the church’s doctrinal claims. It also explores the way that the liturgy shapes the beliefs of its members and their resulting ethical behavior. Saliers indicates that the critical reciprocity existing between liturgy and belief is realized in the action of the church.11 In other words, not only is there an interdependent relationship between prayer and belief, but one also exists between prayer, belief, and “living the moral, spiritual life.”12 Kevin Irwin refers to this as: lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi.13 This understanding reconnects the doxology of God with how persons live in the world. One’s true worship and love for God manifest themselves in one’s relationship with others. Neither a person’s worship nor love of God can simply be internalized in a private relationship with him.14

This understanding is essential when it comes to issues of identity. Emphasizing doctrinal standards while overlooking the implications...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Foreword
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Abbreviations
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: The Meaning of Worship for Formation
• Chapter 2: Worship and Spirituality in John Wesley’s Practical Theology
• Chapter 3: The Development and Nature of Worship from American Methodism to the Church of the Nazarene
• Chapter 4: The Structure and Characteristics of Sunday Worship in the Church of the Nazarene
• Chapter 5: The Sacraments
• Chapter 6: Occasional Services
• Chapter 7: Conclusion: An Earnest Appeal for the Cultivation of Doxology in Worship
• Bibliography