The Emerging Worship Initiative

by Chip Andrus

Introduction

This paper is a collection of documents used in the Emerging Worship initiative. The initiative is an ecumenical movement spearheaded by the Office of Theology and Worship of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. Some of this material was use as an initial introduction to this working concept of worship. A study group was convened in Seattle last September to discuss this initiative. The reception of Emerging Worship as an approach to worship planning, evaluating and education was overwhelming. The group, which consisted of professors, ministers and denominational staff from Presbyterian Church U.S.A., United Methodist Church, United Church of Canada, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, began to give a more full expression of Emerging Worship through descriptors. A few of these descriptors, or adjectives and attributes for Emerging Worship, are listed as the last section of this paper. I envision these descriptors (which is by no means exhaustive) to motivate our discussion. The descriptors listed in this paper are ones that have been given annotation. I will provide another list of adjectives and attributes that emerged from our study group meeting in Seattle that are being considered. These descriptors will be formatted for a worship resource for local churches as they plan, evaluate, and educate.

What's Happening?

We are living in a time of overwhelming spiritual curiosity. However, there are few signs of people flocking to churches for spiritual fulfillment. In fact, many people are leaving the church in search of deeper rituals and more mystery. The growing popularity of Eastern religions, Native American rituals, Wicca and New Age movements provides abundant evidence of this cultural phenomenon. A quick trip through cyberspace reveals a vast spiritual smorgasbord, readily available and shrewdly marketed for personalized adaptation.

In an attempt to attract spiritual “seekers” many churches have turned to novel forms of worship. Experimentation with worship forms has created great tension among the church’s faithful — some have even declared a worship war! This theater of liturgical conflict has both positive and negative effects. Positively, churches are thinking harder about worship. Or, at least they are beginning to realize that worship is urgently important to both evangelism and church vitality. Many of the issues being raised in light of the quest for new worship forms are helpful. Some of these issues, such as hospitality, encourage a deeper understanding of worship and our rich heritage as the Body of Christ. On the negative side, however, there are deep disagreements over worship style, music, technology, space, time and generational differences. People often become polarized over issues that may have little to do with worship that is authentically Christian. Music is a good example.

We believe the time is ripe for church leaders to use the momentum created by current worship controversies to deepen worship education in their congregations. This is an extraordinary teachable moment for worship reform and renewal.

The church is, in fact, abundantly equipped for responding to “seekers” who are hungry for deeper ritual practices and encounters with the holy. Unfortunately, many churches have neglected the church’s deep reservoirs of wisdom concerning the shape of authentic worship. Such neglect is manifest in myriad ways: infrequent or shallow Eucharistic practices, covered or hidden baptismal fonts, abandonment of liturgy as leitourgia (the work of the whole people), and suspicion of expressive arts. The church’s ancient practices of worship have been largely ignored, if not overtly discarded.

It is tragic that the search for spiritual fulfillment has taken people away from the fountain that has satisfied the deepest thirsts of endless generations, in favor of the cracked vessels of trendy personal spiritualities. We believe that a recovery of worship practices from the storehouse of enduring church wisdom, combined with acute awareness of and imaginative responsiveness to the exigencies of our particular place and time, will be profoundly attractive to the spiritual seekers of our world.

Church leaders need to be engaged anew with the possibilities with which the Christian worship tradition is pregnant. Pastors are casting about for direction from all kinds of resources — often gladly provided by technical, management, and marketing experts — to help them jump-start the worship life of their congregations. Seminaries often are blessed with bright, creative thinkers who have little opportunity to engage those involved in leading worship in local congregations. Family worship, which is the historic natural feeder system for congregational worship, has all but died out across vast reaches of the Christian church. Denominations, seminaries, congregations, families — each of these spheres affects the rest, and all need to work together toward a synoptic vision of restoring Christian worship to its proper vitality and richness.

Apology

Emerging Worship refers to any practice of worship that is expressive, faithful to tradition, and attentive to local context. The name “Emerging Worship” itself suggests a cutting edge of growth and change, for its broad scope and organic nature set it apart from earlier, more defined movements. People from different denominations, liturgical traditions, theological perspectives, musical backgrounds, social and geographical contexts, are included in Emerging Worship. Thus, Emerging Worship is not a label for a specific form, liturgy, or style of music. Emerging Worship is intentionally ecumenical and multi-cultural, in purview, celebrating the broad expressions of worship that are continually growing and developing.

Emerging Worship wells up each week in communities all over the world. The motivation for worship is not market- or seeker-driven but flows from our deep spiritual convictions about God’s grace and initiative in calling us to Christ. Emerging Worship is not a prescribed model for worship such as a “Willow Creek Model,” nor an “ideologically-driven” approach. Authentic and appropriate worship will emerge within communities that take seriously the challenge of articulating the ancient Christian faith, synchronically and diachronically, in their local context. These characteristics should be celebrated, nurtured and shared as examples.

Emerging Worship responds to God’s Word for us, the church’s deep tradition, and the context of local faith communities. Emerging Worship has direction: the full expression of God’s Way on earth. It is evangelical by nature and mission oriented in response.

In some contexts Emerging Worship may look like the “way we have always done it,” while in other contexts it may look very “contemporary.” Emerging Worship may be modeled after the prayers of Taize or Iona, the “rave” culture born in the United Kingdom, evangelical urban church plants (urban new church development projects) or the “regular” Sunday service of a particular community.

Emerging Worship is a way of recognizing, articulating and developing worship that seeks to be authentic to our ancient faith while being appropriate to our current context. Along with new technology, internet resources, global and local artists, musicians, and poets, the Book of Common Worship and its supplemental material, the Presbyterian Hymnal and its supplemental material are examples of important resources for Emerging Worship.

The Arts (dance, fine art, fabrics, drama, music), modern, local, ancient and global, are encouraged in Emerging Worship along with reclaiming ancient rituals and elements used throughout time and space. Weekly celebration of the Eucharist is encouraged. Reaffirmation of the baptismal covenant, services of healing and wholeness, and rituals marking significant passages in people’s lives are common in Emerging Worship. Oil, water, wine and bread, the visible signs of God’s grace, are frequently engaged.

Music is not the defining norm of Emerging Worship. Some church services may accentuate a particular style, while others may blend different genres. There need be no conflict in Emerging Worship between organs and guitars, choruses and hymns, linear or cyclical musical forms. Each context (defined by such things as geography, demographics, availability and skill level of musicians) will have some bearing on the music offered and the extent to which the music is diverse. Music does not define worship. Rather, it is the melody upon which the liturgy will dance. Thoughtful reflection on the text(s) for the day, the flow of the liturgy and the context of a particular church should be some of the motivating factors for musical selection. The text used with the music must also be carefully chosen. Another important factor is the utilization of the gifts of those in the community. In Emerging Worship, participation is more important than perfection.

The normal boundaries which have created divisions in many churches such as musical style, technology, sacramental practice, are not defined in Emerging Worship. “Worship wars” are superfluous. The boundaries are broad, but, the focus is precise: God present in the world and in our lives. The juxtaposition between broad boundaries and a precise focus on God sets Emerging Worship apart from understanding worship in terms of “classical”, “traditional” or “contemporary” categories.

Attributes of Emerging Worship

Through the following attributes you will find areas to celebrate as well as areas that need growth. This tool can be used to evaluate an ongoing worship service. It can help guide you in the planning process, whether you are planning a new service or use this tool in weekly planning. These attributes may also be used in worship education. An evaluation using these descriptors must be done over a period of time. Many of the descriptors cannot be adequately evaluated in a single service.

Emerging Worship is:

Authentic to tradition and our ancient faith and appropriate to the context:

The Presbyterian Directory for Worship describes authentic language as that which “reflects the biblical witness to God in Jesus Christ.” The directory goes on to say that appropriate language is that which by nature: a) is more expressive than rationalistic. b) builds up and persuades as well as informs and describes. c) creates ardor as well as order. d) is the utterance of the whole community of faith as well as the devotion of individuals. Authentic and appropriate should not only be used to describe the language of worship, but should pertain to every aspect of the liturgy and gathered assembly. While the director for worship uses authentic and appropriate to describe language used in worship, these descriptors should be applied to all areas of worship such as art, time, space, music, leadership and even sacramental practice.

Theocentric:

This also means Trinitarian. Therefore, being focused on only one person of the Trinity is not a suggested liturgical practice. A popular example would be music or liturgy that exclusively addresses Jesus. The communion of fellowship and mission of the church is an incarnational expression of the Trinity. By limiting the focus of worship to Jesus Christ exclusively, there is a tendency to accentuate a “personal” relationship, at the expense of a communal identity in the Body of Christ. An identity we accept through our Baptism (which is done in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit).

Shaped by a missional identity:

…rather than consumer consciousness. The mission of the church comes from what the community does well. Mission identity is organic. The congregation must know and embrace who and what God has given it to be.

Accountable to the church’s ordo:

Every person involved in worship planning must have knowledge of the church’s ordo and how this ordo shapes our lives as well as our worship . Knowledge of the ordo is a prerequisite for those who wish to engage artful juxtapositions in worship. The shape of the ordo is found in the daily, weekly and yearly rhythms of the church’s liturgical practice. The ordo is also expressed in the Christian practices of the community and individuals.

Indigenous:

We worship in specific times and places. Our worship should reflect our daily lives and how that impacts the specific community in which we live. In the description of his upcoming workshop at Calvin College, Bryan D. Spinks says, “Christian worship has often been a remarkable and instructive window in to the culture of the communities which offer it, reflecting both a given community’s most cherished beliefs as well as unstated cultural dynamics.” For Emerging Worship, the cycle of both cultural dynamics shaping community and the Christian practices supporting or challenging these dynamics are informed and shaped in the liturgy.

Trans-local/glocal:

It crosses regional, cultural, and confessional disjunctions. Global awareness, is global consciousness.

Participatory:

In worship we should participate both with one another, and with the divine life. It is essential that the gathered assembly be engaged in the act of praying the liturgy. Some of the participatory aspects of worship should be instinctive to the assembly. It is important to recognize and nurture (which should include continuing education) deep rhythms of interaction such as a communal “amen” at the end of each prayer, or words exchanged during the serving of communion.

Integrative (rather than fragmentary):

Every Christian practice is a part of the work of the one Body of Christ and is therefore interrelated or integrated in the bringing about of God’s Way on earth. Every part of the liturgy of the church is similarly related as it forms and shapes our lives as Christians. The rhythms of the daily, weekly and yearly Christian living should be formed and expressed in worship. Knowing the deep patterns of the ordo is essential to cohesive worship and the integration of the different parts of the liturgy. Just as all of Christian living is related, so also are the different movements of the liturgy.

Evangelical:

As worship shapes and forms individuals and communities we become instinctively evangelical.

Ecumenical:

The deep pattern or ordo of worship transcends all denominational boundaries. Weekly communion is a visible sign of the connectedness of all who share in this rhythm of a Eucharistic life. While many denominations have distinctively different approaches to worship, Emerging Worship seeks to accentuate similarities instead of differences. Weekly communion and the ordo of the ancient liturgy are two intentional ways of accomplishing this task.

Cross-cultural:

In Christ all lines of division between humans are broken down. Our worship should reflect what Christ has already done (Galatians 3:28).

Elastic:

There must been room in worship for God’s Spirit to expand and contract the movements of worship we share together. For instance, if the prayers of the people are open for the community to express joys and concerns, then the time allowed for such a prayer isn’t to be determined beforehand. The elasticity of the service is simply a way of articulating the lack of rigidity found in many “prescribed” worship services. Perhaps worship should always have a starting time but never an exact time for the community to scatter.

Permeable:

Emerging Worship is accessible and constantly being reformed by God’s Word. There is no need to isolate worship practices from the influences of the community, other denominations, or radical movements of the Spirit. Especially when the movements address the current climate of our world, such as impending war. There is a danger of accommodation involved in being permeable, but it is with the assurance of God’s sovereignty that we, with confidence, bring our own lives and the lives of others to worship.

Expansive:

it is true to the "fullness" of who God is and what God does.

Generous

it gives enough room for unprompted, expressive responses.

Emotionally rich:

Worship should be emotionally rich in that people should respond to the liturgy with all their being, including their emotions. This does not mean that lead worshippers need to develop an emotionally manipulating environment. However, it does mean that people should be aware of the impact of each liturgical movement and give space for emotional actions and reactions.

Public:

At the very least, each gathering assembly should post, visibly, their worship time and space to the public. This also delves into the arena of hospitality and being a welcoming church.

Improvisational:

Jazz players will resonate with this descriptor. A Jazz player must know the melody and boundaries of a song before being able to improvise. And improvisation is intended to enhance the song, to give honor to the melody by a personal contribution shared by all present. For lead worshippers the ordo is the main melody and the scripture for the day helps set the boundaries for the worship. With a deep understanding of the ancient patterns of worship, the specific time of the liturgical year and the text for the day, there should be room for God’s Spirit to inspire improvisation of the liturgy, given the improvisation supports the liturgy and is directed toward God as the object of our worship.

Organic:

Emerging Worship emerges not only from our ancient tradition and across many years of practice, but it also emerges from our specific context. We respond to and call upon God from a particular time and place. We offer the fruits of our labors from the specific fields where we sow and reap.

Conversational:

As the Body of Christ gathered before God we must know with whom we are talking, what are we saying, and why. This descriptor may be the best barometer for worship evaluation. Whether we are dealing with music, litanies, sermons, drama, dance, or applause, we must consider to whom are we addressing our actions and to whom are we listening.

Eucharistic:

Emerging Worship should be characterized by glad and joyous thanksgiving. This does not mean that lament, beseeching, confession are not important parts of worship or authentic expressions. However, even in psalms of lament, we begin with a complaint and petition but move to praise and trust. Our movements in worship should also follow this pattern in that we should always come to the table with thanks and praise before being sent into the world as the Body of Christ. Trusting in God and sharing this trust in community will naturally bring about glad and joyous thanksgiving.

Aware of worship's formational character:

Lex orandi, lex credendi. What we do in worship shapes the theology of the community. The theology of the community shapes what we do in worship. See Bryan D. Spinks’ quote above as it pertains to worship being indigenous.

Fully aware that and shaped by the fact that we live in a post-denominational,
post-Christendom, post-modern world:

This has many implications for the way we approach worship. One thing we must consider is that many children do not grow up as baptized members of any church. We should prepare ourselves for the forming and initiating of adults into the church. It is imperative that every community consider some form of catechetical instruction (preparation for baptism and living as a baptized member of the Christ’s body) for adults. Considering the assumptions of Christendom (such as biblical and doctrinal literacy) we should also encourage a catechetical process for people who are already members of the church. Such a process would be directed toward a renewal of the baptismal covenant and an understanding of how we live out our baptism.

Globally aware - "glocal":

During a time where Americanism, patriotism, nationalism and religion are being mixed together, we are called to articulate the unique voice of Christ which breaks down all boundaries between all people. As the church of Jesus Christ we called to proclaim the good news for everyone on earth (1 John 2:2). We can show our solidarity with all who claim Christ as Lord and Savior through music, prayer, litanies, proclamation, dance, communion, and many other liturgical acts.

Intergenerational:

The best representation of the Body of Christ at worship is one where people of all ages are present together. Many churches have recently targeted specific age groups in their worship planning. We believe this approach to be exclusive and not in the spirit of Christian hospitality. This is also true for many well established worship services; know to many as “traditional” services. While Emerging Worship is not another name for “Blended Worship”, we do believe that limiting any liturgical aspect of worship to a specific genre, or using material that targets exclusively a specific age group or generation is not helpful for bringing the breadth of God’s community together for worship.

Truthful:

One criticism of many worship services across all stylistic boundaries is the “pie in the sky” approach to worship. Another criticism is that many worship services simply address immediate existential needs. The breadth of human experiences and the truth of God’s love for us shown to the world in Jesus the Christ should be expressed in worship. A good example of our reluctance to appropriately respond to the truthfulness of our lives in relation to God is the reluctance to lament even after devastating events.

Symbolically rich:

Thoughtful attention to the rich symbols of our faith and bringing them to life can deeply enrich our liturgical practice. Using water and the font during confession, juxtaposing a candle and the scriptures, and having families set the communion table with common wares from their homes are just a few of the plethora of symbols and actions available to us from our rich Christian heritage.

Expressive:

not in the interpretive but in the reflexive sense.

Inclusive with regard to language:

Language referring to people must be inclusive. This descriptor would also encourage us to use the breadth of the images of God found in scripture.

Artfully juxtapositional:

It is important to understand the meanings created by placing liturgical “things” next to one another. The juxtapositions in worship include not only such holy things as the font, table, bible, and pulpit but also time and space. These juxtapositions also extend beyond the specific worship service. An example of such extension is a meal that follows each service as an extension of the table fellowship.