Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
development of Christian worship
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: development of Christian worship
I. Introduction.
Worship is something a lot of us do without giving it much thought. Even worship planners don’t always give it the thought it needs or deserves. How does what we do in worship connect us to God? How does what we do retell and remember the mighty deeds of God? In our market driven society where the consumer is king, worship has became a smorgasbord with a little of ‘that’ and some of ‘this.’
In our drive to get people in the doors of our churches we have allowed the consumer mentality determine the content of worship. Our rally cry has been: “Give them what they want.” But should ‘what they want’ be the determining factor of worship? Is what they want what they need? It is the responsibility of worship leaders to make sure that what they need is what we give them. The church desperately needs to recover from the consumer mentality.
In the Western Church worship has gone through several major upheavals and dramatic changes. In the Eastern Church there has been considerably less change. The Orthodox liturgy looks much the same as it did a thousand years ago.
In part 2 of this paper I will try and track the history of worship in the Western Church.
II. A brief history of worship.
A. The Early Church— AD 50-100
The early church had many characteristics of late Judaism. They believed that God was active in their history and their organizing philosophy was holistic thinking. To that belief the early Christians added the belief that God’s action had culminated in Jesus Christ and his death and resurrection.
B. The Ancient Church— AD 100-600.
Worship in this period was characterized by the concept of mystery brought about by their platonic philosophy that this world was a shadow of the tru...
... middle of paper ...
... of the Christus Victor pays closer attention to the whole scope of the Christ event. Redemption in the Reformation, and since, is more about the personal forgiveness of sin and a person’s right relationship with God. While personal salvation is certainly important and a vital belief, a critical aspect has been lost. Christ’s death not only forgave the individual’s sins, but also was the renewing of all of God’s creation. Christ accomplished that renewal, which is ongoing, by his cross. Paul wrote: “There (the cross) he disarmed the cosmic powers and authorities and made a public spectacle of them, leading them as captives in his triumphal procession.” (Colossians 2:15 [Revised English Bible]). Romans chapter 8 gives further evidence of the cosmic nature of Christ’s death and resurrection.
“The God who created becomes incarnate in order to re-create.”
Overall, this book is an exceptional example of critiquing our culture with a firm grasp of the philosophies of the day. Our culture is rampant with idols that need to be destroyed. Twenty years have only made the idols more pronounced. This book ought to be required reading in Christian secondary education across the country.
Southland Christian Church, one of several worship centers in the United States that has earned the moniker “Six Flags over Jesus,” is Lexington’s largest megachurch. With a weekly attendance of 8,000 people and an operating budget that supports a staff of over eighty members, Southland far exceeds most U.S. congregations in terms of financial resources and social clout. In recent years, popular and scholarly studies have attempted to situate the megachurch movement within a broad cultural context. Although the majority of these analyses dispute the precise definition of a megachurch, most distinguish these multiplex sanctuaries from smaller worship communities by using the same criteria—i.e. weekly attendance, campus acreage, annual budget, etc.—that megachurches themselves draw on to represent their own success. [2] However, the essence of a megachurch is not its large buildings, but rather the theology of consumption that informs its programming.[3] In this way, a megachurch ethos has infiltrated even the smallest congregations in the United States and has helped to solidify Christianity’s inextricable connection to consumer capitalism. To those who see megachurches as symptomatic of a flawed Christianity, market-minded church growth confounds one of the faith’s oldest dualities, the contradiction of living in the world without conforming to its ways, as Paul puts it in Romans 12. Megachurches at once reject “the world” and participate in it by seeking to win the lost and wow the consumer at the same time.
Webber, Christopher. Welcome to the Episcopal Church: An Introduction to Its History, Faith, and Worship. Harrisburg, PA: Morehouse Pub., 1999. Print.
An almost overwhelming emphasis is put on worship in the present church and the mode by which that worship is conveyed. Differences in the approach of worship have caused much debate and consideration, even to the point of hostility and division in some factions. An honest discussion of worship should lead to the question “Does God really care how I worship?” Worship is an important facet of our relationship with God, it is vital that we honor Him in the manner that He set forth and desires.
Between the years 600 CE and 1450 CE in Europe, there was only one thing that stayed constant, and it was the Roman Catholic Church. The church remained a major influence on the people of Europe and the majority of the region continued to believe every single thing that the church preached. The only thing that did not stay constant was who had the power over the church and how the church made sure that everyone was following their rules that they had created. The church had varying teaching over the course of many years. It was also used as a tool for the rulers of that time.
Mead, Loren B. The Once and Future Church Reinventing the Congregation for a New Mission Frontier . The Alban Institute, Inc., 1991. Kindle eBook file.
Schaff, Phillip. History of the Christian Church. Vol. VI, §73. 3rd ed. Edinburgh: Hendrickson, 2006. Web.
Christianity borrows many aspects from Judaism. The Old Testament Hebrew Scriptures were used in the early teachings, however the Christian believers interpreted the scriptures in a different manner. This interpretation leads to a fundamental shift in ideology between Jews and Christians. In addition to scripture, Christianity adopted many worship rituals practiced within the Jewish synagogue; such as prayers, baptisms, and communion. Christianity of today still practices these sacred ritu...
Greengrass, Mark. The Longman Companion to The European Reformation, C. 1500-1618. London: Longman, 1998. Print.
Lynn Malone, is currently the senior pastor at First United Methodist Church in Monroe, Louisiana. On June 13, 2008, Malone gave a homily that entailed a very key component of the Christian faith, the church. In this homily, the main concept of the homily is the church as being one whole entity. Throughout the homily, numerous examples are given that exemplify this concept. I will be discussing two themes more in depth throughout this paper, the Christian Church as one entity, and the universality of Christianity and Christ’s teachings.
Taliaferro, C. (2010, 4 27). stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 3 11, 2011, from Philosophy of Religion: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/philosophy-religion/
In an age when culture continues to lower standards of intellect, Marva Dawn makes compelling observations and suggestions for the Church to rethink its’ strategy on impacting society. How do we evangelize without weakening the message of what we are communicating? The majority of her text focuses on the worship environment generally, but later she focuses on music, preaching, and liturgy specifically. According to Dawn, a gathering of believers should emphasize God as the subject and object of worship, challenge each individual to grow in godly character, and accentuate the community of believers (not only in the room, but throughout history as well). Through this grid, she encourages leaders and participants to evaluate each worship element. If these primary goals are accomplished, then worship will not be empty and simpleminded. Instead the worship atmosphere would be held to a higher standard and, she believes, both pleasing to God and attractive to those who do not know God.
Feduccia, Robert, and Nick Wagner. Primary Source Readings in Catholic Church History. Winona, MN: Saint Mary's, 2005. Print.
Church History in Plain Language is written by Bruce L. Shelley. This work focuses on the history of Christianity from 6 B.C. to the current period. It covers some of Christianity’s greatest events, theologians, and the various subsection of Christianity. Other than the events leading up to the death of Jesus, I had very little knowledge of Christianity’s history. After reading through the book, I have gained understanding on the Christian Councils, scholasticism, Christendom, and modern trends of Christianity.
Turner, William. (March 1, 1907) The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume I, online edition. Retrieved February 2, 2002 from the World Wide Web: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01713a.htm