August 25, 2023

Defining worship, defined by worship

In the latter decades of the last century and the early decade of this century, there was a lot of rhetoric around Protestant worship. In particular, the use and meanings of the terms “traditional” and “contemporary.” When we think of “contemporary worship,” for example, we often think of music and instrumentation; songs that are structured more like popular songs than hymns, and instruments that are more commonly found in popular music than classical music. Actually, contemporary worship began with the use of contemporary translations of the Bible (like the Living Bible, Good News for Modern Man [sic], or more recently, The Message). Once that threshold was crossed, other contemporary elements began showing up in worship, like what people sang, what instruments they played, how they dressed, what elements were used for communion, and how it was served. 

That new phenomenon was actually less the point than what was meant by the words “traditional” and “contemporary.” More often than not, these words were said with the intention that one was bad and the other was good. And that went both directions. These were pejorative words, not descriptive. To correct this, Lester Ruth, now of Duke Divinity School created a more value-neutral way of describing worship using three categories. I will address one of them here.

One of the categories Dr. Ruth developed was how a church’s worship reflects the congregation’s understanding of their relationship to other churches. He offers not an “either/or” description, but a range, at one end, with a church being “Congregational” and at the other end “Connectional.” Congregational worship uses elements that are primarily created within the congregation itself, and the rhythms of its worship are self-defined. Churches that lean in this direction would be Willow Creek, which held its worship services on Wednesday and Thursday nights, and held “seeker services” on Saturdays and Sundays, and with the exception of Christmas and Easter, little of the church year was followed. Churches like Hillsong from Australia and Seattle’s own Mars Hill are known for writing all of their own music, with only occasional outside music included. Connectional churches worship in ways that suggest they see themselves as a part of a larger church, either a larger body or denomination, or even the broader church universal. First Covenant Church leans in this direction, as we follow the church year and the lectionary that supports it. We also use denominational resources such as a hymnal and a book of worship.

The concept of “independent” churches is very recent, as most Christians throughout history have seen themselves as part of larger community who saw their tradition preserving an apostolic or biblical tradition. In fact, the Creeds were developed to make clear which churches had an apostolic faith from those who had digressed from it. What unifies, also divides as was seen in the history of the Nicene Creed. The Nicene Creed, one of the core Christian Creeds, was “clarified” by the Roman Church in a way that diminished the Orthodox churches. By the 7th century, the Eastern churches had developed a theology which was very Spirit centered, with the Holy Spirit being the primary point of contact between humanity and God. The Western churches had developed a much more Christ-centered focus on one’s relationship to God. Both churches affirmed the Trinity, but they placed their accent differently on the Spirit and the Son. In a council in the late 7th century, a phrase “filioque” (Greek, meaning “and the Son”) was added. Emphasizing the importance of the Son in sending the Spirit, while the Eastern churches understood both the Son and the Spirit came equally from the Father. This created a crack that would become a rupture, separating the Eastern Churches from the Western churches.

The good news is that churches East and West have worked hard to overcome this history and have now agreed that the filioque should be considered optional. This Sunday we will pray the Nicene Creed in response to the sermon, a glorious hymn to both the Triune God and the redeeming work of Christ. I have chosen to include the filoque but to translate its agreed upon meaning, rather than exclude it. It will say that the Spirit proceeds from the Father through the Son. This is both biblical and is agreed upon by those in the East and West. In this way we, in the spirit of being a connectional community to all Christians, speak to our common triune faith in our common God, Father, Son, and Spirit.

I hope this very simple explanation of a very complex topic is more helpful than confusing. The main point is what we say, what we do, and how we say and do things in worship both expresses our faith and forms it. We learn most of our language for God, and hence our understandings of God, inductively by praying it. I hope to always be a good steward of your spiritual formation through our corporate worship.

With faith in our one, very mysterious God,

~ Todd