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The Institute of Contemporary Worship and Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Red Online Worship History Course with Dan Wilt.
One interesting, though unexpected, impact of that course in worship history and this week’s focus on public prayer and scripture reading has been to make me realize that we, people, communities, church of the 21st century, are not alone. We stand in the middle of a crowd of worshippers, that come from places as far as prehistory and that will extend to who knows where (1) .
The fact that early church viewed all ministries as the “ministry of Jesus” (2) revealed to me how narrowminded my vision of ministry is. If the church is the body of Christ and is exercising the ministry of Christ, no wonder then that we have such a diversity of ministries all around the world. Instead of focusing on my community (which I will still be praying for though), I can see that the whole church accross territorial and denominational borders is showing Christ.
I can rejoice in the fact that the Catholic church is showing so much compassion and the Charismatic churches so much of God’s power. I can be thrilled by the numerous miracles African churches are witnessing and by the amazing faithfulness of the Chinese church. I can leap for joy at the intimacy with God displayed in the Vineyard churches and be awed by the majesty of God revealed in the Anglican church. Of course, we are all flawed, but as a whole, we are reflecting the glory of Jesus.
Public prayer and scripture reading remind me how much all voices should be heard and listened (3) to because the harmony they create speaks of our beloved God.
(1) Dan Wilt, Week 2 : History of worship (video 1)
(2) Ibid
(3) James F. White, Introduction to Christian Worship. Nashville : Abingdon Press, 2000, p. 115.
The Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Red Online Worship History Course with Dan Wilt.
The way today’s churches are organizing their time and space is born from the same concern that all churches in history share : how to honor God and tell his story of salvation. Amazingly, in spite of the varied expressions of time and space organization, there is this “constant desire”, as James F. White (1) expresses it, to lead Christ-centered lives, as individuals and as communities.
This unity of purpose, that transcends cultural, socioeconomic, ethnic impact (2) on how the church worships is a witness in itself of the greatness of God. The time spent on defining how best to use time as a language of worship, by ordering a day, a week, a year and a lifetime around the marking events of Jesus’ life and their meaning for the communities of believers and the world at large (3), is in itself worship.
And what about the time believers have set apart to build spaces for the glory of God, whether it be buildings or their own lives or communities? One story that illustrates how space, time meet to tell the gospel story to the world is that of the Sagrada Familia church in Spain. Antonio Gaudi, an architect, started its construction in 1882, knowing fully well that he would not be able to finish it and that was part of his legacy. When it is finished, hopefully for 2026, its three facades will be called : Nativity, Passion and Glory.
(1) James F. White, Introduction to Christian Worship. Nashville : Abingdon Press, 2000
(2) Dan Wilt, Worship : yesterday, today and forever, IW All, p.173-174
(3) Robert Webber, A Christian year primer, IW All, p. 245-246
Hi everyone,
thanks for your incoming input.
