Christian worship
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In Christianity, worship is the act of attributing reverent honour and homage to God.[1] In the New Testament, various words are used to refer to the term worship. One is proskuneo ("to worship") which means to bow down to God or kings.[2]
Throughout most of Christianity's history, corporate Christian worship has been
The term liturgy is derived from the Greek leitourgia meaning "public service" and is formed by two words: "laos" (people) and "ergon" (work), literally "work of the people". Responsorial prayers are a series of petitions read or sung by a leader with responses made by the congregation. Set times for prayer during the day were established (based substantially on
A great deal of emphasis was placed on the forms of worship, as they were seen in terms of the Latin phrase lex orandi, lex credendi ("the rule of prayer is the rule of belief")—that is, the specifics of one's worship express, teach, and govern the doctrinal beliefs of the community. According to this view, alterations in the patterns and content of worship would necessarily reflect a change in the faith itself. Each time a heresy arose in the Church, it was typically accompanied by a shift in worship for the heretical group. Orthodoxy in faith also meant orthodoxy in worship, and vice versa. Thus, unity in Christian worship was understood to be a fulfillment of Jesus' words that the time was at hand when true worshipers would worship "in spirit and in truth" (John 4:23).
Early Church Fathers
The theme of worship is taken up by many of the Church Fathers including
Reformation liturgies
Worship as singing underwent great changes for some Christians within the
Present day
Current Christian worship practices are diverse in modern Christianity, with a range of customs and theological views. Three broad groupings can be identified, and whilst some elements are universal, style and content varies greatly due to the history and differing emphases of the various branches of Christianity.
In many Christian traditions, regular public worship is complemented by worship in private and small groups, such as meditation, prayer and study.[3] Singing often forms an important part of Christian worship.[4]
Common elements
While differing considerably in form, the following items characterise the worship of virtually all Christian churches.
- Meeting on Sunday (Sabbath in Christianity; Sabbath in seventh-day churches is an exception)
- Bible reading[3]
- Communion or the Eucharist
- Music, either choral or congregational, either with or without instrumental accompaniment
- Prayer
- Teaching in the form of a sermon or homily
- A collection or offering
Sacramental tradition
This grouping can also be referred to as the Eucharistic or Catholic tradition, but note that it is not limited to the Catholic Church, but also includes the
Within the Catholic Church, the
Reformation tradition
In many Protestant groups, such as the
Charismatic tradition
In Charismatic Christianity (including pentecostalism, the charismatic movement, neo-charismatic movement and certain parts of nondenominational Christianity), worship is viewed like an act of adoration of God, with a more informal conception.[8] Some gatherings take place in auditoriums with few religious signs.[9][10] There is no dress style. Since the beginning of charismatic movement of the 1960s there have been significant changes to Christian worship practices of many denominations.[11] A new music-centered approach to worship, known as contemporary worship, is now commonplace. This replaces the traditional order of worship based around liturgy or a "hymn-prayer sandwich" with extended periods of congregational singing sometimes referred to as "block worship". The worship has two parts; one in the beginning with music and the second part with sermon and Lord's Supper.[12]
In the 1980s and 1990s, Contemporary worship music settled in many evangelical churches.[13][14] This music is written in the style of popular music, Christian rock or folk music and therefore differs considerably from traditional hymns.[15] It is frequently played on a range of instruments that would not have previously been used in churches such as guitars (including electric) and drum kits.
Types of Christian worship
Regular Sunday services are a part of most traditions. The Eucharist may be celebrated at some or all of these; often it is included either once a month or once a quarter. A few denominations have their main weekly services on Saturday rather than Sunday. Larger churches often tend to have several services each Sunday; often two or three in the morning and one or two in the late afternoon or evening.
Sacraments, ordinances, holy mysteries
- Common to almost all
- Sacraments/Holy Mysteries Common to the East and to Roman Catholicism
- Confirmation(Western)
- Marriage
- Ordination
- Confession
- Anointing of the Sick(Unction)
- anointing of the sickas useful church rites that do not forgive sins and therefore are not sacraments in the strict sense.
See also
- Alternative worship
- Church service
- Contemporary worship
- Devotional literature
- Magnificat
- Service of worship
- Theological aesthetics
References
Notes
- ^ "worship", Dictionary.com Unabridged, Random House, retrieved 4 Sep 2013
- ^ Called to Worship: The Biblical Foundations of Our Response Vernon Whaley - 2009 - In the Greek, the word for worship, proskuneo, means to express deep respect or adoration—by kissing, with words, or by bowing down. Associated words include epaineo, "to commend or applaud"; aineo, "to praise God"; and sebomai,"
- ^ ISBN 0-85421-333-3
- ^ "Bruderhof Communities". SoundCloud. Retrieved 2018-05-31.
- ^ "Tra Le Sollecitudini Instruction on Sacred Music - Adoremus Bulletin". Adoremus.org. 1903-11-22. Retrieved 2019-01-29.
- ^ Matthew Hoffman. "Various Statements of Pope Paul VI and Other Authorities". Matthewhoffman.net. Retrieved 2019-01-29.
- ^ "Musicae Sacrae (December 25, 1955) | PIUS XII". Vatican.va. Retrieved 2019-01-29.
- ^ Gerald R. McDermott, The Oxford Handbook of Evangelical Theology, Oxford University Press, UK, 2013, p. 311
- ^ Jeanne Halgren Kilde, Sacred Power, Sacred Space: An Introduction to Christian Architecture and Worship, Oxford University Press, USA, 2008, p. 193
- ^ Keith A. Roberts, David Yamane, Religion in Sociological Perspective, SAGE , USA, 2011, p. 209
- ^ Robert H. Krapohl, Charles H. Lippy, The Evangelicals: A Historical, Thematic, and Biographical Guide, Greenwood Publishing Group, USA, 1999, p. 171
- ^ Charles E. Farhadian, Christian Worship Worldwide: Expanding Horizons, Deepening Practices, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, USA, 2007, p. 112
- ^ Suzel Ana Reily, Jonathan M. Dueck, The Oxford Handbook of Music and World Christianities, Oxford University Press, USA, 2016, p. 443
- ^ Mathew Guest, Evangelical Identity and Contemporary Culture: A Congregational Study in Innovation, Wipf and Stock Publishers, USA, 2007, p. 42
- ^ George Thomas Kurian, Mark A. Lamport, Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States, Volume 5, Rowman & Littlefield, USA, 2016, p. 629
Bibliography
- Lang, Bernhard (1997), Sacred Games: A History of Christian Worship, New Haven: Yale University Press, ISBN 0-300-06932-4
- Stevens, James H. S. (2002), Worship In The Spirit - Charismatic Worship In The Church of England, Paternoster, ISBN 1-84227-103-2.
- Ward, Pete (2005), Selling Worship - How What We Sing Has Changed The Church, Paternoster, ISBN 1-84227-270-5
- Warner, Rob (2007), Reinventing English Evangelicalism 1966-2001 - A Theological And Sociological Study, Paternoster, ISBN 978-1-84227-570-2. Chapter 2 includes a study of changing worship styles.
- Lupia, John N., (1995) "Censer," The New Grove's Dictionary of Art (Macmillan Publishers, London)