by Dan Rogers

Some of the greatest points of controversy within the church today concern worship. Church members regularly express dissatisfaction over, or confess that they are uncertain about, the meaning and purpose of what is commonly called worship. Some are defensive about their traditions. They feel that enough changes have already been made, so they ask, Why change the format of our church service? Some, seeking a "more worshipful experience," wander from church to church looking for a service that has music and a form of worship that appeals to them.

It is not just members of our church who are experiencing this quest for a comfortable and satisfying worship experience. Many Christians from many denominations are seeking a form of corporate worship that appeals to them. But it seems that few are asking about what form of worship appeals to God. For Christians who accept that the Bible contains God's revelation to his people, a crucial question is, "Does the Bible give us instructions for worship that is acceptable to God?"

Although the Bible does not mandate specific worship service formats for Christians, I believe that it does provide a theological framework for understanding how God wishes to be approached, engaged and known in worship. In this article, I will discuss what acceptable Christian corporate worship may be like. To do this, I will examine the Scriptures as a source of God's self-revelation, to see if a biblical theology of worship can be found. If a theology of worship can be found in the Scriptures, then that theology can provide a basis from which to develop an understanding of corporate worship that is acceptable to God and appropriate for our members.

I will first look for an understanding of what worship is. I will then look at what can be learned from both the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament regarding worship. From the discussion of worship in the Bible, I will attempt to draw some conclusions as to what can be said about Christian worship today, and I will suggest sample liturgical formats derived from this study.

What is worship?

Many authors writing on the subject of worship define it as a response to God (e.g., Underhill 1991, page 3). They then define the English word worship and do word studies in the Hebrew and Greek Bible (e.g., Webber 1993, pp. 3-22). We are told that our English word worship means "worthship," denoting the worthiness of an individual to receive special honor in accordance with that worth. The principal biblical terms, the Hebrew shahah and the Greek proskyneo, emphasize the act of prostration, the doing of obeisance.

In a broad sense, worship is participating in rites that honor God. In a more focused sense, worship is pure adoration, the lifting up of the redeemed spirit toward God in contemplation of his holy perfection. While these definitions are helpful, they seem to miss a vital element. Since Scripture has much to say about the part humans play in the adoration and service of God, it seems natural to describe worship as "response." What often seems to be overlooked is the role of God in worship. This must be considered an important part of any theological context in which to consider worship.

Scripture teaches that God created humans for a purpose. The Westminster Shorter Catechism sums up the purpose for human existence by saying that it is "to glorify God and to enjoy him forever." In this simple, yet profoundly insightful statement are two truths. First, worship is to acknowledge God for who he is, what he has done, what he is doing and what he will do. Second, humans receive a tremendous benefit from participating in this practice. A.W. Tozer states concisely that the purpose of God in bringing us into the world was to create worshippers (1992, 3).

It is fundamental to our understanding to see worship as something that is initiated by God in his desire to have a relationship with humans. Before humans can enter into worship, God must draw us into relationship with him. God loved us and showed that love in the sacrifice of his only Son before we ever loved or even knew him (1 John 4:9-10). God created worship and initiates it in the lives of his people so that they may enter into a special relationship with him.

The worship provisions of the Hebrew Scriptures are presented as an expression of the covenant relationship established by God between himself and Israel. New Testament worship theology is intimately connected with the establishment and outworking of the new covenant relationship. Acceptable worship under both covenants is a matter of responding to God's initiative in salvation and revelation, and doing so in the way that he requires (Peterson 1992, 19). Worship is made possible for us by God’s choosing to enter into a relationship with humans.

God entered into a relationship with ancient Israel through the terms of the old covenant. The Tabernacle and Temple became the chief representation of the relationship. The sacrificial system was given by God to be the means of dealing with the problem of sin and to maintain the covenant relationship. This was effective only because of God's promise and his gracious enabling. The New Testament writers focus on Christ's death as the means by which humans are sustained in an eternal relationship with God. From this we can see that there will be continuity and discontinuity between old covenant and new covenant worship.

Both old and new covenant worship revolves around the idea of relationship with God. Worship as depicted in the Hebrew Scriptures is more than just a cultic or institutional expression of that relationship. Worship in the New Testament is a comprehensive category describing the Christian's total existence. It appears to be coextensive with the faith-response wherever and whenever that response is elicited (Peterson 1992, 18).

Following on what we have discussed so far, worship can be understood as the active expression in word and action by humans in response to a relationship that has been initiated by God with them. God is both the initiator and receiver of worship, with humans receiving benefit from their participation in it.

A complete examination of worship is beyond the scope of this article. What I will focus on is what we can learn in terms of a biblical theology of worship and how this can be applied to our corporate worship services.

Acceptable worship

In seeking a biblical theology of worship, I will examine scriptural revelation with an emphasis on the historical context of each section of Scripture under discussion. Since the worship of the one, true God is initiated by God and is toward God, it is important to ask the question of what form of worship is acceptable to him. It is appropriate that any biblical theology of worship begin with attempting to discover from God's own self-revelation in Scripture what pleases him. By developing a biblical theology, we can become more focused on what Scripture tells us is acceptable to God than on our own determination of how we choose to worship him.

The Hebrew Scriptures tell us that some worship was unacceptable to God (e.g., Gen. 4:3-7; Ex. 32; Is. 1). New Testament writers, speaking of acceptable worship, also tell us that there are attitudes and activities that are not pleasing to God (e.g., Rom. 12:1-2; 14:17-18; Heb. 12:28-29; 13:16). The texts remind us that not everything that seems impressive, appropriate or comfortable to us is acceptable to God. How does God want to be worshipped? How does he want to be approached, engaged and known?

Two important themes appear in the history of ancient Israelite and later Jewish worship. First, God takes the initiative in making himself known and in establishing a way for his chosen people to have a relationship with him. The second theme is ancient Israel's response to God's great acts of salvation that he has performed in their history. The chief focus of this response centered around the Exodus-Sinai event.

The book of Exodus proclaims that God rescued his people from slavery in Egypt so that they might worship him. They were redeemed for the purpose of worship (Ex. 3:18; 7:16; 20:2). Later in their history, with the transfer of the ark to Jerusalem and the building of the Temple as a permanent sanctuary, the exodus tradition became attached to the city of David. The rule of God was then expressed through the Davidic kingship and God's presence with his people was expressed through the Temple.

In general, the people were to approach, engage and know God through the cultic system that was set up in connection with the Sanctuary. Within a covenant framework, the sacrificial system was the means by which God made it possible for a sinful people to draw near to him, to receive his grace and blessing, without desecrating his holiness and so incurring his wrath against them. By God's provision through the cult, the covenant relationship could be maintained (Peterson 1992, 49). The failure of ancient Israel to worship God in the way that he found acceptable culminated in the judgment of exile. The prophetic hope for the restoration of Israel and the blessing of all nations was the vision of renewed worship in a new Temple (Ezek. 40). New Testament writers such as John would develop this theme by presenting Jesus as the fulfillment of all the Jewish cultus and the fulfillment of all Jewish prophetic hopes (e.g. John 2:19-21).

The first followers of Jesus continued to worship in the Temple and in the synagogues. Gradually, these Jewish Christians separated from the Jewish institutions of worship into their own assemblies. However, the writers of the New Testament used and adapted worship themes from the Hebrew Scriptures. As James White says, "A whole gamut of Jewish concepts and practices underlies Christian worship to this day.... Christians may have turned the world upside down but in the form and content of their worship it was still recognizably a Jewish world" (1993, 16).

In Christian, just as in Jewish history, God takes the initiative in making himself known and in establishing a way for his chosen people to have a relationship with him. Christians respond in worship by celebrating Jesus, God's great act of salvation that he has performed in their lives. Paralleling themes from the book of Exodus, the book of Revelation proclaims that God rescued his people from the bondage of "the great ordeal" so that they might worship him (Rev. 7:13-17). Once again, God's people are pictured as redeemed for the purpose of worship. Christianity entered into the inheritance of an already existing pattern of worship provided by the Temple ritual and synagogue liturgy, and yet the coming of Jesus had stimulated a new way of thinking about that pattern of worship.

The Gospels are set within the framework of first-century Jewish piety. Godly Israelites worship at the Temple, sacrifices are made, pilgrimages are made to celebrate the great festivals, and the synagogue is a center for prayer and study of the Scriptures. The ministry of Jesus is intimately connected with each of these institutions, yet Matthew and John in particular, develop a picture of Jesus as the fulfillment of everything that the Temple stood for and as the focus of worship under the new covenant. As Peterson puts it, "Jesus did not come to destroy Judaism, but to bring it to its destined end in the worship of the new age" (1992, 81, 101).

For Matthew and especially for John, Jesus replaces the Temple as the source of life and renewal for the world. He is now the center for the ingathering of the nations. In his person and in his work, Jesus is all that the Temple was to be and do for Israel and all nations at the "end time." Jesus is not only the ultimate means of coming into the presence of God, but is himself a focus of worship. Matthew and John indicate that Christians need to know and understand the Hebrew Scriptures and how Jesus fulfills the hopes of the Hebrew prophets and replaces all the provisions for engaging with God that were laid upon ancient Israel. Such teachings can provide a solid biblical framework for understanding the church and it functions.

The Temple figured prominently in the worship of the infant church in Jerusalem. Even after the Ascension, the disciples were continually in the Temple praising God (Luke 24:51-53). Part of the practice of the Jerusalem church was daily attendance in the Temple (Acts 2:46). As Jesus had done during his ministry, the apostles continued to go to the Temple to teach the people (Acts 5:25). Paul wanted to be in Jerusalem for the day of Pentecost (Acts 20:16), and one of his first acts on reaching the city was to go to the Temple and undergo ritual purification (21:23-26). When Paul was arrested, he protested that he had not offended in any way against either the law or the Temple. The witness of Stephen indicates that the early church did have some awareness that the Temple was temporary (Acts 7:47-50). However, as long as the Temple remained, Jewish Christians in Jerusalem continued to worship there.

The early Jewish Christians' relationship to the synagogue was also strong. Paul's custom was to go to the synagogue (Acts 17:1-2). The book of Acts points out that he made the synagogue the starting point of his missionary work in various cities (e.g., Acts 13:5, 14; 14:1). The book of Acts also tells us that, even before Jews who were Christians were banned from the synagogues (circa C.E. 80), they had been holding their own gatherings in addition to Temple and synagogue meetings. The first disciples in Jerusalem met in the upper room for prayer (Acts 1:14; 4:31; 12:12). There was a definite separation from the synagogue at Ephesus (Acts 19:9). In some places believers met in houses (e.g., Philemon 2).

Acts also tell us of Christian practices that developed apart from the Temple and the synagogue. The first chapters of Acts tell us that the disciples gathered for prayer and for the breaking of bread (a community meal possibly including a celebration of the Lord's Supper). Acts 20:7 records a meeting on the first day of the week at which the disciples broke bread and Paul preached. It would be overly simplistic to argue that everything that was done in the earliest Christian community must be normative for us today. However, the examples of the Jerusalem church and a few other early congregations have been preserved for us and are instructive in principles of Christian worship for believers at all times.

The perspective offered by Paul's use of certain traditional worship terms (especially in Romans, 1 Corinthians and Philippians), is that expressions of faith in the saving work of Jesus Christ and ministries that encourage such faith are specifically the worship acceptable and pleasing to God in the gospel era. Paul's application of transformed worship terminology to the work of Christ, the preaching of the gospel, and the new life-orientation of believers, testifies to the understanding of a new kind of worship (e.g., Rom. 12:1-2; 1 Cor. 14:24-25; 2 Cor. 1:3-11).

For Paul, the purpose of the coming together of the believers is to participate in the edification of the church. Ministry can be seen as an aspect of the Christian's service of self-giving to God. Edification is really God's work in our midst, and ministry exercised for the building up of the body of Christ is a significant way of worshipping and glorifying God.

Even prayer and praise must be conducted in a way that edifies the congregation. Worship that results in only private, personal edification is not to be done when others are present in corporate worship. Those who attend worship services solely for the value the service may have on their own personal spiritual growth need to recover Paul's perspective. Even in the taking the Lord's Supper, Paul would have us minister to one another even as we have communion with God (1 Cor. 14:1-37). For Paul, what takes place vertically and horizontally in worship should not be separated.

Paul suggests that the reason for the gathering of the saints into corporate worship is that God is present in a distinctive way in the Christian meeting through his word and the operation of his Spirit (1 Cor. 14:24-25). In 1 Corinthians 12:4-13, Paul seems to suggest that when Christians meet together to minister to one another, there is a corporate, spiritual engagement with God, in the Holy Spirit, through his words.

Paul stresses the importance of the gathering of the local congregation by viewing it as the Temple ideal. The body of believers ("you" is plural) is said to be a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19-20), and the Temple is the local congregation (3:16-17). Paul seems to be saying that as the Spirit creates one body (1 Cor. 12:13), so he has formed one "Temple" at Corinth. Paul's use of the expression naos tou theou (temple of God) equates the Corinthian church to the divine sanctuary where God dwells. This imagery reflects the idea in the Hebrew Scriptures that God was specially present in the Temple (e.g., 1 Kings 8:10-13). For Paul, when the believers gather, they gather to meet their Lord in a special encounter and engagement.

The book of Hebrews contains one of the most developed theologies of worship in the New Testament. The author shows that many themes from the Hebrew Scriptures remain an essential foundation for Christian thinking. The author also shows us that these foundational themes from the Hebrew Scriptures must be reinterpreted in the light of their fulfillment in Christ. Our understanding of the person and work of Christ can be greatly enriched by viewing the central truths of the gospel in terms of how the imagery of the old covenant worship forms have been transformed. Hebrews teaches us that much of the old covenant imagery has been fulfilled in Christ, and that Israel's eschatological hope has been inaugurated.

As in the Hebrew Scriptures, the center of life and worship is the Sanctuary. However, under the new covenant, that sanctuary is the heavenly Jerusalem, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Christians are festival pilgrims, still on their way to that heavenly city, yet through Christ we already enjoy the fellowship of the festival in advance. What we now experience in our relationship with God and his people is only an anticipation of the ultimate reality that will come.

The author of Hebrews encourages us to assemble faithfully and to encourage one another to focus on the finished work of Christ. We should also remember one another's needs as we continue on our pilgrimage together — and the resources that are available from our heavenly high priest ensure our victory. Our eyes should be on that joyful hope of dwelling together with our Lord in the never-ending perfection of the "world to come."

The language of worship pervades the Book of Revelation (e.g., Rev. 4:10; 5:14; 7:11; 11:1, 16; 14:7; 15:4; 19:4, 10; 22:9). The worship term proskynein is used 24 times in this book, indicating the centrality of this theme to the author's message. Revelation's visions of the heavenly realm consistently portray the offering of adoration and praise to God and the Lamb. Revelation portrays this adoration and praise taking place in spite of political, social and economic consequences. A central message of the author appears to be that acceptable worship involves faithfully serving God even in the face of every conflicting loyalty.

Acts does not give us a complete picture of worship, but we do see the primitive church in a process of development that is instructive. The following examples were preserved for us:

devoted to the apostles' teachings

devoted to fellowship

devoted to the breaking of bread

devoted to the prayers (probably the Jewish hours of prayer)

daily time (probably at the Jewish hours of prayer)

together in the Temple (Solomon's Portico)

ate food with glad and generous hearts

praising God with goodwill of the people

the Lord added to the fellowship

We see here some elements of what occurred when the believers gathered:

• The gathering together (implied)

• teaching/preaching

• communal meal (including communion?)

• praise

• prayer

• fellowship

• addition of new believers

• dismissal (implied)

11:2 apostolic traditions maintained

    :4-5 men and women pray and prophesy

    :16 customs in Paul's churches

    :17-34instructions for celebration of Lord's Supper (as often as the congregation did it)

14:13-17 singing, giving thanks, saying "Amen"

    :26 a hymn, a lesson, a revelation (prophecy?)

                a tongue and interpretation (2-3 allowed)

   :29 prophets speak (2 or 3, and subject to the discernment of the congregation as to merit)

14:30 "free style," yet with order

    :34 women silent, not permitted "to speak" (the meaning in this context is not clear; cf. 14:28 and 11:5)

:40 everything in decency and in order; only that which is edifying

16:1-2 collection of money on Sunday

    :20-24possible remains of an early Christian liturgy – a the two-fold service of the Word and the Lord's Supper? (cf. Didache 10:6)

1:10 in the Spirit on the Lord's Day. John's vision of heavenly worship came to him at this time; in the early church this expression became a technical term for Sunday, the day of worship on which the believers observed the Eucharist (Didache 14; Ignatius Magnesians. 9:1; Gospel of Peter 9:35; 12:50).

4:1-2 call to come and to approach the throne of God (accompanied by sound and light)

   :8 singing; doxologies, praise toward God, the Father, Creator, and toward Jesus, the Lamb of God, Redeemer

                active participation by the worshippers

5:8 harps (musical instruments) and prayers

  :9 new song (to Jesus; cf. 5:11-14)

  :14 say "Amen"

prostration and worship (body movement)

In the report of Pliny, the Roman governor, to Emperor Trajan (circa C.E. 150)

Christians..."meet on a fixed day of the week before sunrise."

"sing a hymn to Christ as God."

"take an oath." (recite a creed? take the Lord's Supper?)

In the Didache (circa C.E. 100)

prayers for observance of Eucharist at Christian meetings on Sunday

In The First Apology by Justin Martyr (circa 150)

Christians gather Sunday mornings for worship

describes a two-part worship service of "the Word" and "the Lord's Supper":

"the Word" – Scripture readings, prayers by the believers, sermon/teaching

"the Lord's Supper" – kiss of peace, taking the bread and wine, response by the believers, saying of amen, collection taken up

The New Testament does not prescribe a format for corporate worship, but, with the aid of testimony regarding Christian practice found in the literature from the first half of the second century, we can draw some conclusions about the form and character of early Christian gatherings.

The content of early Christian worship focused on Jesus. The Christians gathered to celebrate his life, death, resurrection, ascension, and future return.

The structure of early Christian corporate worship seems to include: the gathering together of the believers, the ministry of the Word, the ministry of the Lord's Supper, and the dismissal or "sending forth" of the worshipping community. Within this structure we see aspects of the worship service such as prayers, music, singing, Scripture reading, teaching/preaching, fellowship, congregational participation, and use of spiritual gifts for praise and ministry.

The worship allowed for the whole person (body, mind and spirit) to participate. Body movements common to Temple and synagogue worship would have been carried over into Christian worship. These would include such things as: bowing (head and/or body), standing, kneeling, prostration, lifting up (the voice, the hands and/or the head) and dancing. Worship, as described in the New Testament, is not a single-dimensional exercise. It is not a cerebral pursuit, a mystical consciousness or an emotional binge. As Jack Hayford describes it, "Worship in the New Testament was full-spectrum" (1987, 131).

Paul gives an emotional call in Romans 12:1-2 to reflect on what has been seen and experienced of God's mercies (chapters 1-11) and therefore to bring a living sacrifice to God that is the presentation of the whole body in a reasonable/spiritual worship. This type of worship would awaken the human spirit (heart, will, core of being) with the realization of the presence of God and the opportunity for engagement with him. This leads to the conclusion that corporate worship services should provide an environment that facilitates this realization.

We also see that worship "customs" and "traditions" developed in various congregations as the early believers progressed through a developmental stage from worship at the Temple and the synagogue to the exclusively Christian gathering.

Our study of Scripture and the worshipping life of the early believers suggests a way for viewing acceptable Christian worship today. Worship should remain faithful to the principles of God's revelation and to the example of the early church. We may construct our corporate worship in such a way that we are anchored in the historic, orthodox, Christian faith while also allowing for the development of culturally necessary customs and traditions.

Our examination of Scripture has led to the conclusion that acceptable worship to God means approaching, meeting and engaging him on the terms that he proposes and in the manner that he makes possible. Although there are many terms in Scripture that describe worship in terms of gestures and rites, both the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament show us that worship primarily involves a relationship between the Creator and the created on a personal level.

In the Hebrew Scriptures God's self-revelation to ancient Israel was particularly associated with the Exodus/Sinai event, the Tabernacle and the Temple. These things represented God's presence and involvement in the lives of his people. The old covenant laws and rites were to sustain ancient Israel in a right relationship with God. Ancient Israel's failure to worship God in an acceptable way through the old covenant provisions led to their captivity and resulted in their failure to provide the blessing to the rest of humanity that had been intended (Gen. 12:3; Ex. 19:5-6).

The prophets predicted that the Temple would be restored and that ancient Israel's worship would be renewed "in the last days." In addition to the salvation of Israel, this would mean blessings on all the nations of the world who would be drawn to worship in this new Temple (Zech. 14:16). Acceptable worship can be seen as an important aspect of biblical eschatology (Peterson 1992, 284).

Christian reflection on these matters was focused through Jesus Christ. He was viewed as the fully and finally manifested presence of God among God's people (John 1:14). Jesus was the new Temple. In the Johannine writings he is viewed as the ultimate meeting point between heaven and earth. He is the place to which all people must come in the "new age" to worship. In Paul's writings the believers are the Temple (and the body of Christ) and it is to this "Temple" that all should come to worship.

Christ's death, as the ultimate sacrifice provided by God to bring his people into an everlasting relationship with him, is central to New Testament teaching. This central teaching came to be remembered and reinterpreted by the celebration of the Lord's Supper.

Though there are no holy places or holy times under the new covenant, several texts suggest that God is present in a distinctive way in the Christian meeting through his word and the operation of his Spirit. The Christian under the new covenant has access to the Father in worship. This is made possible by means of the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus, and the subsequent outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Through the ministry of the Son and the Spirit, the Father may be approached, met and engaged. The doctrine of the Trinity must lie at the heart of a truly Christian theology of worship (Peterson 1992, 285).

Paul seems to view the purpose of Christian gatherings in terms of edifying or building up the body of Christ. Christians gather to worship God, but, in so doing, also minister to one another as we teach and exhort and use the gifts of the Spirit to serve in the assembly. For Paul, edification should be our concern in every aspect of the worship gathering. In singing, praying or whatever is done, the Christian must draw on the resources of the risen Christ in order to take part in the building up of the body of Christ. All things must be done "in decency and in order."

John presents us with the view that the gathering church is an anticipation of the heavenly or eschatological assembly of God's people. He pictures the church as the community of saints that is characterized by worship in the form of prayer and praise directed toward God day and night, forever and ever. Participating in worship allows us to draw on the strength and courage that comes from the assurance of God's presence in our lives, even as God has always been present in the lives of his people. With this strength and courage we can live our everyday lives in expectation of God's intervention for the salvation of all those who are his.

As David Peterson puts it, "The gospel is the key to New Testament teaching about worship" (1992, 287). The gospel is the good news that God, in Jesus Christ, has granted the ultimate redemption for humanity. The New Testament writers teach us that Jesus has fulfilled and replaced the whole method of approaching God that was laid out in the old covenant.

The teaching and practice of the old covenant is not destroyed, but is transformed in the new covenant to the person and work of Jesus. The teachings and practices of the old covenant remain instructive for understanding the work of the Christ and how we can relate to God under the new covenant. Acceptable worship is available through Jesus Christ, our eternal high priest and sacrifice. Through Jesus we enter a worship that has been going on and will go on forever. By repeating Christian faith, words and actions, acceptable corporate worship deepens our understanding of ultimate realities (Underhill 1991, 121).

We have discussed the theology behind corporate worship. How is this to be applied in the church today? I believe that the worship service should be constructed in such a way that it facilitates the realization of the presence of God for the participants. Corporate worship should create an environment in which a community of the people of God can enter into a special relationship with their Creator.

Something should happen in corporate Christian worship. People should be able to encounter the Father through the ministry of the Son and the Holy Spirit and be transformed by that encounter. For something to happen, for the worshiper to enter into the ultimate reality, an effective worship service must take place.

We have discussed the elements of biblical corporate worship. We have been instructed by the worship elements of the Temple and the synagogue. We have also seen glimpses of Christian worship in the New Testament and in second-century Christian literature. We have concluded that corporate Christian worship should be anchored in the historic, orthodox, Christian faith while allowing for the development of culturally necessary customs and traditions. How may these elements be put together to achieve effective worship?

By the second century, the following pattern of Christian worship had emerged:

1. the assembly of the people,
2. the service of the word,
3. the service of the table,
4. the dismissal or sending forth.

Within this framework, there are prayers, music, Scripture readings, congregational responses, testimonials, greetings, announcements, reciting of creeds and sermons.

The key to producing an effective corporate worship environment lies in the structuring of the elements of the service so there is a steady procession toward the special encounter with God. After the worshippers have encountered God and been changed by it, they should be sent forth, prepared to do God's will.

The corporate Christian worship service is often compared to drama (e.g., Kierkegaard, Purity of Heart Is to Will One Thing, 160-166; Webber 1994, 80-82). According to The New Westminster Dictionary of Liturgy and Worship, "The roots of theater are in religious ritual" (ed. Davies 1986, 214). Corporate worship can have all the external elements of drama (i.e., a script, a director, players, sound, action and the use of space). As we have looked at the biblical and historic elements of Christian worship, we have seen what could be called an overture, the first, second and third acts — building to a climax that is followed by a denouement.

It is important that corporate worship be seen as the dramatic action of the congregation. This viewpoint avoids the false performer-audience dichotomy. In corporate worship, everyone is part of the play, and the audience is God. Every worshipper has a role to play, and all that is done is directed toward God. The attitude of the worshipper should be to give to God, not to get something for the self (though that will happen in authentic worship).

The pivotal persons are the worship leaders. If they do not have a sense of the dramatic and do not understand the play (the dramatic flow and the enacting of the Christ event), there is not much chance the worshippers can fulfill their roles. It is imperative that worship leaders understand the meaning of the elements, the flow, the words, sounds and actions that make up the drama. They must direct worship in such a way that the actions and sounds complement the words. To accomplish this, they must understand the meaning of every part of the drama.

Worship leaders must also understand that worship contains all the internal elements of drama. It has flow (tempo) and emotions, and it involves the senses. When the flow is interrupted, the entire drama/service is affected. Few things destroy the flow of the worship service more than the interruption of announcements and the idle chatter of worship leaders. Announcements are best left to a printed bulletin, or given before or after the worship service.

The worship leader should use effective, worshipful segues between the components of the worship service (as opposed to comments such as, "Now let's stand up and stretch our legs and get the blood flowing by singing a hymn," or "I don't think we know this song very well but let's sing out anyway," or "I put this hymn in because I like it," or the austere, "Now let's turn to page 47 in the hymnbook and sing"). Announcing every hymn and making remarks throughout the service interrupts the flow and reduces the sense of worship in the presence of God and the sense of enacting the drama of the gospel.

Careful attention must also be given to emotion in worship. It is important that an environment be created where people feel free to express appropriate emotion. The drama of worship calls for joy and excitement as well as quietness, sobriety and even sorrow. Encountering and engaging God and reenacting the Christ event are, and should be, powerful emotional experiences. Because some people go to extremes does not mean that the rest should react with their own extreme of emotional sterility.

The senses must also receive due attention. In worship, as in drama, we see, hear, feel, smell and taste. These senses are God-given for our edification and enjoyment. If what we see, hear, feel, smell and taste in worship is unpleasant, then the attempt at worship will be disturbing and less than effective. Attention must be paid to the physical environment of worship because we are sensory beings.

All the elements of the worship service must be assembled properly to give worship a sense of movement and a dynamic quality. Since everyone in the congregation is involved in the service, it is important that all the participants know their parts. In order to have all participate, all must understand the meaning of what is being done and be able to participate purposefully. This requires that the worshippers be taught the meaning and purpose of worship, and why the service is structured the way it is. Pastors and teachers must educate those in their congregations about worship. This education will lead to authentic, effective worship in our churches. By participating in authentic, effective worship, people in our congregations will be nourished and encouraged in their faith by encountering and engaging the great God in a loving and transformational relationship.

Suggested Liturgy: A Basic Pattern

Suggested Liturgy for Communion/the Lord's Supper

Bibliography