Christian Piatt includes worship on his list of five things that are holding Christianity back. He suggests that we have “gotten off track” in several ways, including the tendency to continue to see worship as a primary entry point into a faith community.
Reality Check
In my experience, the first way folks prefer to encounter a local community of faith varies widely. While no one factor can adequately serve as an across the board filter, age is perhaps the best option. Overall, those over age 70 still look to worship as a primary entry point, those under 40 tend to focus on other connections, and those in the ages between are more varied in their approach to an initial experience.
What About?
Corporate worship is the central focus of many Christian churches. The worship service itself often looks and feels just like it did 30 or 50 or even more years ago. While in some cases the adoption of technology (microphones, projectors, and the like) has changed the feel, in far fewer cases has it changed or contributed to a change in the liturgy. In an age when everything is instantaneous, waiting 7 days to worship may seem outdated to some. Piatt rightly notes that the type of connection that was often only experienced on Sunday mornings can now be experienced in other ways and at other times, and that most ideas regarding worship include far less formal events than happens in those services of worship. Rather than presuming that the worship services most of my readers grew up with are no longer valid, I instead suggest that we must now be more intentional in understanding, communicating, and fulfilling the role they play in an early twenty-first century world. Additionally, churches must be mindful of the general shift toward a more egalitarian and less hierarchical church.
So What?
The role of worship in the life of any community of faith is a topic worthy of considerable discussion. While worship is changing, the changes may not be radical enough to be deemed relevant. According to some of the latest substantive research, recent changes include time, style and language.
- What percentage of newcomers in your local community of faith do you think choose a corporate worship service as their first experience? How widely do you think the answer to that question varies when age is considered?
- Is your congregation’s worship more egalitarian and less hierarchical than it was 10-20 years ago? during that time period have there been changes in times services are offered, style utilized, and language spoken and sung?
- If you were searching for a new faith community with which to connect, where would you begin?