Some Thoughts About Worship:

Straight AheadI believe it is very important to preserve our heritage of Christian hymnody and worship that is part of mainline Christianity. That does not mean that I oppose any and all forms of contemporary worship; and I know that it is important to be open to new forms of instrumentation and musical expression. If however we do not preserve the heritage of Christian hymns that have come down to us during the last several centuries, we make our theology less accessible to future generations and we lose much of our history. Someone in a worship discussion group I moderate on Ecunet has asked the question, though, of how to train new Christians and those who are returning to church after years of absence in the worship practices that many of us cherish. Some Christians have turned almost entirely to contemporary worship, seeing the old forms and patterns as irrelevant. Other Christians who did not have the advantage of growing up in church know nothing of the old and cherished ways. So how do we keep traditional worship alive while, at the same time, perhaps blending in some of the best of the newer styles of music and expression? Marva Dawn addresses this in some of her writing. The best way I know to inform and introduce people to traditional worship is simply to educate them. We have to make sure that people understand why we do the things we do in worship. We have to make sure that people realize that there are theological reasons for the forms we use in worship, for the words we use, for the hymns we sing, and even for the style of music we employ for these purposes. We do not carry out certain worship practices merely because of cultural norms or personal preference. Our worship must be grounded in biblical principles and solid theology. It should be an exciting challenge in the years ahead to introduce new generations to traditional worship. For many of us as well as for new or returning Christians, it can be a time when the old becomes new--all over again.