Ecclesiology

Defining the Task of a Theology of Worship

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The following article underscores how the theology of worship has been neglected by many Christians and challenges believers to find new hope and power in the vision of Christus Victor.

The topic of worship is not only timely, it is urgent. There is a widespread sense among Christians in North America that all is not well with the church, that we need a new sense of direction, a new dynamism.

In particular, we need something that will capture the imagination and enthusiasm of young adults. The institutional loyalty that many older Christians grew up with is no longer evident among young people. Many of them are walking away from the church, not necessarily because they are hostile to religion, not because they object to the teachings or standards of the church, but because they just don’t sense any particular value in participating in the Christian community. They see it as an option for those who want it, but certainly not a necessity for their own lives. There is a growing sense that we need a revitalization of church life, something to convey the excitement that being a Christian involves. What we need is a new understanding of worship.

Worship and Ecclesiology

Our need for a theology of worship is part of a much larger need for a doctrine of the church.

Ecclesiology, as the doctrine is sometimes called, is the most underdeveloped aspect of Protestant thought. Protestant evangelicals have had a lot to say about the doctrine of human beings and the person and work of Christ, as well as the doctrine of revelation, which has received considerable attention through numerous discussions about biblical inspiration. So, when you look through the standard list of Christian doctrines to see what Protestants have been interested in, the work done in the area of ecclesiology is remarkably thin.

Even as part of a doctrine of the church, a full-fledged theology of worship itself is no small undertaking. It would have to include a theology of preaching, a theology of prayer, and sacramental theology as well.

Besides a theology of worship, with all it entails, a comprehensive doctrine of the church must also include a theology of ministry. The controversy over women’s ordination shows how much thinking we still have to do about this important topic. And perhaps most important of all, we need a theology of the Spirit. According to the New Testament, the church is the community of the Spirit, life in Christ is life in the Spirit, and worship is impossible without the presence of the Spirit.

Several factors seem to mitigate a Protestant evangelical theology of worship. One might be our preoccupation with the mission of the church. This tends to make our times together occasions for planning, for organization, for motivational speeches, but not for devotional or celebration. Similarly, if we are preoccupied with the teachings of the church, then our times together will become occasions for indoctrination.

Of course, the church has a mission and the church has a message, and both deserve all the attention we can give them. But there is more to the Christian life than these things. In worship, the church—the community of the Spirit—brings to vivid expression its entire experience of salvation in Jesus Christ, with adoration, devotion, and celebration.

Worship and Theology

A second point concerns the connection between worship and theology. We need to recognize both as important activities in the Christian community. If worship is the heart’s love for God, theology is the mind’s love for God; both are responses to God.

In addition, there is a reciprocal relation between theology and worship. Our worship affects our theology, and our theology affects our worship. On the one hand, theology has its roots in worship. It rises out of our experience with God. As one thinker puts it, “Theology has its basis in the experience of prayer.” (Heinrich Ott, God [Richmond: John Knox, 1974], 95.) So, theology is one of the forms worship takes.

There is an ancient tradition of what we might call “worshipful reflection” or perhaps “theological worship.” I am referring, of course, to the venerable idea of faith seeking understanding. For Anselm, the great medieval theologian, adoration found expression in careful thinking. “I do not seek to understand that I may believe,” he said, “but I believe in order to understand.… So Lord, who dost give understanding to faith, give me … to understand that thou art as we believe.” (Saint Anselm: Basic Writings, trans. S. N. Deane [LaSalle, Ill.: Open Court, 1966], 7.)

The relation moves in the other direction, too: theology can have an important effect on worship. What we come to believe about God and his relation to us cannot fail to affect the way we respond. Unfortunately, there are ways of looking at God that make it impossible for people to worship. And people who have different views of God will have different worship experiences. Those who are preoccupied with what God expects of them and those who are preoccupied with what God has done for them will have worship experiences that are radically different. Good theology and good worship go hand in hand. You can’t ever have one without the other.

Worship and Our Particular Theologies

It is one thing to assert that our worship should reflect our theology, but just how our theology should shape our worship experience is not easy to say. A series of sermons on distinctive denominational themes, for example, is no guarantee that the worship experience of the congregation will be somehow distinct.

In response, some may feel that particular denominations should not strive to be unique in their worship. Worship, they say, is one place in church life where we can reach beyond denominational boundaries and affirm solidarity with other branches in the body of Christ. But to achieve any significant theology of worship, however, we need to do more than emphasize particular denominational doctrines. We need to achieve a fundamental transformation in our perspective on the Christian life. We need something like a revolution, a paradigm shift, a new model or metaphor for what it means to be a Christian. If theology as such is truly significant, it will have more than ideas and practices to offer the world. It will have a powerful vision of what Christianity means. And this will have an inevitable effect on the central experience of worship.

Let me conclude with one possibility for theology-to-worship transformation. This is the familiar theme of Christus Victor, the idea that the entire universe is engulfed in a conflict whose central acts unfold in the history of God’s people. I first sensed the potential of Christus Victor for worship several years ago when I heard a lecture on the work of Christ as a dramatic victory over the great powers that oppose and enslave human lives—the powers of sin, death, and the devil. It occurred to me that this was a viewpoint the whole church could embrace with enthusiasm.

Consider the exciting possibilities such a vision opens up—the motifs of liberation, celebration, joy, and peace, for example. Think of the tension and drama that such a vision of human history conveys. Here is an idea with real power to transform worship. To a great extent, we have left that comprehensive, overarching theme on the theological shelf. The time has come to bring it into the arena of concrete life where personal commitments and values are shaped. The time has come to infuse our worship with the exciting perspectives the Christus Victor message contains.

In the Christus Victor theme lies an ecclesiology—the church as the people of Christ’s victory over the powers; a theology to free the mind to worship as it reflects on the implication of such a vision; a theology for worship that affirms worship as a celebration of the historic dethronement of the powers; an eschatological vision of the world freed from the powers; and a present awareness of God’s power at work in worship to free the worshiper and ultimately all creation from the domain of the powers. In this task lies the promise of a theology of worship.

Puritan Worship in the Post-Reformation Period

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A number of Protestant churches trace their descent from the Puritan heritage. In their worship, these groups share a commitment to a common principle: worship must be ordered according to the Word of God alone. Puritan worship is also characterized by covenant theology and an emphasis on prayer.

The American Puritans provide a seemingly inexhaustible mine from which historians continue to quarry their writings. Any attempt, therefore, to provide an overview of Puritan thought and practice in so short a space will be found wanting. Our emphasis, then, will be to highlight a few themes which characterize the Puritan outlook, and which are played out in their corporate worship activities.

The reasons for the establishment of the Church of England under Henry VIII were more political and personal than theological. The Thirty-Nine Articles, which form the stated doctrinal confession of the Church of England, were drawn up by Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1532–1553. Puritans affirmed the Reformed content of the Articles, but they did not tolerate the way in which the English faith was practiced in the churches.

To the Puritans, the English Reformers had not gone far enough. The Puritans sought to reform the Reformation, or, more specifically, to carry the Reformation further, to fully purify the church of what they regarded as the malignant influence of Roman Catholic tradition. The English Puritans were a varied group, rather than a well-defined religious bloc. An entire spectrum of Puritan attitudes has been noted, ranging from those with moderate reforming intentions, who desired to remain within the Church of England, to those of more radical bent who separated themselves from what they perceived to be dead orthodoxy (at best) or, in some cases, apostasy. The label “Puritan” was originally applied derisively, mocking the scrupulous attitude of these reformers. The Puritans, as the epithet implies, sought a pure church, free from either secular or “popish” influence, beholden only to the Scriptures.

Some American Puritans, known to us as the Pilgrims, are of the latter variety—the separatists. Others retained official ties to the English church but were no less zealous in their desire for change. Sincere and pious, the American Puritans came to the colonies to worship God apart from the forced constraints of the established hierarchy. Their hard-line Calvinism would not allow them to accept and work within the more broadly conceived English system. Areas of concern that directly affected liturgical practice include:

Sola Scriptura. Understanding this Reformation tenet in its most literal fashion, the Puritans sought to use the Bible as their only source and guide in both worship and daily life. For them, the thorough study and application of the Scriptures was the cornerstone of life. In Puritan worship we can see this belief exhibited in the extended portions of the Bible read aloud at each service, interspersed with illuminating commentary from a deacon, and in lengthy sermons which were the focus of the Puritan liturgy.

Further, the influence of Scripture on the liturgical practices of the Puritans is evident in their rejection of the “popish” and human traditions remaining in Anglican practice. The drab garb of everyday life befits the minister rather than ornate vestments; metrical psalms sung by the congregation replaced chanting. Puritan worship stressed both head and heart knowledge of the Word: truth imparted in worship was lived out in daily life. Congregants took copious notes on the sermon, and the head of the household frequently quizzed his children and servants to ascertain their attentiveness to the sermon—their spiritual well-being was his responsibility.

Covenant Theology. The doctrine of election, as developed by Calvin, states that God elects persons through no merit, work, or choice on their part, and covenants with them to be their God. While the Thirty-Nine Articles affirmed this understanding the English church of the seventeenth century did not uphold it in practice. Similar to the children of Israel in the Old Testament, with whom many parallels were made, the Puritans viewed themselves as a holy people, set apart by and for God: a people for his name. This covenant is evidenced in two directions: between God and man, both individually and corporately, in God’s redemptive and providential action; and among the individual members of the covenant community, in their mutual commitment to one another.

Ecclesiology. The church is comprised of those persons who have been elected by God to the covenant community. The question then arises: How can one determine who has, and who has not, been elected? First, an individual must have had a definite conversion experience—a work of saving grace—which imparts a confirming knowledge of one’s salvation. Second, the veracity of this new life in an individual is confirmed through the witness of the community through observation of an individual’s life. One cannot be saved by good works or pious acts, but such evidence will surely follow in the life of one who is truly of the elect.

In worship, this aspect of covenant theology became most apparent in the administration of the sacraments, baptism, and the Lord’s Supper. The word “sacrament” itself, although employed by the Puritans, is problematic. No divine grace is mediated in the sacraments, but rather they are “seals” of the Lord’s covenant. They are the marks whereby God identifies his covenant with his people through visible, tangible means.

Baptism. The Puritans practiced infant baptism. Although not believing that any grace was mediated through this activity, they recognized that baptism denotes the parents’ membership in the community and their commitment to nurturing the child in the ways of God. Important as well is the trust that God has also predestined these infants to eternal election. Baptism, then, is both a sign of commitment and a step of faith on the part of the parents regarding the future of the child. In order for the child to become a fully participating member of the community in adulthood, evidence of election would have to be demonstrated as he or she matured.

The Lord’s Supper. Limited only to members of the covenant community, the Lord’s Supper provides the means of continuing identification with that community. Before the Sunday on which the sacrament was observed, members had to examine themselves, make amends for any wrongs, make apologies for offenses, and ask forgiveness for any sins. Both the bread and the cup were given to eligible communicants, served first by the minister to the deacons, then by the deacons to the members.

Prayer. One last aspect of worship which must be noted is that of prayer. Prayers often continued for lengthy periods of time, even hours, with the congregation standing. While spoken by the minister, the prayers should be considered an aspect of worship in which the congregation actively participated. Although we have no record of any audible response given by the congregation to the prayers, their participation came through the substance of the prayers: in them, the needs and burdens of the people were lifted to God. Prior to the service prayer requests were given to the minister who, presumably, elaborated according to his knowledge of the persons or situations involved.

We must not harbor the impression of Puritan worship as a dry, staid affair. Sober attitudes, lengthy, content-oriented sermons, and extended prayers, while incongruous in our fast-paced twentieth-century world, provided a means of touching and reaching the religious needs of the people of the early seventeenth century. Indeed, the Puritan vision did sustain serious blows in the last half of the century; these developments are beyond our discussion here. Yet, for a few brief, shining decades, the Puritans began to realize their dream of establishing a truly Christian community on earth. Their legacy has left an indelible mark on American worship and religious life in the centuries since.