As an example of the ideas presented in the last several posts, here is a breakdown of the worship service at my church from today.

Movement 1: Gather
        Happy Day (Tim Hughes)
        Everyday (Joel Houston)
        Love the Lord (Lincoln Brewster)
In this particular service we are afforded quite a bit of time for music, so we are able to develop the theme significantly through music in the Gathering section.  Today we used “Happy Day” to recall and celebrate our baptism, by which we are united into Christ’s death and resurrection: “The greatest day in history/death is beaten you have rescued me/Sing it out/Jesus is alive/…/O happy day/You washed my sin away/Forever I am changed.”  We didn’t do this today, but during this song we could have invited folks to come forward, dip their fingers into the baptismal font and make the sign of the cross on their forehead (or one another’s foreheads), saying “I am (You are) a baptized child of God.”  Another method is for a pastor or member to walk around and “spritz” the congregation with a branch dipped in water.  Good times.

During the years leading up to the turn of the century, a revival of worship music that began largely overseas – particularly in England and Australia – made its way to American shores.  Worship music was infused with a new level of passion.  But the best had yet to come.  In the decade-plus that followed, the music became more innovative and the gradually the lyrics were written with a higher degree of theological reflection.  Here are some of the best albums – especially featuring songs for corporate worship – that have come out since 2000.

From the earliest liturgies of the Christian church, the celebration of Holy Communion has been the pinnacle of worship.  It is, according to my tradition, the second pillar that makes our worship truly Christian (“Word and Sacrament”). An important concern is whether this ritual, repeated every week, becomes stale and meaningless.  But this is not cause to abandon it altogether.  Instead, as with the earlier part of the liturgy, it is important to examine the intention behind the ritual and see what might be important for us to adapt today.  

This is part III of a series about worship order and liturgy, so it will probably make most sense if you’ve read part I and part II first. 

This post will focus on the part of worship that comes right after the sermon or message.  Traditional liturgies include several gifts in this section that allow us to respond to hearing God’s Word.  These are often left out of simplified modern worship orders. 

1) The Hymn (or Song) of the Day.  This is a song chosen for that day’s worship specifically to work alongside the sermon or message.  It allows the assembly to respond corporately to the Word of God that they have just heard proclaimed, and even allows them to participate in its proclamation.  Ideally the assembly is invited to stand and sing, without having to do anything else (dig in purses/wallet for an offering, etc) simultaneously.  Hopefully the song is chosen in partnership with the preacher, to ensure that it adequately captures the theme of the sermon and/or an appropriate response.

This is part II of a two-part post. Read part I here.

In examining traditional liturgy, I have tried to detect the intention behind each part – that is, how does this particular piece of the liturgy move worship forward?  What does it communicate? What purpose does it serve, that we might be able to apply even to the most simplified of modern formats?

Exploring the historic liturgies of several denominations, I began to notice a collection of common themes.  I have distilled them here in their most typical order, presented as seven “movements” (a very convenient number!).  The elements of a traditional liturgy are in italics under each movement (for a brief explanation of each traditional liturgical element, see this document).

Among mainline denominational churches that are using contemporary music, there have been two main approaches: (1) incorporate some of the new music into an otherwise traditional liturgical form, or (2) follow the example of non-denominational churches and abandon almost all liturgical form, reducing the worship service to a “music-and-a-message” model.  In reality most churches fall somewhere between these two poles.  But many churches seem unsure of exactly what they should be doing.  How should we order our worship?

If you've ever...

• felt like the worship at your church was floating in space, lacking direction and movement;
• wondered how to make contemporary worship more "Lutheran" (or more theologically sound, whatever your tradition);
• wondered how to find good new worship songs appropriate for your congregation;
• struggled to find a good modern/contemporary worship song to fit a certain theme or service element;
  

than this website is for you. 

Here you will find several resources that I pray you will find helpful:

1. Blog: Over the next weeks and months I will be sharing a practical theology of contemporary worship, proposing an order of worship that uses the treasures of our liturgical heritage to ground our worship in biblical faithfulness.  We will explore options for planning and arranging a service, how to evaluate and choose songs for corporate worship, and perhaps talk about arranging songs and leading a worship band.
2. Song Lists: At the request of pastors and worship leaders, I have compiled song lists arranged by composer, title, theme, and service element.  Each song has been evaluated theologically according to criteria I will soon present in this space. Intended to be used like the sections or indexes of a hymnal, my hope is that these lists will introduce you and your congregation to songs that will become new favorites.  Though they include a variety of styles, the lists focus heavily on music that has come out in the last 15 or so years, or since the start of what has been called the "modern worship" movement.
3. Resources: A quick list of useful tools for worship planning, as well as links to other articles and discussions happening around the internet. 
4. Reviews: Mixed in with blog posts will be some reviews of current worship albums and trends that demand our attention.

This site/blog is also an experiment.  One of my goals is to see whether the information presented here would make  a useful print resource to be published and made widely available.  Posts on this blog may eventually look like chapters of a book, with a few album reviews mixed in.

You are invited to participate!  This is not intended to be a monologue.  I hope the thoughts I share cause you to reflect and respond based on your own experience.  This is a vitally important discussion for the church as our worship is continually evaluated and renewed.  Thanks for joining me!