Eight Significant Changes in Worship From: C. Peter Wagner, The New Apostolic Churches, Regal Books, 1998

Within the Larger Context of “Organic/Process Leadership” (Bob Dale) From  To Lines  Circles Answers  Questions Fixed Rules  Flexible Relationships Levers  Links “By the Book”  “Go with the flow” Science  Art Skills  Craft

Plugged-In Worship Plugged into 3 important power sources: The Holy Spirit Contemporary culture The sound system

MissionWorship

Worship as a Means of the Church’s Mission “Mission-first” churches want to grow and are willing to pay the price for growth Intentional outreach focus on 4 main tasks : expanding the local church planting new churches mercy ministries in surrounding communities cross-cultural missions

Timeless Message... Updated Methodology Attitude: “If God has given us a job to do, let’s do it!” Attitude: “If a methodology doesn’t work, let’s scrap it!” Attitude: “God’s ways of doing God’s work are different among different groups of God’s people.”

From  To Classical Performance Hymns Pipe organ Cerebral Awe of God Liturgy Meditation Contextual Participation Songs Percussion Celebration Intimacy with God Liberty Mission

Classical  Contextual From historical to (post)modern expressions of faith Check the dates of the music from last Sunday -- anything written since 1990? Personal musical tastes discounted for mission

Performance  Participation Premium not on music leader’s technical proficiency as much as ability to lead people into the presence of God Effectiveness not measured by leader’s voice or playing but by congregation’s involvement

Hymns  Songs “ … with gratitude in your hearts, sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.” Colossians 3:17 Learning to include all 3 Weighted toward what type most helps people connect with God

Pipe organ  Percussion < 2% of all music sold in U.S. is organ music On other hand, top 40, country, rock drum driven, guitar oriented Without a certain volume and beat, the generation born since 1945 does not connect musically

Cerebral  Celebration Enlightenment premium on rational to postmodern premium on experiential More accessible to the young Thinking  Feeling “The Experience Economy” From “astronomer” to “astronaut”

Awe of God  Intimacy w/God From God as “president” to God as “dear friend” From least expressive to most expressive From withdrawal to intense encounter

Liturgy  Liberty From comfort in stability and sameness to comfort in flexibility and versatility Caveat: even liberty expressions can become “ritual/liturgy”

Meditation  Mission From emphasis on reflection to emphasis on action Worship not completed inside of sanctuary Worship as equipping for mission

Questions for Evaluation Which elements of worship are (not) helping people connect in a profound experience with God? How is worship at our church equipping people to carry out God’s mission for our church?

From  To Classical Performance Hymns Pipe organ Cerebral Awe of God Liturgy Meditation Contextual Participation Songs Percussion Celebration Intimacy with God Liberty Mission

Eight Significant Changes in Worship Dr. John P. Chandler Copyright John P. Chandler, 2001