1. And So? Reflecting on the Upsides and Downsides
of Contemporary Worship
in Light of 2,000 Years
of Christian Worship

2. Upsides and Downsides Of Contemporary Worship
What do you think? What would you list?

3. Upsides Of Contemporary Worship
Language, it did need to change
Immediacy of the music and accessibility of the services have brought about many new Christians.
Reinvigorated congregational singing
Re-established praise as a central liturgical act
Global connections

4. Downsides Of Contemporary Worship
Worship=music
Worship=mood
Privatization of worship (solo listening; concert lighting and sound management)
Taken away congregational singing
Diminished prayer diet
Diminished scriptural diet/diet of salvation history
Marginalization of pastor as worship leader
Reinforced hyper Christo-centrism (Patrisuperfluidity and Pneumasuperfluidity)
Commercial industries not considering what is good for the church
Loss of patience as a desirable virtue in worshipers

5. “Reports of its death have been greatly exaggerated.”
But that doesn’t stop bloggers and commentators from reporting on contemporary worship’s demise.
What bloggers and commentators overlook:
No support from actual statistical or sociological studies
It’s not just—and never has been—just about the music.
No one’s reversing the language shift and the multiple changes that shift has brought about.
Massive investments in technology and architecture.
The multiple industries—not just commercial music—that stand behind the phenomenon.
The shift overall in Pentecostal worship and non-United States forms of worship.