Question

What is the origin and purpose of gathered worship for Christians? Comment on the biblical foundations for the practice and evaluate the way your denomination and local church conduct weekly meetings for community prayer and praise.

Abstract

Why do Christians gather together to worship? This essay explores the ontological, historical and eschatological origins of gathered worship, noting that it is necessary to look both forwards and backwards in time to properly understand ‘origins’. The ontological origins are found in the action of the Trinity: God acts and men and women respond in worship. Old Testament Israel, the Jewish synagogue, and pagan religion provide the historical origins of the Christian gathering, although the earliest Christians did not adopt all of the teachings or practices they were heirs to. The assembly is also an eschatological foreshadowing of the heavenly assembly, which may be considered an ‘origin’. The purposes of gathering for worship may be considered in terms of relationships: Christians relate ‘up’ to God, offering him praise and receiving his ministration; they relate ‘around’ to one another, serving and edifying the other members of the church; and they relate ‘out’ to society at large, maintaining their distinctiveness as God’s people and holding out and proclaiming the gospel. Finally, in light of this understanding of purpose, the practice of the Sydney Anglican Church is evaluated, including its specific expression at St John’s, Sutherland.

Essay

‘Origins’ are complex things. To understand the ‘origins’ of something, one must consider both its historical antecedents and the historical context in which it originates. When the subject is Christian gathered worship, typological and teleological relationships must also be investigated. Most important, however, are the ontological foundations of corporate worship, and to discover these one looks not for an ‘origin’ but an ‘originator’.

Scripture is clear that Christian worship is always a response to the revelation and action of the triune God. It is God who makes himself known to Moses, then redeems a people out of Egypt to worship him (Exod 3:12),¹ culminating in the first gathering for worship at Sinai (Exod 19-24). It is through Christ that this redemption is extended to all people in all places and at all times (Titus 2:14),² and it is on the basis of this mercy that Christians are able to present themselves as living sacrifices in spiritual worship (Rom 12:1-2). The Spirit joins them to Christ, that they may together be one body (1 Cor 12:13).³ As one author puts it, the vision of God and his work in Christ is the fuel, the quickening of the Spirit the flame, renewed spirit the furnace and worship the resultant heat.⁴ The foundation of all Christian worship, including gathered worship, is forever anchored in the nature and work of the Trinity.⁵ God acts and people respond.

This pattern of God acting and his people responding may be traced throughout the historical antecedents of the Christian gathering. Primarily, these are Jewish in nature and recorded for us in the Old Testament, although both post-exilic synagogue worship and pagan worship were also influential.

The cardinal event in Jewish salvation history is the Exodus, and the primary expression of worship is the Passover which celebrates this event.⁶ The Passover was a memorial for Israel’s benefit, to remind them of God’s redemptive actions, rather than an offering to the God who redeemed them.⁷ The Jewish Seder is ordered to recount the events of the Exodus, as well as to instruct in the meaning of the symbolic foods and gestures of the Passover.⁸ The Passover is reflected in the New Testament in the Lord’s Supper, or Eucharist. The relationship is not one of absolute continuity, for the Passover came to an end with its final celebration by Jesus.⁹ Nevertheless the purpose of the Lord’s Supper, as with the Passover, is remembrance (Luke 22:19; 1 Cor 11:24, 25). Jesus took the symbols of the Passover, the bread¹⁰ and the cup¹¹ and reinterpreted them as pointers to his imminent death. The Passover commemorated the Exodus; the Lord’s Supper proclaims the second Exodus, Christ leading his people out of their bondage to sin.¹² Thus, Christians redeem the Passover by interpreting it christologically.
Having led the people out of Egypt, God assembles Israel for the first time at the foot of Mount Sinai. He then sets out the terms of the Mosaic covenant, which were to be foundational to the life and worship of Israel from that point forward (Exod 19-24). Whilst God initiated a relationship with Abraham and the patriarchs, it is this covenant which defined the identity of God’s people.¹³ Several points may be noted. Firstly, Israel gathers in the presence of God. This is of tremendous significance, for God had previously revealed himself only to individuals such as the patriarchs. Now, however, the revelation is to an entire nation, thenceforth to be known exclusively as his. Indeed, the key symbols of Old Testament worship – the ark, tabernacle and temple – seem ‘designed to be a means of acknowledging and living in relation to God’s holy presence.’¹⁴ This presents a problem, however, for how can a sinful people remain in the presence of a holy God? Our second point, then, is that the presence of God necessitates a mediator. Israel tried to secure this mediation in the form of the Golden Calf (Exod 32) but God appointed Moses instead.¹⁵ This leads directly to our third point, that worship is always and only on God’s terms. Only Moses was permitted to meet God on the mountain; the penalty for anyone else setting foot there was death (Exod 19:12-13).¹⁶ Christians, however, are urged to draw near to God (e.g. Jas 4:8). The difference is that they do so on the basis of ‘a better hope’ (Heb 7:19)¹⁷ for God has appointed a better mediator, Jesus Christ (Heb 8:6). ¹⁸

Certain aspects of Jewish worship were emphatically rejected by the earliest Christians. The most significant of these is the sacrificial cultus, which Christians understand to have been fulfilled in Christ. Although sacrificial language is used regularly in the NT, it is clear that the usage is purely metaphorical.¹⁹ Similarly, whilst the first Christians continued to frequent the Temple until its destruction in 70 C.E.²⁰ this appears to have been based on convenience, or perhaps habit, rather than theological conviction. Peter and Paul locate the temple in the community of God’s people,²¹ and the writer to the Hebrews in the heavenly realm.²²

Christian gathered worship also owes much to the tradition of the synagogue. The synagogue was quite distinct from the Temple, being a meeting house for the people of God rather than a house for God himself.²³ The activities of the synagogue included an affirmation of faith,²⁴ prayer, and the public reading of the Scriptures.²⁵ The synagogue thanksgiving blessings, the berakoth, together with Jesus’ prayers and those of the earliest eucharistic liturgies strongly influenced Christian communion prayers.²⁶ Whilst Palestinian synagogues were ‘severely didactic’, those of the diaspora were more likely to incorporate celebration in song.²⁷ Each of these elements – creeds, prayers, Scriptures and blessings – appear in the earliest records of Christian worship.²⁸ Indeed, as Webber concludes,

The practices of the synagogue served as the matrix out of which the early Christian’s experience of worship was initially formed.²⁹

Not all of the influences on early Christian worship were Jewish. Along with the evolution³⁰ of the Gentile Christian came numerous pagan teachings and practices. Some were adopted by the church, such as the use of art as objects of worship³¹ and the singing of hymns.³² Indeed the very word translated ‘liturgy’³³ is a pagan one, denoting the public service offered by a citizen.³⁴ For the most part, though, Christianity stood in sharp contrast to pagan religions, remaining strictly monotheistic (if binitarian)³⁵ and resisting the demands of the imperial cult, Gnosticism³⁶ and other mystery religions,³⁷ and particularly the practice of temple feasts.³⁸

In summary, then, the earliest Christians appear to have adopted a three-fold approach to their historical antecedents and contemporaries. Some things were accepted, like assembling together in the presence of God, and gathering for the public reading of Scripture. Some things were rejected, such as the sacrificial cultus and physical temple. Finally, some things were redeemed or renewed, often by means of typological interpretation, such as the Passover.

Thus, the practice of Christians meeting for worship is instituted by the trinitarian God. Historical precedents may be traced to the practices of OT Israel, the Jewish synagogue and the pagan temple. However not all originals are temporally prior to their derivatives. The aroma is not the origin of the bread, though it may well be the first experienced. The eschatological origins of gathered worship must also be considered.
Christian gathered worship is intended to be a type of the worship of heaven.³⁹ The Revelation of John gives insight into that heavenly reality, and Christians gather together to seek its actualisation; thus believers pray that the Lord’s will should be done ‘on earth as it is in heaven’ (Matt 6:10). In so doing they seek ‘God’s rescue of the entire created order and the establishment of his rule over all heaven and earth’.⁴⁰ The Lord’s Supper allows participation in the life of the age to come,⁴¹ for communicants feed on true bread from heaven.⁴² The future benefits of justification are experienced now as God’s people participate in the body and blood of Christ (1 Cor 10:16). The Christian gathering originates from both historical and eschatological realities.
It is good to understand origins, but this is insufficient unless purpose is also studied. The Christian gathering is intended by God to establish and express, develop and define three key relationships: between God and the church; between individuals within the church; and between the church and the world. Just as origins have been considered in temporal terms (ancient and future) the purposes of the Christian gathering may be described in spatial terms (‘up’, ‘around’ and ‘out’).

At the heart of Christian worship is the relationship between God and his people. Worship is about God and us rather than God and me.⁴³ Jesus promises to be present where and when his people gather (Matt 18:20). The writer to the Hebrews urges believers to approach God (Heb 4:16) and to meet together (Heb 10:25).⁴⁴ Believers meet with God when they meet with each other.⁴⁵ At the same time, Christians are to express their relationship with God by identifying with Christ. It is no accident that the two Christian sacraments are symbols of participation. Baptism is the initiation rite, analogous to circumcision under the old covenant.⁴⁶ It is a public declaration of identification and participation in the death and resurrection of Christ (Rom 6:3-41; Col 2:12; 1 Pet 3:21).⁴⁷ Similarly, the Eucharist is considered an act of participation in Christ (1 Cor 10:16). The notion of participation is crucial, for it is only in union with Christ that a believer’s worship is acceptable; by being joined to him, they are one with him (1 Cor 6:17) and are permitted the ‘gift of participating through the Spirit in the incarnate Son’s communion with the Father’.⁴⁸

A necessary consequence, and perhaps prerequisite, of participation in Christ is that the many become one body (1 Cor 10:16-17). Paul writes to the Ephesians that ‘there is one body and one Spirit… one Lord, one faith, one baptism’ (Eph 4:4, 5) and on this basis argues for unity in the church (Eph 4:3, 13, 15 etc.).⁴⁹ Perhaps this is why singing, too, has found a place in Jewish and Christian worship since the earliest times, for congregational singing expresses and demonstrates togetherness.⁵⁰ As Hughes writes, ‘We are tragically diminished by non-participation in Christ’s Body. Correspondingly, the Church is diminished by our non-participation as well.’⁵¹ Thus, the relationship between God and his people who gather for worship may be characterised in two corollary statements: (1) as Christians draw near to Christ they draw near to each other; and (2) as Christians meet with each other they also meet with God.

Meeting together with other believers has other benefits as well. Returning to Ephesians 4, Paul expands upon the metaphor of the church as the body of Christ. God has given different people different gifts, and it is only in meeting together that these gifts can be used for ‘building up the body of Christ’ (Eph 4:11-16). Paul regularly uses this imagery of ‘building up’⁵² when speaking of Christian gatherings.⁵³ This work of edification is still God’s work, but he chooses to act through his people, giving gifts to individuals for the sake of the whole.⁵⁴ Believers rightly sing ‘Brother let me be your servant / Let me be as Christ to you’⁵⁵ for they meet in order that they might encounter Christ in one another.⁵⁶ These encounters may come in the form of service, encouragement or teaching. Ultimately, regularly gathering for worship should encourage a life of worship.⁵⁷

Gathering for worship is a distinctive mark of the Christian community, and worship helps define the boundaries of that community.⁵⁸ It provides Christians with the answers to questions of identity, loyalty, values, power, narrative, meaning and hope.⁵⁹ The Apostle Peter pictures God’s people in a series of corporate images – race, priesthood, nation, people – and declares their purpose to be proclaiming God’s mighty works (1 Pet 2:9). The cultic regulations, designed to set apart the people of God, have been fulfilled in Christ (Heb 9:26; 10:12 etc.). Nevertheless, the separation in belief and lifestyle that they engendered is still necessary if Christians are to bear witness to God’s character and will.⁶⁰ Evangelism is a by-product rather than a goal of worship, but believers are the salt of the earth, and charged not to lose their distinctive saltiness (Matt 5:13). Believers are a ‘colony of the Kingdom’⁶¹ and their relationship with the surrounding world is defined by their ambassadorial calling. Thus they remember God’s past works, anticipate his future rule, and actualise both past and future in the present, thus witnessing to, and thereby transforming, the world.⁶²

Worship, then, defines relationships with God, other Christians and society at large. Gathered worship provides the means for defining, expressing and building those relationships, as believers actualise Christ to one another and to the world. Current church practice must be evaluated according to the impact it has on these three key relationships. For example, consider the Anglican Church in Sydney, together with its specific expression in the local church in Sutherland (of which the author is a member).

Broadly speaking, the Sydney Anglican Church’s model for public, gathered worship is set forth in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer,⁶³ supplemented by An Australian prayer book.⁶⁴ The stated aim of these liturgies is,

to do that, which… might most tend to the preservation of Peace and Unity in the Church; the procuring of Reverence, and exciting of Piety and Devotion in the Publick [sic] Worship of God.⁶⁵

Clearly, the framers of The Book of Common Prayer had similar relational goals to those above: unity within the church, and reverent response to God.⁶⁶ They also reflect an understanding of a need to be ‘contemporary’, with explicit provision made for updating language according to cultural idiom and the needs of ministry.⁶⁷ One practical application of this principle may be seen in the recent “Big Day In,” the diocesan-wide satellite-linked church service to launch the diocesan vision. During this service, children were included by means of a special children’s program, and a special greeting and prayer were offered in the Mandarin language, in recognition of the significant Chinese demographic in the Sydney diocese.

In the local church in Sutherland, St John’s, there are three public services held for worship each Sunday. The first is a ‘traditional’ service, where the liturgy outlined in An Australian Prayer Book is followed, and communion celebrated every week. The service is led by an ordained clergyman. The second is billed as a ‘family’ service, starting at 9.45 A.M. The style of this service is contemporary, and attracts a broad range of congregants, from young families to the elderly. The service is led by lay members of the congregation, and varies greatly according to the talents and tastes of these leaders. Lay leadership leads to a greater feeling of ownership, and thus participation, by the congregation for the leader is ‘one of their own’.⁶⁸ The third service is in the evening, generally attracting high-school and university-aged people. Here, again, the leadership is by the laity, although on the whole the leaders are also younger, resulting in less diversity and depth in the services they lead.

Unfortunately this setup naturally leads to a stratification within the church, with members choosing a congregation to belong to rather than a church. It also promotes a consumer approach to worship, since these choices are based on preference and convenience, thus undermining our ability to stand against consumerism.⁶⁹ The church is aware of this, and seeks to supplement its public worship gatherings with monthly mid-week prayer meetings, termly informal social gatherings and a bi-annual parish weekend away, all of which span the three congregations. In addition, there are occasions throughout the church year where all of the congregations meet together in a unified public worship service, such as the major events of the church calendar (Christmas, Easter etc.) and the annual general meeting of parishioners. In doing these things, relationships are fostered throughout the church, contributing to a unified body.

Unity is also fostered by having common elements between all three weekly services. These include preaching,⁷⁰ prayer, communion, music and informal fellowship. Preaching and prayer express the vertical dimensions of worship as God speaks to his people and they to him. Communion and fellowship,⁷¹ articulate our horizontal relationships with one another. Music is a curious admixture of both, since Christians sing praises to God and in so doing exhort and encourage one another. This commonality of practice means that when the whole church gathers together, crossing congregational divides, there is a common vocabulary of worship, without which unity in worship would not be possible.

Of the three weekly services, only the evening service has a formal program for evangelism. This is a semi-annual event, well publicised and promoted, where members of the congregation are encouraged to invite non-Christian family, friends and colleagues. The language employed by those who lead is divested of theological ‘in’ language – or, at least, such language is carefully explained when used. Preachers are carefully selected on the basis of their gifting for evangelism, often involving the invitation of a guest preacher and the occasional guest band. Special effort is made to include fellowship over a meal and opportunity before and after the service for non-Christians to interact with the community of Christians. The service is otherwise identical to any other week, based on the belief that what you win people with is what you win them to and thus making the transition to an ‘ordinary’ service an easy one to make.⁷² This is not to suggest that evangelism doesn’t occur in the other weekly services, for it certainly does. There are teams devoted to welcoming visitors and helping them to establish relationship with church members. Prayers are offered for events of significance to the local, national and global communities. Leaders are instructed to use inclusive language and preachers consistently preach the gospel in the context of their didactic and exhortational ministry. Visitors go away knowing that this church worships God, proclaims Christ, and cares for each other, for the community and for them.

The origins of the practice of Christians gathering to worship are found in the character and action of the triune God. God acts and Christians respond. The earliest believers were influenced in this response by the practices, traditions and teachings of Old Testament Israel, the Jewish synagogue and pagan religions. Some of these practices were accepted, some rejected, and some redeemed and reinterpreted. Christian gathered worship also bears eschatological origins, with the Christian assembly foreshadowing the heavenly assembly. One must look both backwards and forwards in time to understand the origins of Christian worship. Christians gather for worship for the purpose of expressing and defining relationships. Christians must also look ‘up’, and relate to God as his covenant people. Finally, they must look ‘around’ and ‘out’ as they actualise Christ to one another and to the world.

Bibliography

An Australian Prayer Book : For Use Together with the Book of Common Prayer, 1662. Sydney: Church of England in Australia, 1978.
Ashton, Mark, and C. J. Davis. “Following in Cranmer’s Footsteps.” In Worship by the Book, edited by D. A. Carson, 64-135. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2002.
Best, Harold M. Unceasing Worship : Biblical Perspectives on Worship and the Arts. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2003.
Carson, D. A. “Worship under the Word.” In Worship by the Book, edited by D. A. Carson, 11-63. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2002.
Dawn, Marva J. A Royal “Waste” Of Time : The Splendor of Worshiping God and Being Church for the World. Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans Pub., 1999.
———. Reaching out without Dumbing Down : A Theoloy of Worship for This Urgent Time. Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans Pub., 1995.
Gillard, Richard. “The Servant Song.” In Scripture in Song : Songs of the Kingdom (Bk. 2), edited by David and Dale Garratt, 51. Eastbourne: Kingsway, 1981.
Green, Michael. Baptism : Its Purpose, Practice and Power. Bletchley, Milton Keynes: Authentic Media, 2006.
Hughes, R. Kent. Disciplines of a Godly Man. 10th anniversary ed. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2001.
———. “Free Church Worship : The Challenge of Freedom.” In Worship by the Book, edited by D. A. Carson, 136-92. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2002.
Hurtado, Larry W. At the Origins of Christian Worship : The Context and Character of Earliest Christian Devotion, Didsbury Lectures. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2000.
Kauflin, Bob. Worship Matters : Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2008.
Keller, Timothy J. “Reformed Worship in the Global City.” In Worship by the Book, edited by D. A. Carson, 193-249. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2002.
Kreider, Eleanor. Communion Shapes Character. Scottdale, Pa.: Herald Press, 1997.
Lewis, C. S. Mere Christianity. Special centenary ed. London: Fount, 1997.
———. The Screwtape Letters : Also Includes, “Screwtape Proposes a Toast”. London: HarperCollins, 2001.
Martin, Ralph P. “Hymns in New Testament Worship.” In The Biblical Foundations of Christian Worship, edited by Robert Webber, 257-62. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 1993.
Peterson, David. Engaging with God : A Biblical Theology of Worship. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1992.
Peterson, Eugene H. Eat This Book : A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading. Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 2006.
Piper, John. Desiring God : Meditations of a Christian Hedonist. Updated [i.e. 3rd] ed. Leicester: Inter-Varsity, 2004.
Schaff, Philip. The Creeds of Christendom. 6th ed. 3 vols: Baker Books, 2007.
The Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church According to the Use of the Church of England Together with the Psalter, Etc. Cambridge: University Press, 1922.
Webber, Robert. Ancient-Future Worship : Proclaiming and Enacting God’s Narrative, Ancient-Future Series. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books, 2008.
———. Worship Is a Verb : Eight Principles Transforming Worship. 2nd ed. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 1996.
———. Worship Old & New : A Biblical, Historical, and Practical Introduction. Rev. ed. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1994.
Wright, N. T. The New Testament and the People of God SPCK, 1992.

Endnotes

1. cf. Exod 4:23; 7:16 etc.
2. cf. Gal 4:5
3. cf. Rom 2:29; Eph 4:4.
4. John Piper, Desiring God : Meditations of a Christian Hedonist, Updated [i.e. 3rd] ed. (Leicester: Inter-Varsity, 2004), 82.
5. In some ways the community within the Trinity may be considered a model for the Christian gathering. cf. Harold M. Best, Unceasing Worship : Biblical Perspectives on Worship and the Arts (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2003), 24.
6. cf. Robert Webber, who refers to the Exodus as ‘the epicenter for worship with Israel’, Robert Webber, Worship Old & New : A Biblical, Historical, and Practical Introduction, Rev. ed. (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1994), 31.
7. David Peterson, Engaging with God : A Biblical Theology of Worship (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1992), 125.
8. Eleanor Kreider, Communion Shapes Character (Scottdale, Pa.: Herald Press, 1997), 201.
9. Peterson, Engaging with God, 121.
10. cf. John 6:35
11. cf. 1 Cor 10:16. The cup is somewhat of a paradox, since the cup itself is a symbol of suffering (e.g. Matt 26:42) whilst wine is typically a sign of blessing (e.g. John 2:1-11).
12. Webber, Worship Old & New, 42.
13. Ibid., 20.
14. Peterson, Engaging with God, 49.
15. Ibid., 34. This mediation is distinct from the OT cultus; it is Moses the mediator rather than Aaron the priest in view here.
16. cf. Num 12:8
17. cf. Heb 10:22
18. cf. Gal 3:19-20; 1 Tim 2:5; Heb 9:15; 12:24
19. N. T. Wright, The New Testament and the People of God (SPCK, 1992), 363-4.
20. e.g. Acts 2:46; 3:1; 5:21, 42 etc.
21. e.g. Rom 9:4; 1 Cor 3:16-17; 6:19; 2 Cor 6:16; Eph 2:21; 1 Pet 2:5
22. e.g. Heb 3:2-6; 10:21; 12:23; cf. Peterson, Engaging with God, 247. In spite of this, concepts of physicality of place (church buildings), rituals and ministers would all resurface later in ecclesiastical history. cf. Webber, Worship Old & New, 35.
23. Ibid., 112-3.
24. i.e. the shema of Deut 6:4-9
25. Webber, Worship Old & New, 37. The latter is likely founded on the events recorded in Nehemiah 8, where the people gathered to hear Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God, and finds direct parallels in the Christian Service of the Word. Peterson, Engaging with God, 198.
26. e.g. Compare the blessings over bread and wine prescribed in m. Ber. 6 with Jesus’ blessings at the Last Supper (Matt 26:26-27; Mark 14:22-23; Luke 22:19-20) and early church practice (1 Cor 11:24-25; Justin, 1 Apol. 66). The later Didache (ca. 2nd c.) shows that what was initially descriptive had by this time become prescriptive (Did. 9-10). cf. Kreider, Communion Shapes Character, 165.
27. Ralph P. Martin, “Hymns in New Testament Worship,” in The Biblical Foundations of Christian Worship, ed. Robert Webber, The Complete Library of Christian Worship (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 1993), 258.
28. e.g. Acts 2:42; 1 Cor 11:17-34; Ign. Eph. 13; Justin 1 Apol. 65-67; Ireneaus Haer. 1:10; 3:4; 4:33 etc. See also possible credal fragments in the NT e.g. 1 Cor 8:6; 15:3-8; Phil 2:6-11; 1 Tim 3:16; Heb 6:1-2 etc. cf. Philip Schaff, The Creeds of Christendom, 6th ed., 3 vols. (Baker Books, 2007), 2:3-40.
29. Webber, Worship Old & New, 58.
30. Or, perhaps more accurately, revolution.
31. Larry W. Hurtado, At the Origins of Christian Worship : The Context and Character of Earliest Christian Devotion, Didsbury Lectures (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2000), 23.
32. Martin, “Hymns in New Testament Worship,” 259.
33. Gk. leitourgia.
34. Eugene H. Peterson, Eat This Book : A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading (Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 2006), 75.
35. Hurtado, At the Origins of Christian Worship, 17, 63ff.
36. Martin, “Hymns in New Testament Worship,” 260.
37. Webber, Worship Old & New, 106.
38. Peterson, Engaging with God, 124. cf. 1 Cor 8-10.
39. Ibid., 205, 77-78.
40. Robert Webber, Ancient-Future Worship : Proclaiming and Enacting God’s Narrative, Ancient-Future Series (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books, 2008), 57-58.
41. Peterson, Engaging with God, 144.
42. Ibid., 100-01. cf. John 6:51.
43. Bob Kauflin, Worship Matters : Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2008), 197.
44. cf. Ign. Eph. 13.
45. Peterson, Engaging with God, 198. cf. Timothy J. Keller, “Reformed Worship in the Global City,” in Worship by the Book, ed. D. A. Carson (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2002), 210.
46. Michael Green, Baptism : Its Purpose, Practice and Power (Bletchley, Milton Keynes: Authentic Media, 2006), 29. cf. Webber, Worship Old & New, 230.
47. cf. Ibid., 60. and Green, Baptism, 31f.
48. James Torrance, cited by D. A. Carson, “Worship under the Word,” in Worship by the Book, ed. D. A. Carson (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2002), 42-3.
49. cf. Ign. Phld. 4.
50. Best, Unceasing Worship : Biblical Perspectives on Worship and the Arts, 143ff. Best argues that this is because ‘The human voice is the only musical instrument that God has directly created’ and that people can engage together in congregational singing regardless of talent or training.
51. R. Kent Hughes, Disciplines of a Godly Man, 10th anniversary ed. (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2001), 174.
52. Gk. oikodomeō.
53. e.g. 1 Cor 14:4, 17; 1 Thess 5:11. Peterson, Engaging with God, 206.
54. cf. C. S. Lewis, who writes that ‘[Jesus] works on us in all sorts of ways… through Nature, through our own bodies, through books, sometimes through experiences which seem (at the time) anti-Christian… But above all, He works on us through each other.’ C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, Special centenary ed. (London: Fount, 1997), 157.
55. Richard Gillard, “The Servant Song,” in Scripture in Song : Songs of the Kingdom (Bk. 2), ed. David and Dale Garratt (Eastbourne: Kingsway, 1981).
56. Peterson, Engaging with God, 220.
57. R. Kent Hughes, “Free Church Worship : The Challenge of Freedom,” in Worship by the Book, ed. D. A. Carson (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2002), 142. cf. Hurtado, At the Origins of Christian Worship, 49.
58. Wright, The New Testament and the People of God, 368.
59. cf. Marva J. Dawn, A Royal “Waste” Of Time : The Splendor of Worshiping God and Being Church for the World (Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans Pub., 1999), 22ff.
60. Peterson, Engaging with God, 268.
61. Dawn, A Royal “Waste” Of Time, 89ff.
62. Webber, Ancient-Future Worship, 43.
63. The Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church According to the Use of the Church of England Together with the Psalter, Etc, (Cambridge: University Press, 1922).
64. An Australian Prayer Book : For Use Together with the Book of Common Prayer, 1662, (Sydney: Church of England in Australia, 1978). See especially the Preface, which outlines the relationship with The Book of Common Prayer, Ibid., 7.
65. The Book of Common Prayer, viii-ix. cf. An Australian Prayer Book, 7.
66. The third aim (not quoted above), that of ‘cutting off occasion from them that seek occasion of cavil or quarrel against the Liturgy of the Church’ (The Book of Common Prayer, ix.), is rooted in the historical circumstances in which The Book of Common Prayer was forged. Nevertheless, it shows a concern for the way the church is perceived and responded to by ‘outsiders’, even if those outsiders were other Christians.
67. e.g. ‘[W]hereas Saint Paul would have such language spoken to the people in the Church, as they might understand, and have profit by hearing the same; The Service in this Church of England these many years hath been read in Latin to the people, which they understand not… here is set forth such an Order, whereby the same shall be addressed’ (Ibid., xi.). cf. Ashton and Davis, who write that the criteria for planning worship in Cranmer’s tradition are, in order (1) biblical content; (2) accessibility; and (3) balance. Mark Ashton and C. J. Davis, “Following in Cranmer’s Footsteps,” in Worship by the Book, ed. D. A. Carson (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2002), 82ff.
68. cf. Robert Webber, Worship Is a Verb : Eight Principles Transforming Worship, 2nd ed. (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 1996), 129ff. Webber argues passionately that worship needs to be ‘returned to the people’, although his vision for this is more than just lay leadership extending also to cover congregational participation.
69. Marva J. Dawn, Reaching out without Dumbing Down : A Theoloy of Worship for This Urgent Time (Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans Pub., 1995), 41ff. and Dawn, A Royal “Waste” Of Time, 88ff. Dawn maintains that the worshipping community needs to innoculate us against secular worldviews, particularly consumerism. cf. Lewis, whose demonic character Screwtape writes to his nephew, ‘Surely you know that if a man can’t be cured of churchgoing, the next best thing is to send him all over the neighbourhood looking for the church that ‘suits’ him until he becomes a taster or connoisseur of churches… the search for a ‘suitable’ church makes the man a critic where the Enemy [i.e. God] wants him to be a pupil.’ C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters : Also Includes, “Screwtape Proposes a Toast” (London: HarperCollins, 2001), 81.
70. Even the content of preaching across the two morning services is consistent, with the same preacher preaching on the same topic at each. The evening service usually follows its own independent program of preaching. Sadly, this does not foster church-wide community as well as might be the case if the preaching was uniform across all three services. The decision to have separate ‘streams’ of preaching is based on the ‘needs’ of a younger congregation in the evening, so church-wide unity is traded off in favour of more focused and directed discipleship.
71. Usually in the form of coffee and food after the service.
72. Kauflin, Worship Matters, 192.