Formality in Worship

I frequently hear from people who are dissatisfied with the worship experiences at their church. Sometimes they leave the services dissatisfied, frustrated by what seems like a missed opportunity. But what is really wrong? Why is it so difficult for some of us to feel a connection to God in our singing, prayer, and sermonizing?

Is the modern American spirit of equality and informality to blame in any way?

Follow the links for a multipart discussion by Bill Gnade of Contratimes: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5. And, the discussion carried over to this post at the Sunshine Church of Christ site. Keep in mind that Gnade himself is an Episcopalian.

Some manifestations of the post-evangelical "emerging church" (including some in the younger Church of Christ set) are moving toward more high-church-type liturgical worship services. At the same time, others are moving toward even greater informality in worship. The latter is a continuation of our culture's current trajectory. Reading Bill's posts might help us get a grip on why some young people are going against the grain and looking for more structure, more pomp, and more formality in their corporate church experience.

I have found myself bemoaning the formality of traditional Southern COC worship services at times, but Bill's post has caused me to realize that what I had mislabeled as "stiff formality" was actually more of a bumbling informality.

In the churches of Christ, we tend to be militantly "low church," meaning basically that our worship is no-frills, stripped down to its most basic elements. This situation comes both from a theological preference for simplicity and a Southern rural cultural ambivalence toward fru-fru.

Sometimes I have heard friends complaining about the lack of spontanaeity in our worship. But in fact, our problem may be too much spontanaeity (or the wrong kind of spontanaeity). We have, for example, a different song leader each week, who is given no direction on which songs to lead. Some will get with the minster or otherwise plan in advance, while some just seem to pick from their favorite songs at random. Likewise, our public prayers can sometimes be unfocused, repetitive, or rambling.

If our worship was more directed, more structured, more formally integrated, then the songs, prayers, reading, and sermon could be planned to build upon each other. Our worship experience might be more "in spirit" if its elements had a clearer thematic link, or if they followed a logical progression of emotions before God's throne.

For example, many worship services in Christendom begin with awe and doxology toward God, then move toward contrition and repentance (in the sermon), and finally end on a note of thanksgiving. In this way, our conversion experience is recapitulated week after week, bringing us back to the life-affirming moment of our baptism.

So, our services may be somewhat "stuffy," but it's not necessarily because they are too formal. It's our lack of formality in the absence of thoughtful planning, direction, and training which leaves us wishing for a more vibrant experience in the assembly.

Read more on this topic in my follow-up posts ("Unhewn Stones" and "The Ideal NT Worship Service"), and at Sunshine Church, where Jason Coriell graciously accepted my challenge to "discuss."