It is my experience that the architecture of our church is shaped by our concept of worship, which in turn shapes our experience of worship. . . . It is the function of space to foster rather than hinder congregational participation. -Robert Webber, Worship Is a Verb: Celebrating God’s Mighty Deeds of Salvation (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishing,...Read More
Good art “speaks to me. It makes me listen. It forms me.” . . . Somehow the art in worship surrounds me and gathers me up into itself. Like music, it enters into my soul and abides there. During the week it becomes a dominant image in my experience and pulls me to dwell on the theme and...Read More
To insist that art is necessary for worship is to commit aesthetic heresy. Such insistence makes art an idol, an object of our worship. On the other hand, to insist that art is a hindrance to worship is equally dangerous. It denies that the material creation is a worthy vehicle through which God can communicate...Read More
By not following the Christian calendar we have come to adopt secular guidelines for our spiritual time. Christ has again become lost in our celebration of time, not because of too many saints’ days and feasts, but because of our celebration in worship of too many other days–national holidays like Independence Day and special events...Read More
As Christians, we confess that all time has a center. And that center is Jesus Christ who has redeemed all things. From this center, this kairos event in history, the meaning and significance of all time radiates. It is through the remembrance of the Christ-event in worship that we are able to sanctify all time....Read More
I have found many pastors today are becoming more concerned about the sense of response that extends into the world from worship, and rightly so. They want their people to feel sent. . . . “Every service is followed by a comma instead of a period. We worship as pilgrims.” -Robert Webber, Worship Is a...Read More
Bread and wine, these elements of creation, become the symbols of re-creation. For his body broken for us and his blood spilt for us are the signs of renewal and restoration. -Robert Webber, Worship Is a Verb: Celebrating God’s Mighty Deeds of Salvation (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishing, 1992), 151.Read More
In the early church it was appropriate to offer the kiss of peace after the prayers. . . . [It] was a gesture signifying that we are at peace with God and with our neighbors. Because God has reconciled us to the Father through Jesus Christ, we ought to be reconciled to each other. ....Read More
No matter how it is accomplished, congregational response to the Word is a very important means of sealing the Word in this heart and life. . . . The placement of prayer after the word is crucial. . . . In the ancient church pastoral prayer was nonexistent. Prayer belonged to the people and arose...Read More
The overall purpose for the reading of the Word is to let God speak. It is not, as some might think, the time for educating the people, for long tedious exegetical sermons, or an evangelistic appeal. It is principally an address from God to the congregation that is expressed through reading and preaching his Word and...Read More
