Convergence Worship Description

Convergence worship is the coming together of historic and contemporary worship. This approach to worship follows the fourfold approach to worship, draws on an ancient hymnody, and incorporates contemporary music and other arts.

There seems to be a considerable amount of evidence suggesting that the future of Christian worship is at an uncertain crossroads. One of the major reasons for this uncertainty is the breakdown of distinct denominational worshiping styles. What is emerging from this breakdown is an interdenominational approach to worship. This may be called the convergence of worship old and new.

     The day of remaining in the same worshiping community from birth to death is increasingly a phenomena of the past. I speak and worship in a number of different denominational and ecumenical settings. In many churches the denominational mix of people is rather impressive.

     For this reason, there seems to be a great deal of anxiety among pastors and other worship leaders. What kind of worship could possibly meet the needs and expectations of such a variety of people?

     There are three responses to this question. First, there are the traditionalists, who want worship to be as it was. These are the people who resist change or are so deeply committed to a particular historical model of worship that talk of incorporating new styles of worship is intolerable. Second, there are those who wish to jettison traditional worship as irrelevant and go in search of a worship that is contemporary. Contemporary worship is difficult to pinpoint since there are so many forms of creative contemporary worship, ranging from the guitar Mass to entertainment models of worship.

     Convergence worship is a third approach to worship. It is both old and new, a worship that respects the tradition, yet seeks to incorporate worship styles formed by contemporary culture.

General Principles of Convergence Worship

     Convergence worship is first of all characterized by a willingness to reopen all the questions about worship. For convergence worshipers the reformational theme of semper reformanda is taken seriously. Even though ecumenical worship has recently asked what is worship, and why do we worship, convergence worshipers believe these basic questions need to be continually addressed from the biblical, historical, and social science perspectives.

     Second, convergence worship is characterized by a willingness to learn from the entire worshiping community. Consequently convergence worshipers look sympathetically at both liturgical worship and the worship of evangelicals, blacks, Anabaptists, Pentecostals and charismatics. They continually ask what can be learned from traditions quite different from our own.

     Third, convergence worship is characterized by a healthy respect for the past. Because convergence worshipers are not isolationist in their attitude toward other forms of worship throughout history, they seek to be aware of the way worship has remained faithful to its Jewish and early Christian roots and how it has been adapted in various historical time periods and among diversified cultures.

     Finally, convergence worship is characterized by an absolute commitment to contemporary relevance. Those who espouse convergence worship are mindful that worship is an act of communication between God and God's people. Consequently these worship leaders feel worship must touch the lives of people, stimulate personal and spiritual formation, and result in the healing of the inner person and of relationships.

Specific Characteristics of Convergence Worship

     First, convergence worship is committed to the ecumenical consensus of the fourfold approach to worship: Acts of Entrance, the Service of the Word, the Service of the Table, and the Acts of Dismissal. Leaders of convergence worship recognize how these four acts are characterized by a narrative quality: they both tell and act out the story of God's saving deeds. These acts also draw the worshiper into the experience of rehearsing a relationship to God through a joyful entrance that brings the worshiping community into God's presence; the reading and preaching of Scripture that speaks to felt needs; a eucharistic response that celebrates Christ's healing presence at the Table; and a mission-oriented dismissal that sends them forth into the world to love and serve the Lord.

     Next, convergence worship is committed to the festal character of worship. Festivity goes beyond a mere rote ritual or a cerebral pedagogical approach to worship. It is a celebration of both creation and recreation and is more Davidic (celebrative) in style than Mosaic (somber). For this reason both the Acts of Entrance and the Service of the Table are characterized by text and music that are expressive, enthusiastic, and exuberant.

     The festal character of worship leads into the third characteristic of convergence worship: a broad range of musical content and style. For example, the gathering may be characterized by friendly folk songs or contemporary choruses, while the Entrance hymn may be an ancient processional hymn of great joy accompanied by stringed instruments, brass, and a joyful procession of people led by a dancer, banners, and flags that express the festive nature of coming before God; the responsorial psalm may be led by a cantor with the people responding with a compelling refrain; and the Communion songs may be mixture of Taizé music and appropriate contemporary choruses.

     A final characteristic of convergence worship is the recovery of the arts. In worship renewal today, there is an increased attention to the arts and to the use of artistic gifts. There is a new sense of the power of visual symbol, a new attention to congregational movement and physical participation, to an appropriate use of drama, to the recovery of the senses, and to the engagement of the whole person in worship.

A Brief Description of Convergence Worship

     The description of convergence worship that follows is only one of several possible models. It represents a service that can be adapted to the local customs of worship in a particular congregation. A brief explanation of its four parts shows that it is a celebration of God's saving deeds. It is also the context in which God acts in the midst of the community and calls for a response of praise and thanksgiving.

     As a preliminary matter, note the architectural setting. The church gathers around the symbols of storytelling and feasting (pulpit and table), possibly in a semicircular form so people can see, hear, taste, feel, and fully participate in the celebration of the body of Christ.

     The first act of worship is simply that of gathering, coming together into the presence of the Lord. The procession at the opening hymn symbolizes coming before the Lord. Then, like Isaiah who saw the Lord seated on the throne, high and lifted up, the church praises God through song. The church sings God's worth and celebrates with great joy its access to the God of gods, the King of kings.

     Next, God speaks to the church as it recites the story of God's love shown through revelation. In keeping with the consensus of centuries, the church hears God speak from the Hebrew Scriptures, then through an Epistle, and finally through the words of a Gospel reading. To these "voices of God" the church responds with a Psalm and an Alleluia. Then God's Word is interpreted and applied through a sermon. After that, the church responds to God's voice through the affirmation of faith, by the lifting of hearts in intercessory prayer, and by sharing with the sign of reconciliation to God and to each other through the Kiss of Peace. In these acts the church has told and acted out the story of faith, the story that gives meaning to the story of life.

     But then, because God has not only spoken through revelation but has become one of us in the Incarnation, the church enters into intimate relationship with God in the meal of bread and wine, that symbol of Christ's victory, that sign of our own healing. This part of the service is ordered around the fourfold action of Christ at the Last Supper—he took, blessed, broke, and gave. Drawing from the oldest known prayers of thanksgiving (dating back to the second century but updated into modern language) the church celebrates his victory over sin and makes Eucharist (thanks). As Christ in his death and resurrection said yes to the church, so the church eats and drinks with him at his Table, saying yes to him and to his victory for us over evil. The prayers at the Table recite the history of our salvation, call us to remembrance, and plead for the Holy Spirit to be with us. The songs sung during the reception of the bread and wine are songs of celebration and victory, songs of triumph and of the exaltation of Jesus. And because the Holy Spirit is always present to apply the benefits of Christ's saving work to personal needs, the ministry of healing broken and wounded lives and spirits occurs simultaneously with the meal and singing. The meal part of the service then concludes with a burst of doxological praise.

     Finally, God sends the church forth to serve God in the world, to live in the power of God's name, and to witness to God's mighty deeds. A special blessing grounded in God's powerful name is proclaimed over the people of God. And then the recessional hymn symbolizes the church going forth into the world to serve.

Conclusion

     In brief, convergence worship is an alternative worship that is concerned for order and freedom, the historical and the contemporary, the verbal and the symbolic.

This kind of alternative worship should be seen as a challenge and not a threat. It builds on the best of the biblical, historical, and traditional elements of worship. It is concerned that worship be authentic and real, characterized by a sense of fullness, the feeling of deep joy, and the experience of comfort and healing.

     It is, in a word, a post-Enlightenment worship that is in tune with the dynamic faith of biblical Christianity and the changing cultural patterns of modern life. This is the kind of worship that will attract and hold people in the church and give direction to their confused lives.

     Convergence worship stands as a signpost at the uncertain crossroad of future worship. It says, "Here is a way to preserve the best of the past and to walk with confidence into the future." Because of this it can be seen as one example of semper reformanda (the church must always be reforming itself).