Defining Worship

Because worship is multifaceted, no single definition completely captures it in full. The following attempts at definition express the richness and diversity of worship and show that a key to renewal is the awareness of worship as both a divine action and a human response.

That nothing else be done in [worship] than that our dear Lord Himself talk to us through His Holy Word and that we, in turn, talk to Him in prayer and songs of praise. Martin Luther Worship in all its grades and kinds is the response of the creature to the eternal. Evelyn Underhill [Worship] sums up and confirms ever afresh the process of saving history which has reached its culminating point in the intervention of Christ in human history, and through this summing up and ever-repeated confirmation Christ pursues His saving work by the operation of the Holy Spirit. Jean-Jacques von Allmen [Worship is] God acting to give His life to man and to bring men to partake of that life. Paul W. Hoon A Bible-centered approach to worship clearly reveals that worship is definitely not a God-built device to somehow get man to stroke a heavenly Ego. Neither is it a summons to a weekly reaffirmation of one's expertise in precision-cut declarations of doctrinaire posturing. Instead, the Scriptures consistently show God calling His creatures to worship in His presence that He might release, redeem, renew, and restore them. Jack Hayford [Worship is] the public act which sternly actualizes the nature of the church as the body of Christ, an act … which embraces, expresses, inspires and defines the whole church, her whole essential nature, her whole life. Alexander Schmemann [Worship is] an action wherein the testimony of God is heard and appropriated, the experience of the community is transformed, and the godly presence is disclosed. Regis Duffy Worship is an active response to God whereby we declare His worth. Ronald Allen The liturgy of the church is nothing other than that church's faith in motion. Aidan Kavanagh One basic principle to be learned from the Old Testament is that worship implies the presence of God among his assembled people. (This same principle can also be seen in the New Testament.) What does this principle imply for contemporary Christians? It means that when one enters a service of worship he is entering into the very presence of God. Just as God came to Israel and was present with them in a real way, so also is God present among Christians when they assemble together. His name is upon them, his glory is manifested to them (in Jesus Christ) and he makes his face to shine upon them. Paul Engle It is fitting and right to hymn you (to bless you, to praise you), to give you thanks, to worship you in all places of your dominion. For you are God, ineffable, inconceivable, invisible, incomprehensible, existing always and in the same way, you and your only-begotten Son and your Holy Spirit. You brought us out of not-being to being; and when we had fallen, you raised us up again; and did not cease to do everything until you had brought us up to heaven, and granted us the kingdom that is to come. For all these things we give thanks to you and to your only-begotten Son and to your Holy Spirit, for all that we know and do not know, your seen and unseen benefits that have come upon us. We give you thanks also for this ministry; vouchsafe to receive it from our hands, even though thousands of archangels and ten thousands of angels stand before you, cherubim and seraphim, with six wings and many eyes, flying on high singing the triumphal hymn proclaiming, crying, and saying: Holy, holy, holy, Lord of Sabbaoth; heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. Preface to the Eucharistic Prayer, The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom Worship is primarily a celebration of God's mighty deed of salvation accomplished through the living, dying, and rising again of Jesus Christ. Worship tells and enacts the story of God's victory over the powers of evil through Christ. And this worship, which is the work of the people, is done in the fellowship of the community of faith by the power of the Spirit as a response of praise and thanksgiving. Robert E. Webber When Christians gather in Christ's name, every first day of the week, our strongest impulse is to express the joyful praise which wells up in our lives. With readings and songs, sermons and prayers, gifts and sacred meals, we exult in the life God gives, adore the One who loves so fully, give thanks for Jesus our savior and friend, and renew our promises to serve God faithfully. Keith Watkins