Emerging Worship

We hear and read a lot about it lately. It's the newest and hottest trend in these early years of 21st-century American Protestantism. But just what is the Emerging Church (EC) and what is different about Emergent Worship (EW)?

People drawn to the EC are open to a variety of experiences, seeking to know the best, the most real, the most authentic in everything. They have little use for rigid doctrine and rabid fundamentalism on either extreme. They avoid theological battles. It is enough for them that God loves this generation right along with previous generations, even with its secular bent and its tendency to avoid organized church-going. They embrace what some have called ancient-future practices — a mix of the historic and traditional past with the latest cultural trends. EW values silence, meditation, and contemplation, chant, the music and worship of Taiz, and walking a labyrinth. EW also is fueled by the postmodern world with its scientific advances, pervasive secular media, and private search for all things genuine.

Baby-boomer worshipers pursued their own ideas and styles of contemporary worship and music, including praise and worship music, choruses, charismatic worship practices, megachurches fueled by church growth models, modern language, and modern alternatives to pianos, pipe organs, and choirs. They grew up to be suspicious of society's institutions (government, military, business, media, education), as well as the church, and many boomer congregations avoided use of denominational identity and name, crosses and other symbols in the sanctuary, creeds and affirmations of faith, the use of stained glass and other traditional artistic elements in architecture and design, even silence and meditation.

But in EW we're likely to encounter not only what comes from boomer worship, but a renewed appreciation and use of many of the very things eschewed by the boomers — crosses, stained glass, silence and meditation, candles and subdued lighting, a renewed importance of the sacraments, an appreciation of both the communal and the private aspects of spirituality, the value of the arts, the use of ancient creeds and liturgy, and most of all, a genuine encounter and experience of God, although they may prefer to say "the sacred."

One's posture in EW is less important than in previous generations. Where older worship models had their fairly rigid customs and times of standing, sitting, and kneeling, EW may just as often take place sitting on a floor, standing in a group, reclining on couches, cushions, or pillows, or as in my own large church in Nashville, lying down in the pews on pillows or blankets brought from home for a candlelight service of Evensong led by a robed male choir, followed by offering anointing with oil and prayers for healing. A small group of worshipers, from two or three to a couple of dozen, may join the pastor or leader sitting around a single candle on the steps of the chancel or on the floor of a small room or chapel.

And what is the style of music for EW? Simply, there is none. EW is as embracing and eclectic in its choice of music as it is other elements of worship. EW recognizes that there is music of substance and great spirituality in all styles — chant, the sung Psalter, hymns, traditional gospel songs and hymns, folk music, choruses, praise & worship, hip-hop and rap, classical music, vocal music, choirs, soloists, ensembles, instrumental music, pipe organs, grand pianos, electronic keyboards, guitars, drums, and all manner of singing and playing. It is all, as Martin Luther said, "a fair and glorious gift of God," and it all has its time, place, and practice in EW. There are no wars being fought over musical style in EW, nor is there a prevailing EW musical style. Music that helps the people touch the sacred and experience the holy is deemed to be good and worthy.

There is so much more to know and experience in EW. You might begin by looking at some of the resources and articles on this site.