Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation by James K. A. Smith

Author:James K. A. Smith [Smith, James K. A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: REL051000, REL067000, REL055020
ISBN: 9781441211262
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2009-08-01T00:00:00+00:00

Excursus: The Shape of Christian Worship

Now, you might find that your own experience of Christian worship doesn’t exactly track with what I have described so far or what I’ll articulate in the next chapter. For instance, you might find that I draw on particular forms or elements that are not common in your experience of Christian worship. Some of the language—terms like Eucharist or benediction—may not be familiar to you. Or worship at your church may not include specific elements of confession or recitation of the Apostles’ Creed. “Worship” at your church might just refer to a time of music and singing that precedes the sermon. You might find that I draw on historical forms of worship that you’ve traditionally thought of as liturgical or “high church.” You may even be a little suspicious about all this talk of ritual and liturgy and sacraments. I can understand that; I think I know where you’re coming from. But don’t check out just yet. Let me try to assuage your concerns by noting a couple things in this regard.

First, it is not only high-church or liturgical contexts that are liturgical and formative. All Christian worship—whether Anglican or Anabaptist, Pentecostal or Presbyterian—is liturgical in the sense that it is governed by norms, draws on a tradition, includes bodily rituals or routines, and involves formative practices. For instance, though Pentecostal worship is often considered to be the antithesis of liturgy, it actually includes many of the same elements: charismatic worship is very embodied (hands raised in praise, kneeling at the altar in prayer, laying on hands in hope, etc.); it has a common, unwritten routine (“praise” music, followed by quieter “worship” music, followed by the sermon and then often “altar time”); and these practices of Pentecostal worship are deeply formative, shaping our imagination to relate to the world in a unique way. In this sense, even Pentecostal worship is liturgical; indeed, as we’ve emphasized above, Christian worship can’t help but be embodied and material. So when I speak of worship as liturgical, I don’t necessarily mean to favor a particular style of worship; rather, the emphasis is on the formative, embodied practices that constitute Christian worship—and many of these are shared across a diversity of styles, denominations, and theological traditions.[43] While it might not have a printed worship aid listing all the terms (e.g., Benediction, Prayers of the People, Eucharist, etc.), many of the elements of Christian worship I’ll discuss below are nonetheless present. If you are used to worship contexts that don’t use this lingo or these concepts, I still encourage you to pay careful attention to what happens in worship at your church to see whether most of these elements are nonetheless present. To that end, terms like gathering, benediction, Eucharist, and so on can function as a shorthand for us to recognize certain common elements of Christian worship.

Second, while I want to work with a generous understanding of worship and liturgy, this does not mean that all services of Christian worship would include the elements I’ll describe below.

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