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It is our experience and conviction that congregations struggle the most to experience worship renewal when they devote disproportionate time and concern to the mechanics and style of worship rather than the deep meaning and purpose of worship. Addressing this imbalance in our dialogue about worship can lead us to see God not as the object of our worship but the source of our worship.
One of the best ways to start this conversation is to talk about how people experience worship. Questions such as, 'What do you find to be engaging? What do you find to be compelling?' prompt more meaningful exploration of purposeful participation in worship than the question, "What do you like?"
To continue this essential conversation, we provide these online resources. (For more, see our Christian Worshipers section.)
John D. Witvliet
Classic Christian Insights about Worship's Deep Meaning and Purpose
Conference on Liturgy and Music 2004
Full, Conscious, and Active Participation
Reflections on worship as what God does through all worshipers
Blended Worship: Good for the Body
Reflections on planning worship that is truly diverse
The Gracious Gift of Hospitality in Worship
Cindy Holtrop
Address to the 2000 Symposium on Worship
Healthy Tensions in Corporate Worship
Bob Kauflin
How Can We Link Worship and Evangelism? Ten suggestions for integration
Rev. John Mc Nally, Kentville Baptist, NS
How Worship Gives Us a Timeline to Live By
Reflections from worship leaders at the 2003 Symposium on Worship
Justice and Worship
articles and stories on justice and worship
Nairobi Statement on Worship and Culture
prepared by the Department for Theology and Studies of the Lutheran World Federation
Preparing for Worship
Reflections on the purpose of worship in preparation for worship
Reflections on Worship's Meaning and Purpose
Plenary sampler from the 2000 Symposium on Worship
Rivers of Living Water (Reformed Worship)
B.C. Cumings, Galletin Gateway Community Christian Reformed Church, Bozeman, Montana
Spiritual Gifts and Worship
Christine Jerrett, Grace United Church, Sarnia, Ontario
Take Me to the Water (Reformed Worship)
Arlo D. Duba
Ideas for Keeping Baptism Front and Center
Towards a Theology of Worship
John D. Witvliet (from prologue to The Worship Sourcebook)
Why We Need Hymns
Kevin Twit
Worship That Is Authentic to God
Paul Ryan