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A Conversation with Kathleen Norris on Language and Worship
Interview by Gregory Wolfe of Image journal
at The Matter of Devotion conference
November 2005

• Audio of this interview

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25:26

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Questions in this interview
How do we teach worship leaders and congregants to care about and use incarnational language in worship?

Is there anywhere in our culture today in which people commonly hear and use incarnational language?

What can we do to make biblical metaphors referring to things foreign to most of us (monarchy, farming, deserts, ancient warfare) come alive—or should we avoid or transpose such metaphors?

How can language in worship be both different from common forms of speech and at the same time expressive for worshipers? Should worship teach us new (or more pointedly, old) vocabulary or should we seek to translate Christian truths into contemporary terms?

How does the frequent use of Psalms in worship form worshipers spiritually? How can one appropriate the more difficult Psalms in worship?

What have you learned about God through the practices of worship?

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