* The following is an excerpt from a larger paper on the historical development of worship practices. It paints a broad picture of emerging church liturgical practice and its contribution to the greater communion.
The emerging church movement in the 21st century displays for the broader North American church a re-imagination of the Reformation narrative by seeking to immerse existing worship practices into a deeper understanding of religious tradition. This visualization, however, seeks to pursue the early church pattern of world re-ordering through the transformation of existing cultural values, mainly experience. It represents a breaking point with the historical reformative process of Protestantism (which failed to separate itself from the hold of individualism and efficiency). For this reason, the worship practices of the emerging church offer the broader North American church three primary applications: broadened perspectives in liturgical hermeneutics, a narrative approach to liturgical spirituality, and an imaginative embrace of liturgical creativity.
Broadened perspectives in liturgical hermeneutics. The practice of shared hermeneutical responsibility is often neglected in many congregations. The emphasis on positional authority and interpretive efficiency is demonstrated through the design of worship spaces (i.e., forward-facing seating toward a central or near-central pulpit), attempting to articulate a centrality of Scripture. However, the reformative movement of hermeneutical privilege from clergy to laity was distorted. Catechetical and Scriptural apprenticeship became less dominant in many Protestant traditions, while the process of interpretation transitioned back to trained professionals. The emerging church teaching shift from a pulpit- to community-centered approach reflects the reformative intentions of the 16th century. Further, the cultural transition from word- to image-driven communication necessitates a liturgical response. The broader North American church should explore more nuanced approaches to Scriptural communication, such as communal and artistic expression. This demonstrates both a commitment to cultural transformation and a re-imagination of the Reformation ideal for communal responsibility in spiritual development. In this way, the Scriptural narrative becomes a natural expression of the liturgical act rather than its mechanized center. The world re-created in worship is re-created communally, with the story of God expressed in various ways by the empowered people of God.
The narrative approach to liturgical spirituality. The modernist approach to life was characterized by compartmentalization. The division of sacred and secular resulted in a congregational worshiping life on Sunday separated from congregational spirituality during the week. The emerging church emphasis on holistic faith seeks to bind the liturgical practice of the gathered community with the spirituality of the scattered community. Use of common prayer, the liturgical year, and frequent communal meals could draw more Free Church traditions into a broader appreciation of liturgical experience. Praying with the Church in both language and ethos through the liturgical seasons becomes an exercise in remembering the communion of saints. The ritual process of world re-creation is carried beyond the visibly gathered assembly, binding the creative practice of communal devotion to the tasks of everyday life.
Imaginative embrace of liturgical creativity. The emerging church use of various artistic expressions, such as icons, stations, candles, visual art, and worship space design, reflect a commitment to world re-creation. The artifacts of a transformed space are the visualizations of creative potential in the pattern of God (see Genesis 1). By embracing broad artistic creativity in liturgy, the broader North American church both empowers the gathered community to fulfill its creative potential and bears public witness to the transformative impact of ritual expression. The organic nature of emerging church worship allows for both artistic fluidity from gathering to gathering and the ability to nurture communal memory through enhanced interaction. The broader North American church, whose facilities and templates often limit its creative ability, would benefit from space and order design that enables a fuller expression of the community’s work in world re-creation.
© Christopher J. Montgomery, 2011.
