Traditional Worship & the Spirit of God

[nathanbiornstad]

In my current worship tradition, we worship using the Book of Common Prayer, so basically the service follows a set standard of readings and responds across the country.

I find this tradition to be fulfilling as it helps me connect to those who have gone before and I enjoy continuing to worship in their legacy.

My question though is how would you recommend creating a place where the Spirit of God is more welcomed given the confides of service? Any thoughts?

I have considered a midweek service, but I am not sure that this is the best approach. Taize is another option, I suppose.

Any suggestions?

[Josh]

I appreciate the BOCP and traditional liturgies, but for us at Aletheia, we tend toward the more informal. I do sneak liturgical stuff in from time to time- we've incorporated readings from the BOCP before.

But even with a more informal worship service it's really easy to get into a rut that doesn't leave a whole lot of space for spontaneous moves and response to the Holy Spirit.

One thing we do to shake it up a bit is to let people share outloud- a praise, a request, a word of encouragement or a prophetic word. But this is much easier done in a small group like ours.

I encourage the group to think along the lines of 1 Cor. 14:26 where there is an expectation that we all come with something to bring to the common table when we meet together.

On another note, what is Taize?

[Anthony]

Taize is a community in France, whose style of worship has been adopted (and adapted) by many Episcopal, Lutheran and Catholic congregations over the last 40 years or so.

The style of worship is highly meditative, with an emphasis on communal singing of simple chants (sometimes in Latin, sometimes in the local language), normally based around verses of Scripture, sometimes interspersed with additional verses, or biddings to prayer, sung by a solo voice (or cantor), with a lot of time for silence to allow the Spirit to speak to the worshipper through the songs and readings. Some of the most moving worship experiences I have had have followed the Taize format - but to be successful, particularly as a new venture, it does need sensitive leading by someone who understands the ethos and can instil a responsive frame of mind in the other worshippers.