The Model of Liturgical Services

Non-liturgical churches tend to “ad-lib from Sunday to Sunday”(24). There is a possibility in the claim that form limits the Spirit, but it can actually anchor a person in Biblical truth while restricting the human nature from going astray. If liturgical services were conducted with the right heart for Church tradition and for the people who that leader serves, then those who criticize the services as being restricting or cold would possibly have a different perspective. Communicating passion for the liturgy and explaining the different aspects of the service could help both those who are from the liturgical background be reminded of there purpose for worship and aid those who are non-liturgical feel as one with the body of believers.

Rooted deep in the traditional Hymn-Based model is a heritage of songs that represented hundreds of years of Church history, which other models cannot compare. Hymns have provided the Church an avenue to put to music the biblical truths that which it held as doctrine. Hymnbooks contain over “two thousand years of musical evolution…: chant, psalmody, carols, folk tunes, etc.”(67). The struggle over hymns is not over the scriptural or doctrinal truth in it but how relevant the music that is played to those scripted words.

Contemporary Music-Driven model, at its core, is about a relationship with God. It desires to connect people with God, to avoid disengagement by seeking to create authenticity in its methods. The way in which it goes about doing this is to adopt the current styles of music and the instruments that go along with it in order to give the current generation a mouthpiece to come before God with. Unfortunately, tradition has created in the Church today, as it did among the people of Isr...

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...music do not negate their ability at being a theologian. Why can a person not be equally trained in both musically arts and biblical scholarship? A simple lay minister can think Christianly about worship just as much as a professor of a theological university. One who devout themselves to studying and spending time with God can come to a grand view of who God is and how to worship Him.

I would recommend this book solely for the purpose of helping one understand different forms of worship. While this book tends to appeal to those who are involved in music, there are aspects and attitudes that can be gleamed from the heart of each model presented. There are a few models like the charismatic and emerging model that did not depicts what there type of service truly looks like, therefore, I would point the reader to additional resources that would aid in that endeavor.