Living Theology in the Metropolitan
Volume 10, Number 2
Winter 2006
Worship and Culture
The term “culture wars” has
become common in today’s world, reflecting a period of rapid and tumultuous
social and political change. Some use
the term “worship wars” to refer to the ways tensions within our culture find
their way into the Christian church and its definitive function, worship.
For us Lutherans, the broad
issue of worship and culture may be expressed as the Great Tradition in
tension with contemporary culture.
We value our sense of history and the traditions which link us with
Christians of former ages. But we cannot
ignore the world we live in, which almost daily becomes more and more complex
and perplexing. In order for worship to
be authentic, those who worship must be able to participate with their whole
beings – body, mind, and spirit – and those beings are shaped by contemporary
culture in ways both obvious and subtle.
Our shrinking globe also
brings new challenges and insights.
Cultures formerly encountered (within the church) primarily by
cross-cultural missionaries are now represented by our co-workers and next-door
neighbors.
In this issue we present a few
facets of an enormously complex and layered set of issues. We hope you will be stimulated and inspired
to do your own analysis of worship and culture in your particular corner of the
vineyard.
Frank Senn’s
always incisive column “As I See It” tackles complicated and pressing issues
facing church and society in the
historical context of the rise and fall of Modernism. His essay gives an overview of the historical
and social setting in which topics addressed in the other articles occur.
Greg Singleton looks at
worship through the many lenses of the meanings of “time” – historical time,
liturgical time, seasonal time, clock time, internal time, time that is crammed
vs. time that is spacious and leisurely.
His use of the concept of liminality is
helpful to understanding worship as the crossover point between time and
eternity and invites us to consider what helps or hinders that crossover. Although the focus of the article is Advent
Vespers at Holy Name Cathedral, the themes have broad relevance to the
understanding of worship and culture.
Ruth VanDemark
describes how
In an informal interview,
Bishop Paul Landahl reflects on the role of liturgy
in maintaining our Lutheran tradition. In that context, he comments on the new ELCA
worship resources, Renewing Worship.
From his perspective as bishop, he urges congregations to re-examine
their liturgy and music and make it the best possible for the glory of God.
Paul Nicholson’s stimulating
essay comparing the development of art and music first appeared as program
notes for a new cantata for Reformation, Aus tiefer
Not, which
he was commissioned to compose. His observations about how the meanings of art
and music have changed over centuries give us additional perspectives on
contemporary church music and some of the freedoms and constraints that shape
it.
Todd Johnson describes the
divisive effect that a “boutique” of liturgical styles in one congregation has
had on his family as they have sought to adapt to life in Southern California
after living in
The Lutheran World Federation
has invested years of study to investigate worship and culture from many
perspectives. We have reproduced a
statement which addresses worship and culture from a global perspective.
Each
year, an ecumenical team from a single country prepares materials for the Week
of Prayer for Christian Unity. The
writing team for 2006 was Irish. In
addition to writing Bible study and liturgical resources, they reported on the
ecumenical situation in
Joyce M. Bowers
for
the Editorial Board