Worship Preferences and Change

[ByzantineDixie]

I am presently taking a class on worship and one of our required readings was a book by a guy who was Baptist and ultimately joined the Episcopal church. He liked the liturgical worship, the sacraments, etc.

I am interested in more stories of people changing churches (not necessarily denominations) because of worship style. Have you or are you considering a change? What kind of worship style did (do) you have and what kind of worship style did (will) you select?

Descriptors like traditional/liturgical, traditional/non-liturgical, contemporary/liturgical, contemporary/non-liturgical come to mind but you use whatever words work best for you.

What was the best worship service you attended (if one stands out for you) and why?

Peace

Rose

 

[countrymousenc]

I have not actually changed churches yet but would like to, and have been looking around. Worship style is not the only factor, but it is a big one. My preference is for liturgical worship, because it seems much more to be God-centered worship, and represents the way the whole Church worshipped for 1500 years. In liturgical worship I am constantly reminded that all worship is an offering to God, whereas "low church" style seems too "us- or me-focused."
My favorite worship services in my own denomination have been those special services such as Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday Services in which we follow a more liturgical style and in some of which we share Holy Communion; I also love Christmas "lessons and carols."

 

[II Paradox II]

What was the best worship service you attended (if one stands out for you) and why?

I have actually found both liturgical and more informal folk worship traditions to be spiritually uplifting. About the only thing I despise is the modern "plastic" worship that often goes on in many churches (where the focus does seem to be on entertainment rather than God). Worship is from the heart and is only as strong as the fiducia of the one offering it...

Worship should be offered with the same dedicated passion that Pascal showed through his famous words:

God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; not of the philosophers and scientists.
Certainty, certainty. Feeling. Joy. peace.
God of Jesus Christ.
Deum Meum et Deum Vestrum.
Thy God shall be my God.
Forgetfulness of the world and of all, except God.
He is to be found only by ways taught in the gospel.
greatness of the human soul.
O righteous Father the world has not known Thee
But I have known Thee
Joy, Joy, Joy, tears of Joy

ken

 

[Jenna]

You know, for as long as people are really loving LOVING God, I don't care where I'm at. There is nothing like feeling as though a bucket of ice water were dumped on you as soon as ya walk in. lol It's not so much about the style of worship to me as it is the passion of the people. Whether kneeling in intense prayer or raising the roof in song, the mode is irrelevant so long as it's all about HIM.

As far as my personal preference, I swing dramatically between "High Church" and contemporary 'knock your socks off' worship. It's all good.

 

[BarbB]

Jenna, you are a woman after my own heart.

I was saved in an Episcopal church which says it has evangelical and charismatic leanings. I love the liturgy but couldn't find the same God centeredness in my local Episcopal churches. So, I moved through the Methodist churches but left because of the lukewarmness of the congregations and now I'm at Church of God in FL and C&MA in NJ. Love both churches. Both tend toward contemporary services! If All Saints would move to FL and NJ I would return to the Episcopal church.

Father Bill once told a story of a congregant who was dying of cancer, hadn't spoken in 2 days and was near death. When Father Bill showed up for a final eucharist with the fellow, he mouthed the words with Father Bill! The liturgy enters your heart and never leaves!

 

[LuxPerpetua]

I go where I'm wanted. I was raised Baptist, studied Catholicism, attended an Episcopal church, and am now at a Congregational church. Sometimes I long for liturgical worship, but when I was at the Episcopal church, many times I felt like people were just "going through the motions." However, some services were more powerful than others--like the Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services. Wow. In general, though, I feel more welcomed at less formal churches. I also don't like that liturgical ritual can often be intimidating to new converts or visitors, and so actually can have the effect of pushing people away from the church. This has just been my observation. I have yet to reconcile this, and so now I feel like I can better bring people to Christ in a church that isn't as intimidating.

 

[Phoebe]

Father Bill once told a story of a congregant who was dying of cancer, hadn't spoken in 2 days and was near death. When Father Bill showed up for a final eucharist with the fellow, he mouthed the words with Father Bill! The liturgy enters your heart and never leaves!

That reminds of a friend's father that passed on recently.

 

[Arikereba]

In July I started attending church for the first time; before September of this year, I will have almost certainly moved out of the country. This has made me put a whole lot of thought into what was important to me in a church; last summer I narrowed my options to three, and ultimately selected the one that seemed least intimidating, a liberal and slightly liturgical church. And when I heard the preacher, I decided that that was where I was going to stay. His preaching was so passionate and powerful and intelligent. I'll stay here until I have to leave.

But, keeping in mind that I will have to leave before long, I've realized that what's important to me now is not necessarily what was important to me then. I would like to be in a church where I can receive communion weekly. (Not going to happen now, as I'm not even baptized yet--I'll be baptized this Easter, and my church says that anyone who wishes to receive communion can). I would like to be in a church where the preaching is passionate and intelligent. I would like to be in a church that is to some degree liberal. (Or at least not conservative). And if I could have all of those I'd be willing to put up with a little intimidation--which is why I'm considering the Episcopal church when I move...

I have a reflexive dislike for powerpoint and overhead projectors, but I'm willing to be persuaded away from that.

 

[ChristianRocks]

I remember as a teen, I went to a camp out in the country called Pembina Bible Camp. There were no TV's, no DVD's, no city-life to distract us from God. You would stay at this camp for 7 days, talk and sleep in cabins with about 10 other guys (or gals) your age. It was a load of fun. But the thing I remember the most were the Church services. We would have services for the teens in the mornings and those were awesome. And then there would be services in the evening for everyone, those blew you away.
You know how sometimes in Church in the city you often had your mind wander to the things you were going to do that day or whatever. Well, that didn't happen here because it was just you and God.


The building we had our services had seen many years, and when you walked into it you could feel the presence of God. There would be a new speaker each year, usually a missionary from another country that was invited to speak. The worship was the best of all. Often people wouldn't even sit in the pews and would just automatically go to the front to praise God! Forget sitting down or even standing in the pews. Everyone was at the front dancing and worshipping God. That's when I personally felt the presence of God for the first time and it was a surprisingly soothing and peaceful experience for me. Of course, everyone has their own personal experience and thats great! God touches us in the way He knows best

I just can't explain the Joy of seeing hundreds of Christians praising God. For me it truly felt like I was part of a family, the Body of Christ! And for me that camp will always have a special place in my heart! I pray that I may have a worship experience like that again!

God Bless

 

[ByzantineDixie]

I just can't explain the Joy of seeing hundreds of Christians praising God. For me it truly felt like I was part of a family, the Body of Christ!

I can completely relate to this.

For me, the most memorable worship experience I had the joy to witness was at a Life Teen mass at St. Anne's Catholic church in Marietta, GA. At one point in the service I looked around the church and saw people of different nationalities, different color, different social backgrounds...and ages from infant to 80, all worshipping God with a visible passion. As in your experience...it wasn't just me worshipping, it was community worship...all together as the body of Christ. Too bad that as a non-Catholic I couldn't participate in communion.

"Come let us worship the Lord, for we are his people, a flock that He shepherds. Alleluia"

Rose

 

[HiredGoon]

For me the most memorable worship experience was sitting in a valley high in the mountains, warm wind, cool rain, and mist rising above the pines along the river. The presence of God was undeniable. I prefer to worship God by spending time with the Creator in His creation, rather than in the creations of man, which pale in comparison. Singing songs in a building just doesn't cut it.

"Yet this glorious valley might well be called a church, for every lover of the great creator who comes within the broad overwhelming influences of the place fails not to worship as they never did before." - John Muir

"The contemplation of a beautiful landscape excites the highest spiritual pleasure in us." - John Muir

 

[BarbB]

That reminds of a friend's father that passed on recently.

I'm sorry, Phoebe. I meant the story to show hope, not sorrow!

 

[Crazy Liz]

I think there is a tendency to take for granted the style of worship we are used to. Many people change churches or like a worship style different from what they grew up with. We get bored with what is too familiar, and see more meaning in something different. My husband was raised Catholic & hates liturgical worship. I was raised in a more fundamentalist church, and I love it.