Alternative Worship In The Pentecostal-charismatic Tradition

Within the Pentecostal-charismatic community, worship renewal may take the form of a reappropriation of more traditional liturgical elements, such as the use of a lectionary and a consistent emphasis on the sacraments. In churches where this is occurring, members are finding a relationshipo between many areas of Christian ministry and worship. This entry discusses the experience of one such congregation. Pentecostals and charismatics center their spiritual lives around the worship experience and evangelism. They are often weak in areas that motivate other communities of Christians, such as development of the inner life, study of the Scripture, or the application of Christians values to culture. In worship and evangelism, however, they excel. The term worship experience has been carefully chosen because as anyone who has been raised in a Pentecostal environment knows, worship experience is not always the same as worship. Sometimes Pentecostals and charismatics worship the experience…