Creative Worship

Liturgical creativity is the process by which succeeding generations make traditions of Christian worship their own, through exercise of the gifts of the Spirit in the church. Creativity in worship means calling forth the gifts of the leaders and all participants. Among these gifts are the ability to write and speak prayers that express the faith and praise of the community; the ability to use space, the visual arts, and movement for fitting praise of God; and musical gifts. Litugical creativity is not the same as liturgical innovation-for the goal is not to entertain through the novel, but to call forth authentic contemporary praise of God, whether in local, denominational, or ecumenical settings. Learning what is done in other worshiping communities can feed liturgical creativity, but creativity is not imitation, since it depends on specific gifts and abilities in each worshiping community. The process of evoking creative gifts for worship is not uniform, since it involves the wo…