Styles Of Worship

A glance at the orders of worship of various churches gives evidence of both commonalities and distinctives. This section provides specific resources for the range of possible service parts included in the Entrance rites, the Service of the Word, the celebration of the Lord's Supper (service of the sacrament), and the acts of Dismissal. These are introduced by a general descriptive and theological approach to the nature of the worshiping assembly itself and to the various styles of worship employed in those assemblies. The two foremost styles of renewing worship in our time are the fourfold pattern of worship and the contemporary praise-and-worship movement. The fourfold pattern of worship represents a return to the order of worship in the early church. The praise-and-worship order is an offshoot of the charismatic movement, the Jesus movement of the 1970s, and the influence of the new praise songs. This section also looks at a convergence worship, which seeks to bring together the tra…