Mennonite Churches

The Mennonite tradition of worship has always placed emphasis on conversion and holy living. Since 1960 Mennonite worship has been affected by the modern liturgical movement, the charismatic movement, the praise-and-worship tradition, and the inclusion of other cultural forms of worship. The traditional style of worship in Mennonite history has been simple, exhortatory, and penitential, focusing on conversion and holy living. Preaching has been the climax of the worship assembly. In the 1960s various cultural influences and impatience with conventional patterns led to a continually widening liturgical diversity in the Mennonite mainstream. The more openly expressive worship of black congregations was, for the first time, noticed with approval by the larger church. Meanwhile, upwardly mobile, white, professional congregations turned to a more cerebral style in which the sermon became more or less a lecture followed by discussion. The charismatic movement led some congregations in a …