Worship has changed significantly
As people gather to worship during the many church services of Holy Week, it is obvious that worship today is not the same as worship even a few decades ago. Things have changed. The majesty of the Easter truth of the events of Holy Week and of Jesus’ resurrection may remain the same, but the presentation of those truths has changed remarkably.
Are all of the changes in the way people worship today better or worse than before? I’m sure that I don’t have an answer to that question. I am not qualified to answer it. However, I am qualified to report what I see and hear.
During the past several months, I have had the privilege of worshiping in 10-15 different churches, and except for two which hearkened back to days long ago, they all began their worship services with a strong music presentation, often with a group of singers and instrument players that looked and sounded rather professional to me. Now don’t get me wrong. Although the music was loud and tended to hurt my old ears, it was beautiful and the words of the songs were certainly biblical. However, I would have to surmise that not many people in the congregations were capable of singing along with the various groups. Hymnals are gone and video screens are in vogue.
Either before (but normally after) the musical presentation, there was a welcome to visitors and some announcements of coming events. There were no bulletins, because there was no program to follow.
The prayers when people were asked to bow their heads were obviously public prayers, not personal communications with the Almighty. Some referred to specific prayer requests, but usually they contained general entreaties or thanks to God. I often recognized that the prayers also provided an opportunity for the musicians and others on the platform to vacate or occupy the area —yes, I opened my eyes and observed this when I should have been praying harder. While these activities certainly did facilitate the fluidity of the service, I still am not sure what my personal feelings are about prayers not being given a higher priority in a worship service.
One of the big changes in church worship services appears to be the elimination of passing an offering plate to receive offerings and gifts during the service. Apparently, these are either given online or at the back of the church’s worship center when people are coming or going. As a former pastor, I can sympathize with this somewhat, since the small amount of gifts given in the offering plates did little to balance the church’s budget; but I also recognize that those gifts did reflect the relationship worshipers had with God. Church budgets are maintained through committed tithing Christians and major donors, both of which may be given in many ways.
The place of the sermon in worship has not changed much, although I have noticed that many of the sermons on a particular Sunday were very similar, this despite the fact that many evangelical churches do not claim to follow a lectionary. And, they were long.
Lastly, the way churches receive new members or have people commit themselves to God through Jesus has changed significantly.
Altar calls too often are linked to long prayers that are sermons in disguise, and most decisions are not made at the conclusion of a worship service; they are made by inviting interested individuals to a luncheon where they are given a private invitation to make a decision. In many churches, new converts to Jesus are baptized following their decisions, but others who are simply joining the church are summarily voted into membership during a church’s business meeting.
So, worship has changed significantly over the past few decades. However, there is one thing that has not changed: You cannot have a worship service without having someone to worship, and Christians come to church every Sunday to lift up their hearts and souls to God through His son, Jesus. Praise God! Easter is a time to worship the God of us all.
Robert Box has been a law enforcement chaplain for 30 years. He is a diplomate-level chaplain with the International Conference of Police Chaplains and is an endorsed chaplain with the American Baptist Churches USA. He also currently serves as a deputy sheriff chaplain for the Benton County Sheriff’s Office. Opinions expressed are those of the author and not the agencies he serves.