Corporate Worship at Grace Church of DuPage
An enduring and weekly hub, around which life together at Grace Church of DuPage revolves, is gathering for Lord’s Day corporate worship. Since gathering for worship is such a central feature of our corporate life, and since we believe the public worship of God is a central feature of God’s mission and purposes in the world (note, for example, how central worship scenes are in the book of Revelation), it is important to clarify the basic characteristics—the guiding light and the general logic—of the practice of corporate worship at Grace Church.
Scripturally Rooted (and Saturated), Contextually Enacted
Scripture is the rule according to which we are to worship God. In particular, it guides us in identifying the proper object of worship (God—Father, Son, and Spirit—alone), the proper mediator of our worship (in Christ alone), and the proper elements of worship—that is, prayer (including adoration, confession of sin, thanksgiving, and supplication); the reading of Scripture; the preaching and conscionable hearing of the Word; the singing of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; the confessing of the faith; and the enacting of the ordinances (baptism and communion); together with oaths, vows, fastings, and commissionings on special occasions, all especially to be enacted on the Lord’s Day.
So, Scripture identifies what we are to do, as it were, when we come together for worship. But, we also want our services to be filled with Scripture itself. We seek not merely to give lip service to the centrality of the Word of God, not merely to talk or sing about Scripture, not merely to paraphrase Scripture (as in songs), not merely to exposit Scripture (as in preaching, which is of central importance). In addition to all of that, we want especially to read and hear the words of Scripture itself in abundance in our services, heeding the apostle Paul’s clear call to be devoted to the public reading of the Word
(1 Timothy 4:13). Therefore, a regular portion of the service is given to reading a biblical passage which is chosen from week to week with a view toward covering the sweep of the biblical revelation over the course of a few years together. We also fill our services regularly with congregationally responsive readings of Scripture, and often speak the words of Scripture to guide our praise, confession, lamentation, supplication, and thanksgiving.
It is also important to note that there is no statement in Scripture concerning how all the various elements of worship must be enacted in all times and places with regard to their order, form, or style. Indeed, there seems to be variety and adaptation of corporate worship enactment at different times in biblical history, as in changes in practices from the time of the tabernacle in the wilderness to the time of the temple in the land. What’s more, there seems to be variety and adaptation of corporate worship enactment at different times in church history, as in the omission of the Reading of the Law in Luther’s services vs. the inclusion of it in Calvin’s services. This seems to be a mark of pastoral wisdom and responsiveness to present need, consistent with the freedom discernible in the pages of Scripture. That is to say, there is freedom and pastoral responsibility to contextualize the necessary elements of worship according to local and historical need and circumstances. Indeed, on biblical, theological, and historical grounds, we should pursue and expect both a unity (regulated by the Word) and a diversity (locally, historically enacted) of Christian worship across times and cultures. Therefore, in dependence on the Spirit’s guidance and for the glory of Christ, the Head of the one church of all times and places, we seek to shape our corporate worship services with contextual sensitivity to our place and present need (to include, for example, more recently composed hymns and songs, varied music arrangements and instrumentation, modern-day catechisms, contemporary Scripture translations) while also desiring to acknowledge our debts and connection to earlier ages through discerning selection of historical materials (like ancient hymns, Reformation confessions, wise and rich patterns of prayer and Scripture reading) that contribute to the exaltation of God.
The Aims and Logic of the Worship Service
Our corporate worship services can be further explained by way of four descriptors. The conviction at Grace Church is that corporate worship at its best is clearly doxological in content and purpose, dialogical in nature and enactment, dramatic in shape and direction, and a doing of something together—not merely so many individuals prompted to think or feel this or that.
Doxology. Worship is fundamentally for the glory of God in Christ. This is our chief end in whatever we do (1 Corinthians 10:31), and worship is off kilter if it is fundamentally instrumentalized for other ends (for example, personal betterment, encouragement, self-expression, inspiration, instruction, or outreach). We call it a “worship service” not because it serves our needs, but because it is worshipful service rendered to the one God who is worthy of it. This is in accord with the way Scripture itself often uses the word “serve/service” (see, for example, Romans 1:25; Hebrews 12:28; Revelation 7:15).
Dialogue. Worship is best when it is filled with and advanced by way of God’s initiating Word (Scripture) and our answering speech (prayer/praise/profession; note, for instance, the expected interchange between God’s Word and the people’s response in Psalm 50, especially in verses 14-15). In our worship service, God’s initiating Call to Worship leads to his people’s activities and words (whether spoken or sung) of response. This is followed by another initiating act of God (for example, Scripture Reading) to which the people respond (in, for instance, Confession of Sin). The declaration of God’s forgiveness in Christ (Word of Assurance) pulls forth from the people the eminently proper response joyful songs of praise. The Proclamation of the Word clarifies our identity in Christ and instructs, directs, and consecrates us for joining him on mission, to which we respond with our Profession of Faith, Prayers, and/or Dedication. In these ways and more, the Lord’s Day service is a meaningful dialogue between covenant Lord and his covenant people, until finally the congregation is blessed and sent out for life and mission in the world in the Benediction and Sending.
Drama. The worship service, properly conceived, is not an extended time to meditate and reflect upon and be taught about some godly theme variously chosen from week to week; rather, a worship service has a definite direction and logical flow. Just as a drama is not so many different angles and illustrations of an abstract idea but has a plot that moves purposefully forward through meaningful acts from beginning to end, so our worship services are not simply so many songs and teachings around a theme or idea, but they (also and) especially have a dramatic movement. Ultimately, we view our worship services to be, at their best, rehearsal and enactments of (and an experiential entering into) the shape and logic of the biblical drama:
Creation – each Lord’s Day we are identified anew as God’s gathered people in the Call to Worship, which properly “gets worship going.”
Fall – we, like our father Adam, have sinned, and we openly acknowledge it together in the Confession of Sin. Yet we do so on the basis of Christ’s finished work and God’s promise that “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
Redemption – the glorious God of mercy is eager to forgive and to do so abundantly through the work of his Son, our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. So eager is God to forgive that barely is the confession of sin off our lips, barely have we had time to sulk and brood in self-flagellation, when he mightily declares the Word of Assurance that we who call upon the name of the Lord are forgiven, cleansed, and restored.
Consummation – the drama of reality will end in joyous feasting with one another and with our risen King (Revelation 19:9); and we have a present foretaste of this sure hope in the Lord’s Supper at which our service comes to its good and proper climax.
Time of Mission between Redemption and Consummation – since we are not yet at the end, but continue to live in long-suffering hope, and since the Lord’s Supper is only a foretaste not the whole feast (it is a remembrance and proclamation of the Lord’s death until he returns [1 Corinthians 11:23-26]), therefore our Lord’s Day worship services rightly conclude with a Benediction and Sending out into the world on watchful and winsome mission, as has been clarified for us in the Proclamation of the Word.
Doing. A worship service not only has a definite direction and logical flow, but by way of that direction and flow it accomplishes something definite and something corporate. It is not merely so many prompts for individuals to think and feel things in the inner recesses of their hearts, but is also and especially a public event that forms us together into a people. A wedding is not various lessons about marriage taught to those gathered, but an event wherein a man and a woman are covenantally joined, which joining happens through a definite order and movement of elements before witnesses. So also, a worship service is not only lessons about our relationship with God, but also the event of our being renewed in covenantal relationship with Christ as his bride. Again and again throughout the biblical drama, God gathers his people and enters into covenant (or renews his covenant) with them through a discernible pattern of elements which typically include a call to assembly, prayer and song, reading and proclamation of the Word, and a covenantal meal, much like our corporate worship services (compare, for example, Exodus 19–24; 2 Chronicles 29–31; Nehemiah 8; Luke 22 and John 13–17; Acts 2). We believe that a Lord’s Day service of worship is, in truth, a covenant renewal ceremony, a ratifying/renewing of the new covenant in Christ’s blood. No mere mental recall of past events or ideas, this is a covenantal doing in remembrance that binds us to our Head and with one another.
Gathering and Sending, Worship and Work
Worship is an embodied, temporal engagement that not only “expresses” what we individually “bring into the sanctuary,” as it were, but is also an opportunity to form and disciple us (transforming us contrary to the conforming to “the world” that is unrelentingly taking place in the cultures in which we all find ourselves). We believe that the Spirit is present in and works through our corporate gatherings on the Lord’s Day to glorify Christ by shaping us as a people ever more into his image, with the result that we may live for Christ, trusting and obeying the Father in everyday life, testifying to Father, Son, and Spirit in word and deed in the many differing and wonderful vocations given to us from Monday to Saturday.
Our Sunday services end, therefore, with a Sending, with the calling of God on our lives to love neighbor winsomely and wisely in the name of Christ and until he returns. The Christian life is the whole rhythm of worship and work, of gathering as a body and being sent into the world on mission. Both sides of the coin are crucial. Through following what Scripture calls for in the worship of the one true God, saturating our services with the reading and hearing of the Word, freeing up space in our services for God’s people to lift their songs of praise and lament and prayer with one voice to their King, shaping corporate worship in pastorally sensitive ways that are attentive to our present circumstances and reflective of the shape of the biblical drama and covenantal renewal—in all these ways, we prayerfully pursue through corporate worship the formation of lives suitably prepared to labor well “in the wild” for the good of neighbor and the glory of Christ.
Appendix
Ten Principles Guiding Our Worship and Music Ministry
In creating this philosophy statement, we have attempted to examine every biblical passage pertaining to worship and, as a particular expression of worship, music. Our study of the scriptural testimony concerning corporate worship, and the ways the church has historically sought to live in accord with that testimony, has led us to articulate the following as both the support structure that sustains and the principles that guide the planning and administration of our worship services.
Principle #1
Because worship is the ultimate priority for the church, the reason man was created, the reason regenerate man was redeemed, and the culmination of history… (Exodus 20:2-5; Isaiah 43:21;
Mark 12:29-30; John 4:23; 1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 5:13-14)
Application for Corporate Worship
We need to understand the manifold entailments and expressions of worship found in Scripture, and to welcome and encourage those entailments and expressions at Grace Church, as follows:
Biblical worship is offered in fear, awe, and devotion (e.g. bowing down) (2 Kings 17:36;
1 Chronicles 16:25; Job 1:20; Psalm 5:7; 96:4, 9; Matthew 8:2; 9:18; 14:32-33; 28:8-9).Biblical worship includes adoration and thanksgiving (Genesis 24:48; Exodus 12:27;
Judges 7:15; 1 Chronicles 29:13-14; Psalm 89:1; 92:1,4; 95:6-7; 138:2; Matthew 14:33; 28:9, 17; Ephesians 5:19-20; Philippians 3:3; 2 Timothy 1:3; Hebrews 12:28; Revelation 4:9-11; 7:11-12).Biblical worship includes obedience and service (Joshua 5:14; 1 Samuel 1:27-28; 15:22;
Romans 12:1, 9-11; 14:15,18; 15:15-16; Hebrews 12:28-29).Biblical worship includes confession that God is right and my sin is wrong (Joshua 7:19;
1 Samuel 15:30-31; 2 Samuel 12:19-20; Psalm 51:15-17; Luke 5:8; Acts 19:18-20;
Romans 15:8-12; 1 Corinthians 14:24-25; 1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 5:9-10; 15:4).Biblical worship includes sacrificial acts (Deuteronomy 26:10; 2 Kings 17:36;
1 Chronicles 16:29; 2 Chronicles 29:28; Acts 4:36-37; Romans 12:1; 15:15-16; Philippians 2:17; 4:15-18; Hebrews 12:28; 13:15-16).Biblical worship includes praise (1 Chronicles 16:9,23-28; 2 Chronicles 29:30; Psalm 29:2;
66:3-6; 71:22-23; 89:1; Psalm 108:1; Hebrews 13:15; Revelation 5:9-13; 15:3).Biblical worship includes public prayer (1 Chronicles 29:11-20; Acts 1:14, 24; 2:42; 4:24-31; 12:12; 16:25; 1 Corinthians 11:4-5; 14:13-15).
Biblical worship includes the public reading of Scripture (Nehemiah 8:5-6; 1 Timothy 4:13).
Biblical worship includes musical instruments—strings, winds, and percussion (2 Samuel 6:5; 1 Chronicles 15:16; 25:6; 2 Chronicles 5:12-14; 7:6; 29:25-28; Nehemiah 12:27;
Revelation 5:8-10; 14:2-3).Biblical worship includes corporate and private singing (Exodus 15:1; 1 Chronicles 16:9,23; Psalm 66:1-2; 71:22-23; 81:1; 89:1; 92:1; 108:1; Mark 14:26; Ephesians 5:19-20; Colossians 3:16).
Notes
The following passages are also thought to have been songs sung by the early church: Philippians 2:6-11; Colossians 1:15-20; 1 Timothy 3:16; and 2 Timothy 2:11-13.
Principle #2
Because worship is a celebration of God, his works, and his character… (2 Samuel 6:5; 1 Chronicles 15:16; 2 Chronicles 29:30; Psalm 81:1; 92:4)
Application for Corporate Worship
Our services should seek, above all, to lead hearts to exalt and exult in God.
Worship through music and song should be full of vibrant and authentic emotional expressions—including joy and gratitude and hope because worship involves a celebration of God, and grief and contrition because worship also involves an acknowledgment of God’s righteousness and our sinfulness. The music we use must be musically uplifting as well as textually edifying.
Music should show newness and creativity and engender the sense of awe and wonder that God deserves.
We need to be creative in our design of services and selection of songs and meditations to promote fresh thinking about, vibrant experience of, and deepened faith and hope in God. Yet we must also be aware that at times the newness of material can distract from a focus on God. There is a multi-faceted goodness and blessing in familiarity and tradition, which we should both acknowledge and seek to benefit from in wise ways.
Our worship should include enthusiastic singing and music accompanied by instruments, voice, and joy!
Principle #3
Because God is always to be the only object of worship, and because he is jealous to receive the sole worship of his creation… (Exodus 20:4-5; Leviticus 10:1-2; 2 Chronicles 5:13; Psalm 50:22-23;
Mark 7:7-9; Romans 1:25-26)
Application for Corporate Worship
Our leaders in worship have as their first and fundamental calling an authentic worship of God in their own hearts, and must never engage in mere posturing for a human audience.
Applause, when it occurs, ought to be the expression and overflow of joy in and gratitude to and adoration of God, rather than the exaltation of an instrumentalist or singer.
Worship music must ultimately point to and exalt God, not human beings. When testimony songs are utilized, they should contain a strong emphasis on God’s character and gracious acts. Music should leave worshipers with a clear picture of God, drawing worshipful attention to God, not to the performer.
Many styles can be used as long as they are conducive to the exaltation of and an exulting in God himself.
Battles over music or worship styles miss the point that worship is to and for God. When worship is driven by “my preferences” or “my desires,” it becomes idolatry.
Individual/group skills and giftings are to be affirmed and received in gratitude for what they are—gifts from a God of beauty, creativity, power, and grace. We will emphasize the important difference between leading the community in the worship and exaltation of God alone and ostentatious, self-serving display of our abilities, always pursuing the former by the grace and power of the Spirit.
Those leading in worship and music should maintain a modest appearance and dress that does not distract worshipers from offering their worship to God.
Our corporate worship services are primarily intended as opportunities to see, encounter, and revere our transcendent and majestic God. Therefore, we will seek to minimize, or to integrate with wisdom and sensitivity, elements which have potential to distract us from that end, such as an abundance of announcements or other “business” issues. These more horizontally oriented aspects of corporate life are not excluded from whole-life worship, but on Sunday mornings our aim is especially to pursue a vertical orientation in the worship of God.
Our services are designed to lead believers to worship God in spirit and truth. In fact, this approach is best for believers and unbelievers alike. The best way to evangelize the lost in a worship service is to present “the real God in all his fullness…. A profound discovery of God’s reality will subject all one’s personal beliefs and behaviors, priorities and sources of security to serious questioning” (Marva Dawn, “Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down: A Theology of Worship for the Turn-of-the-Century Church,” pp. 286, 288).
When performance tracks are used, they should avoid styles and instruments which could distract from worshiping God by distracting the congregation. If possible, accompaniment for vocalists should be live to allow instrumentalists to use their gifts to worship God.
Notes
The word “performance” is not synonymous with the word “entertainment.” Rather, as we are using it, “performance” is the ultimate test and finality of discipline, training, and rehearsal. In this sense a musician’s use of his/her musical talent in a worship service is a “performance.”
Principle #4
Because corporate worship in Scripture involves training and requirements for singers and musicians… (Training and musical skill: 1 Chronicles 15:22; 23:3-5; 25:6-8; 2 Chronicles 34:12b;
Set aside for music [dedication and financial support]: Numbers 8:24-26; Deuteronomy 14:27-29;
1 Chronicles 9:33; Ezra 7:24; Nehemiah 10:39; 12:27; 12:47)
Application for Corporate Worship
We should teach those serving in our music ministry the importance of their service and use of their musical abilities.
The “heart of a worshiper” should not be the only criterion for a musician to participate in leading corporate worship. There should also be a high level of musical skill and proficiency.
We should create a process to identify vocalists and instrumentalists with musical skill and then train and develop them for participation in corporate services.
Because Scripture supports it, we should also be willing to offer financial support (when needed) to musicians and to the music ministry.
Notes
The use of musicians is an important part of corporate worship as seen in Scripture. They were vital to the worship in the temple and set aside to be free to use their talents in making music. The use of musicians can be a positive and exciting addition to our corporate worship. We should be willing to honor them for their willingness to use their gifts and years of study and discipline to assist in corporate worship.
Principle #5
Because biblical worship shows organization and excellence in its production, and because acceptable worship should be conducted “decently and in order,” and because such excellence and order is an expression of love to our neighbors and to unbelievers… (Up front vocalists and instrumentalists leading in music: 2 Chronicles 29:28; Organized and choreographed services: 2 Chronicles 5:12-13; 7:6; Ezra 3:10; An expression of love our neighbors and unbelievers: 1 Corinthians 14:1-33, 40)
Application for Corporate Worship
We should strive for excellence in our worship services and in our worship music. Worship and music should be led by people who are adequately prepared and organized. Preparation, organization, and execution of the worship service should itself be viewed as an act of worship.
We should pursue excellence and order not as some abstract ideal, nor because true worship is rooted in the merit our offering, but as an expression of love to God and to our neighbor. We desire excellence and order in music so as not to obscure or distract attention away from what we are proclaiming to and about God himself by shoddy effort, poor or unprepared musical performance.
Principle #6
Because God does not accept worship when sin is unconfessed… (Joshua 7:19-20; 1 Samuel 15:22; Psalm 51:15-17; Isaiah 1:11-15; Hosea 6:4-6; Amos 5:21-24; Matthew 5:23-24)
Application for Corporate Worship
We must not knowingly allow musicians to minister whose lives do not demonstrate personal holiness.
It is each individual’s responsibility not to serve with unconfessed sin.
Bringing in musicians to assist in our worship when they are not part of the Grace Church body is not inherently wrong, but it should be carefully scrutinized for several reasons:
Only believers worship in spirit and truth.
God does not accept worship when unconfessed sin is present in the individual’s life.
Every person should be encouraged to use their giftedness and talents to serve and worship God in their own local church where they are involved in the accountability structure.
Notes
There are benefits to bringing in outside worship and music participants. For example, second chair instrumentalists who are not qualified or comfortable to play on their own get the chance to use and develop their talents. However, the risks associated with not knowing the lives of the outside participants could outweigh these benefits. Therefore, reasonable effort should be made to determine their spiritual maturity and faithfulness.
Principle #7
Because we worship God in spirit (not in a temple)… (John 4:21-24; 1 Corinthians 3:16; Philippians 3:3; Hebrews 9:24; 10:19-20; 1 Peter 2:5)
Application for Corporate Worship
We should not assume that buildings, decorations, or humanly engineered atmosphere produce worship.
Principle #8
Because we worship God in truth… (Psalm 145:18; Proverbs 9:10; Hosea 6:6; John 4:21-24;
1 Corinthians 2:14)
Application for Corporate Worship
Only the regenerate can offer acceptable worship to God.
We should not knowingly allow the unsaved to lead.
We should ensure biblically and theologically accurate words.
The words (theology) and the music (medium) should be compatible and complementary.
Principle #9
Because corporate worship should be conducted without offence to weaker brothers… (Romans 14:13-15, 18; 1 Corinthians 8:11-13; Gal 5:13-14)
Application for Corporate Worship
We will strive to be sensitive in our selections of music to avoid needlessly offending some.
We will not elevate the pursuit of musical excellence above shepherding people with compassion. The people involved in the church and music ministry must have first priority.
Out of love for their brothers and sisters, those leading in worship and music should maintain a well-groomed appearance and modesty in dress so as not to draw unwholesome attention to themselves.
Principle #10
Because Christ became relevant to man through his incarnation, and because Paul tells us to be all things to all men, and because we are called to speak to one another in songs and hymns and spiritual songs… (John 1:13; 1 Corinthians 9:19-22; 12:7, 11; Ephesians 5:19-20; Colossians 3:16)
Application for Corporate Worship
Music should be relevant to the congregation. Relevancy does not equal popularity. It means familiarity. We should use styles and texts that are capable of effective communication so that the music becomes a tool the people can use in worship, not a hindrance to it. The music selected for congregational singing should be in a vocal range accessible to the people and the tunes should be easily singable, easily transferable to their daily, personal worship.
Our music selection and the ordering of our services should be most relevant to this particular body at Grace Church—to our current moment, considering and reflecting the joys and sorrows which are shared and shouldered along the way in our life together.
The posture of this relevance should also have an impact on our decisions regarding solo or ensemble performance pieces. This music should be chosen with an eye toward edification of the body even as it aims foremost toward acceptable worship of God. Those who offer preludes or performance pieces, as well as those who lead or facilitate our regular corporate worship, should typically be members or regular attenders of Grace Church, using the gifts God has given them for the common good.
Finally, while we gladly extend a welcome to those who join us by electronic means, this embodied-relevance, “one-anothering” approach to corporate worship leads us to prioritize the needs of those gathered in the sanctuary. Decisions regarding song choices, visual layout, audio mix, and video production are not based primarily on what enhances a live stream, although that is surely a secondary aim. Rather, we seek first to care for those who are physically present with us in the room to worship, all the while trusting that the Lord will use that ministry to bless those who join us by virtual means.
Conclusion
We believe these basic Principles about worship are in accord with God’s revelation to us in Scripture. We want them to guide the pursuit and expression of our corporate worship at Grace Church and, flowing from our corporate worship, also to guide the pursuit and expression of our worship as individuals. May our worship be true both to what God has done and to who God is! May it be a pleasing aroma to him! And may we know the goodness and joy of living out the chief end for which we were created, namely, the praise and adoration of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.