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The teaching of Christian worship is a relatively new phenomenon at church-related colleges, seminaries, and divinity schools. Prior to 1965, there were no full-time professors of worship in any North American school, Protestant or Catholic. Worship was generally ignored in churchrelated college curricula and tucked way into preaching courses at seminaries and divinity schools. Today, in contrast, many of the 300 members of the North American Academy of Liturgy hold full-time teaching positions. The last forty years has also been…

Green by Jean Janzen That summer the cornfields were drunk with incessant rains, and at night we could hear new leaves splitting out of the rising stalks. A gathering of teens in the park, festival of gospel songs, marimba and trumpet calling us to dedication, to leave even our fathers and mothers for the true life with God. The boys' dark eyes, my sister and I in voile dresses, hair glowing in this green confusion. "Softly and tenderly" throbbed In…

Then I looked and heard... Revelation 5:11 I usually look around a good bit when I'm worshiping. Regardless of whether I'm in the pulpit or the pew, I need to look around a lot. I want to see who's worshiping with me. I think I'm reaching for the assurance that I'm not alone, that these are real live people with all the same struggles I have, coming with me into the presence of God. I look around because worship is…

In Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales," the lovestruck knight Arcita is banished from the dukedom of Theseus, but he sneaks back in and disguises himself as a servant in the household of Emily, the woman he longs to be with. Arcita gains such a reputation throughout the dukedom as a noble person that Theseus' advisors recommend promoting him from servant to squire. In Chaucer's fourteenth-century words, the advisors tell Theseus to "put him in worshipful service." "Worshipful service" is Middle English for…

A friend of mine once commented with some wit about the recovery of liturgical lament. Dryly he asked, "Does this mean that churches will begin forming Lament Teams?" I smiled as I considered the implications: a team clothed with sackcloth and ashes, moaning and wailing "How Long, O Lord" as the repeated refrain. But at the same time I heard in my friend's humor another question. Why do some churches call their worship leaders a "Praise Team?" Typically other kinds…

Today's worship is riddled with polarities. "Traditional" is set against "contemporary."1 Hymn is set against praise song. The wisdom of professional musicians is juxtaposed with the will of the untrained people in the pews. Some champion aesthetic quality of worship music, while others promote utility.2 Does this "either/or" mentality discourage us from exploring creative new forms of congregational song? Perhaps we have become like the barmaid in the Blues Brothers movie: "We have both kinds of music here: Country and…