The Future of Protestant Worship
Subtitle: Beyond the Worship Wars
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
Published: August 2002
Language: eng
Number of pages: 138
ISBN-13: 9780664225728
First sentence: Several years ago, public television broadcast a series based on Joanna Trollope's novel The Rector's Wife.
Description: Over the past several years, churches have engaged in an ongoing debate between two different styles of worship--"traditional" and "contemporary." Here, Ronald Byars argues that many of the differences between the two styles are superficial. Authentic worship, being wholly theocentric, can and must be both responsive to contemporary culture and grounded in history and tradition. Thus, rather than merely trying to please their members, congregations must focus on exploring worship that is biblical, honors our communion with the saints, and takes seriously the ways that our culture is reshaping us. He concludes with a description of an authentic, postmodern Protestant worship service.