Conversations on the future of worship
Ancient-Future Talk

Thanks so much for logging in to Ancient-Future Talk. Let me use this first column to tell you my vision of how this monthly column will work and how you can participate.

AFT is a conversation column.

I want to engage with you about worship past, present and future. Here is how it works: write to me at my e-mail address and present issues that pertain to your ministry in worship and the church in general. Keep your comment or question between 25-50 words. Each month I'll choose one entry and write a response of 250-500 words.

Now let me describe the guidelines to my responses. First, they will be grounded in scripture. I am absolutely committed to the finality of scripture in all matters of faith and practice. The authority of the Bible is over all councils, church fathers, influential theologians and culturally conditioned movements.

Second, they will arise from the notion that God's spirit has been present in the church from the beginning and throughout history. I think it is arrogant and misleading to think we have nothing to learn from history. The road to the future runs through the past. This column will be connected to history.

Third, I don't think we can proceed into the future without a sensitivity to our culture. I am convinced we are going through an enormous cultural shift. Worship that is grounded in scripture and connected to history must be authentic to this changing cultural situation.

I've called this ancient-future talk. So let's talk about worship - what you do, what you hope to do, how you are going to do it, and anything else that comes to mind. And let's all commit to be grounded in scripture, connected to history, and authentic in this changing world.

Write me at rwebber@northern.seminary.edu. Tell all your friends to get online for a life changing, ministry forming, conversation.

The Lord be with you,

Back in the late eighties I told friends I was going to found a school to study worship.

You wouldn't believe the response! But then, maybe you would.

Again and again I heard, "What's there to study about worship, you just do it!"

I always responded with these words, "My doctorate is in the history of theology, believe me, the study of theology throughout history in its many shapes and cultural forms is a cinch by comparison to the study of worship.

"If you want to study worship, you need to study its origins, developments and theological nuances in both the Old and New Testaments. Then you need to study worship through all of history - in the ancient, medieval, reformation and modern paradigms. You need to know the history of music (instruments, hymns, songs, canticles, etc.), the history of the arts (visual arts, performance arts, architecture), the history of worship theology, the history of worship and culture.

Then you need to dig into the culture in which we now live and figure out how worship relates to the present. When you are done with all this you need to have the musical skills to lead it, the leadership skills to work with people, and a heart that is in tune with God."

Interested? That's what the Doctor of Worship Studies (DWS) and the Master of Worship Studies (MWS) is all about. Click on the worship education button and check IWS out.

Each month I'll introduce you to more about the school - its curriculum, its students, and the value of a worship education for you.