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“What
is Experiential Worship About?
For decades churches have been caught up in
endless debates about worship styles: traditional vs. contemporary,
evangelical vs. charismatic, believers’ vs. seeker services.
For centuries each denomination has overtly or implicitly
defended their own liturgical tradition as historically correct.
Whatever the approach, if we are honest each of us will admit
how easily our services can slip into meaningless rote, driven
by habit rather than spiritual passion. Meanwhile, people
all around us in our rapidly changing culture are longing
for more complete encounters with the living God. Deep inside
those of us within the church also long for something greater,
a transforming power that seems missing in our services.
The spiritual crisis of our time raises searching questions:
How can we create worship gatherings that invite people to
move beyond style and habit to encounter God more fully? How
can we help people respond to this encounter by giving themselves
more completely to God? Jesus’ Great Commandment offers
the ancient wisdom we need to answer these questions:
‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all
your strength’ (Mark 12:30).
Worship gatherings that reflect Jesus’ vision will invite
people to experience and respond to God in all four of these
ways: intellectually (with our minds), emotionally (with our
souls), volitionally (with our hearts), and physically (with
our bodies). When these aspects of human experience come together
in a more complete encounter with God and move people to respond,
this is what we call “Experiential Worship.”
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Planning
and leading Experienial Worship gatherings in a local church
is a high calling and a holy challenge. We cannot do it alone.
We need each other and we need the Holy Spirit. This website
is dedicated to helping you find the resources you need to
develop a more experiential worship ministry in your local
setting.
Experiential Worship:Encountering
God with Heart, Soul, Mind, and Strength
(NavPress, 2005) explores this approach in greater depth,
outlines a comprehensive process for implementing this in
your church, and offers concrete examples from actual Experiential
Worship gatherings.
The pages of this website offer fresh ideas for each aspect
of experience, an opportunity to share the ideas that have
worked in your setting, and a forum for ongoing conversations
about the art of Experiential Worship. So come explore, share,
and be a part of this collaborative community of Experiential
Worshipers!” |
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Copyright
© 2004 Robert P. Rognlien
All rights reserved. Any reproduction or transmission
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, or by any information storage
and retrieval system without the expressed written
consent of Robert P. Rognlien is strictly prohibited.
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