Académique Documents
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Melodie Rivera
Professor Jenna Campbell
ENC 1102-0040
29 March 2017
Worship: Analysis of a Textual Way of Life
Worship is an activity associated with religion. Christians commonly partake in this
activity. Worship is a way to express gratitude and respect towards God. It might seem like a
ritual but for the non-denominational Christian community it goes beyond that. Worship has
gone from this view of an impersonal religious act to a more personal way of life. It is reflected
through a persons everyday testimony. This can be achieved through a variety of texts and
genres. The primary text used in the literate activity of worship is the Bible. The Bible can be
read in different ways. It can be read in a literal account; historians usually partake in this form
of reading. For this specific literacy activity, the Bible is interpreted to fit modern time
circumstances. Other text examples include lyrics, and devotionals that are influenced by the
Bible. Everyday Christians searching for ways to enhance their worship experience with God are
both the consumers and creators. These texts help shape other participants contribution to the
literate activity of worship. Due to technological advances the sharing of worship materials has
been facilitated. Now Christians from all over the globe can communicate how God is working
in their lives and share their experiences with others. Through the use of different research
methods the different ways in which worship texts contribute to religious reflection, deepen
parlor. This conversation has been going on since man began to write about God. According to
Harry Farley the oldest Biblical texts are roughly between 2,500-3,000 years old. [Others] are
engaged in a heated discussion, a discussion too heated for them to pause, and go into detail of
what has been previously discussed (Greene 29). That is a very long time and it can quickly
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become overwhelming trying to piece the different arguments together. Now, after sitting for a
while listening to all the different conversations I have finally found something to say.
The focus of the Christian Worship community has been geared towards an impersonal
religious act. Through the years, the weekly routine of reciting hymnals and the monotonous act
of reading the scripture, seems to have become a ritual done to please others, even more so than
to please God. Instead of focusing on this point of view, I would like to draw attention to a
different and more modernized view of worship. Non-denominational Christians are a branch of
Christianity that have decided to move away from the traditional sense. They see their practice of
Christianity go beyond a religion. It is establishing a personal relationship with God. Like every
other relationship, the more you love somebody the more time you spend with them. For
Christians, their love of God is constantly pushing them to get to know Him. This is done by
reading the Bible, which is also known as the Word of God. Considering this book is thousands
of years old, it can sometimes be hard to understand. Other forms of texts are developed to assist
when a member of the community sits down and analyzes the bible. He then writes down
thoughts based on his understanding of the reading. From there it can remain as a personal note
or it can develop into a message for a congregation of the church. Many times, it is done to share
a word of hope and empowerment with the congregation which leads into the worship service.
During those services, and even on the participants personal time of worship, music is generally
involved. Where there is music, there are lyrics. These lyrics are different than what is usually
heard on the radio. They are still a creative outlet to express oneself, and are usually drawn from
personal experiences but the message is different. The lyrics are brought forth by what they call
encounters with God. This can be from sitting in awe of His creation to His faithfulness in times
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of trouble. The lyrics retell personal stories and experiences through the journey of Faith which
others going through similar situations can identify with and relate to.
Overall lyrics within this community are used as a form of religious reflection. This
religious reflection surpasses cultural barriers and is shared across the world. Song lyrics are
used to communicate and encourage others of the Christian faith through the different continents.
In the big picture aspect, this can be seen through the Grammy Award nominated Hillsong Young
& Free. They are an Australian worship group that has influenced the Christian community in
multiple countries. They are constantly traveling sharing their touching lyrics with thousands of
eager young adults searching for a way to get to know more of God. It might seem crazy but they
are just one example out of the many worship groups and people actively sharing their Godly
encounters with others. It helps establish religious communities, that encourage one another even
outside of the church. This goes back to the view that worship is no longer an activity, it has
the research. When looking at the texts presented above, ae question arises. How do the texts
within the nondenominational Christian community change personal worship life? When
researching personal experiences the research methods of observational study, interviews and
textual analysis will be the most helpful in providing the necessary data to answers the proposed
question.
In order to support my research findings, I used journal articles developed by scholars
from different areas of Christianity. A group of clinical psychologists, part of the Christian
Association for Psychological Studies, conducted research on corporate worship and spiritual
formation. The purpose of the study conducted was to gain a greater understanding of the process
worship leaders go through that contributes to the act of corporate worship. Researchers got their
insight by studying 26 worship leaders. The main concept discovered within each participant was
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the God-Centered approach. They also suggested a definition of worship, which is, sharing the
essence of God that is experienced in times of prayer and bible reading. The research focuses on
congregational aspect but the evidence suggests the influence of personal worship time. Worship
goes beyond a simple act done in church, it is a lifestyle impacted by different texts. Taking the
Experience of God in Liturgy Dogma, Spirituality and Liturgy in Orthodoxy by Dr. Cristinel
Ioja. Dr. Cristinel Ioja is an assistant professor of Orthodox Theology at the University Aurel
Vlaicu in Romania. In his journal article, Dr. Ioja discusses the Holy Trinity through the set
principles of Christianity, spirituality and worship. He draws a connection between the Holy
Trinity and the Church. He has a similar approach to Father Ciprian Streza, because he also
discusses the relationship between the Trinity and Lithurgy, but the overall focus of his journal
article is the different roles of the Holy Trinity in Christianity. Overall Dr. Ioja concludes that
there is no way to fully understand the Holy Trinity. It is a mystery that the deeper we go, the
more perspectives are uncovered. For my research purposes, I drew Dr. Iojas claim on the
establishment of the Holy Trinity. This is seen as what broke the veil between man and God.
Now there is no distance between them and man has unlimited access to Gods abundant grace.
Through this perspective, worship is no longer a ritual done to fulfill religious requirements, it
The section The Divine Liturgy in Orthodox Spirituality: The Mystery of Man's
Personal Encounter with God through Worship and the Ascetical Life from The Greek Orthodox
Theological Review, written by Father Ciprian Streza. Father Ciprian Streza is a theologist,
member of the Greek Orthodox clergy. He and a group of clergy members collaborated in writing
The Greek Orthodox Theological Review. This review is a book establishing the concepts and
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beliefs of the Greek Orthodox church. My focus was on the section written by Father Streza,
which covers the topic of mans personal encounter with God through worship during the Divine
Liturgy. The Divine Liturgy is a special service conducted by the Greek Orthodox Church with
hymns, prayer and scripture readings. This section covers the beliefs of the Greek Orthodox
nondenominational community, however the reading discusses concepts that apply to both of the
communities. Such as the concept of Worship and the effects of text on mans personal encounter
with God. It is discussed that the word of The Bible is a way in which God manifests himself
during times of personal worship. The text becomes a place to establish a relationship and
deepen religious understanding. This relates to the creation of devotionals, having a greater
understanding of the Word of God provides courage and a passion that drives Christians to share
the insight they have gathered through texts, which assist in expressing their Faith.
The Bible is the number one textual source within the Nondenominational Christian
community. This text is plays a vital role because it is considered the Word of God. It is made up
of two components, the Old and New Testaments. Each testament consists of multiple books,
each written by different authors, with a specific message. The Bible is known as the Word of
God because it is said that God revealed each message to His disciples with the purpose to share
it with His people. This book is revered very highly in the Christian community. Due to the
importance of The Bible, all the other texts used by the community revolve around it. Which
means, all the different texts used within my research have at least one reference to The Bible.
Each journal article uses the scripture as a way to establish credibility in the Christian
community. For my research purposes The Bible is the prime example of how texts affect
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personal worship time. It deepens religious understanding and encourages religious reflection by
learning from the experiences of those who lived thousands of years ago.
In order to gain a greater understanding of how worship texts influence personal worship
lives, I conducted multiple interviews. Since there are different levels of expertise within the
population, the interviews consisted of two sets of people. One set of interviews was conducted
with a group of worship pastors/leaders. They have a higher level of expertise due to their
education and years of experience in the field of worship. The other set of the population
interviewed is the congregation. These are people who attend church and are involved in the
worship experience both congregational and personally. The use of these two populations show
the different perspectives and how they all tie together in the act of worship. The two groups had
similar questions, with slight differences to best fit the interviewees. For the purpose of the
annotated bibliography, I selected one personal interview from each of the population samples.
According to the people interviewed, the majority of song lyrics are based off a biblical
text. Evidence to support this claim can be found in my rhetorically analysis of the song, What a
Beautiful Name by Hillsong Worship. I looked at every lyric of the song and made connections
common text within times of intimacy with God in the Nondenominational Christian community.
I studied the form and the content to gain a greater understanding of the text. Similar to the
worship song lyrics, the use of the scripture as a basis was apparent.
Worship lyrics and devotionals each have a different impact on personal worship. A
common trend, however, is they all draw people closer to a relationship with God. Lyrics in
particular can lead to breakthroughs, which give a clear understanding of what God is doing,
interview. Lyrics help shine a light on a different perspective of a situation which encourages
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religious reflection. This can be an eye opening experience to those who partake in the worship
activity. Marielis Montanez, a worship leader at her local church in Maryland, shared that It's
really inspiring to hear that some people can go through the same things as you do and how God
can work in their lives, and that helps you to have a different perspective in worshipping Him. It
is always reassuring to know you are not the only one going through that situation. By hearing
others experiences that relate to ones own gives a sense of hope and helps build religious
communities. When it comes to worship texts there is also an emphasis on Gods characteristics.
It was due to a song that Kathy Serrano, a worship leader at a local church in the Orlando area,
was able to understand the greatness of Gods love. The song How Great is Your Love had a
deep impact on her understanding of Gods endless love, not only in her life but in the lives of
those around her. The lyrics reflected the essence of God and deepened her religious
understanding.
such thing as a "perfect" worship text but an honest one that not just connects you more with
God but also makes others around you feel and connect with that it. When creating a worship
text one of the most important parts is authenticity. Lyrics and devotionals are based on personal
experiences. Honesty is what speaks to the heart. Things that touch a persons heart during their
time of prayer are then developed into different forms of texts. A group of clinical psychologists,
part of the Christian Association for Psychological Studies, conducted research on corporate
worship and spiritual formation. They got their insight by studying worship leaders. The data
collected proposed four qualities of worship (1) the aim of worship is to glorify God; (2) God's
glory pertains to what is revealed in the Christian scriptures; (3) worship is always "culturally
embodied and embedded"; and (4) worship invites full participation as we bring our whole life
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to worship (Abernethy et al.). In other words, worship is sharing the essence of God that is
experienced in times of prayer and bible reading. Worship goes beyond a simple act done in
church, it is a lifestyle impacted by different texts. Worship is an act of service, which constantly
requires the use of texts such as the bible and devotionals to enhance the relationship between
Based on the results from the interviews conducted lyrics and devotionals are not the only
texts that affect personal worship time. Blogs, podcasts and books are all different genres that
contribute to the worship experience. Blogs can cover different topics. An example of a popular
Christian blog is The Secret Garden. This video blog is geared towards young adult Christian
women. It provides advice and different testimonies of extraordinary women who can be seen as
role models. The general ideas of blogs are to unite Christians with similar interests and tie those
interests to their relationship with God. Podcasts are also a way to share words of encouragement
with members of the Christian worship community. In Pastor Ricks Daily Hope Podcast, he
shares new scriptures and devotionals with a sense of hope, encouraging others to deepen their
religious understanding. Some churches such as Elevation Church and Bethel Church use
podcasts to share weekly sermons. Books also share encouraging words, such as Crazy Love by
Francis Chan. This book describes the different attributes of Gods love. Another book
mentioned during the interviews was Doxology and Theology by Matt Boswell. This book covers
guidelines based on biblical principles on the life of a worship leader and how to lead others into
worship. This text mainly impacts the worship pastor/leader community but it inadvertently
impacts the congregation also because the information read during the leaders personal worship
interviewee. This text is plays a vital role because it is considered the Word of God. The Bible is
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revered very highly in the community. Due to the importance of the Bible, all the other texts used
by the community revolve around it. An example of this can be seen in worship song lyrics. My
research findings suggest that the majority of song lyrics are based off a biblical text. In order to
support this claim I picked a song to rhetorically analyze. According to the iTunes Hot Tracks the
number one song at the moment in the Christian & Gospel genre is What a Beautiful Name by
Hillsong Worship. In order to understand the context of the song I gathered information on the
writers of the text. Hillsong Worship is the praise and worship group of a local church in
Australia, that through the years has grown and impacted many people. They are a very
successful group who have obtained the chance to travel the world sharing their vision on the
unshakeable belief in the power of Jesus Christ. Despite the pain, sorrow and tension of this
world, Jesus is not threatened by the darkness (hillsong.com/worship). Hillsong Worship seeks
to spread their love of Christ, no matter the situation and circumstances. The power of Jesus
Christ will always shine through and overcome adversity. Through the lens of their beliefs, I
starts by stating You were the Word at the beginning which relates to the biblical scripture of
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
referencing the main text. The overall motif of the song is to exalt the greatness of Jesus Christ.
They constantly proclaim the beauty of all His works. The diction used in the lyrics such as You
didnt want heaven without us/So Jesus, You brought heaven down, Death could not hold you
and You are raised to life again show that Jesus greatest work is considered to be His
crucifixion and resurrection. All of these phrases are related to biblical scriptures. By stating
One with God the song then goes on to reference the Holy Trinity. The Holy Trinity is a
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concept in which God is three people in one. The Father, God, the Son, Jesus, and the Holy
Spirit. Jesus explains this when he states I and the Father are one, (New International Version,
John. 10.30). This concept also relates to the personal aspect of worship. As described by Dr.
Cristinel Ioja, an assistant professor of Orthodox Theology at the University Aurel Vlaicu, the
establishment of the Holy Trinity is what broke the veil between man and God. Now there is no
distance between them and man has unlimited access to Gods abundant grace, creating a
the time of reading The Bible creates such a communion that the same inspired word becomes a
revelation from God at the same time as it brings him glory and praise (Streza 147). It becomes
the Word of God provides courage and a passion that drives Christians to share their Faith.
As part of my research I collected a sample of a devotional text, the writer of the text
wishes to remain anonymous. For this particular example, the text is based on the biblical
scripture found in Philippians 1:12-18 (figure 4). This scripture covers the story of Paul in a jail
cell. The devotional is reflecting upon a difficult situation and establishing a sense of hope.
While Paul is in the jail cell, he continues to praise God and encourages those around him to do
the same. The writer of the devotional takes this scripture and relates it to any unideal situation.
Faith is expressed by assuring that God will take any situation and turn it around to show His
greatness. This devotional was created while reading and contemplating the Bible. It was a
personal act that can also impact others. By sharing his understanding of what Gods word is
saying the author can encourage others to pursue faith and hope. The devotional is based on a
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single scripture, but it also mentions other scriptures to emphasizes the message. For God so
loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish
but have eternal life, is used by the writer to support his claim of the love God has for his
Through the years, worship has gone past religious acts and is now considered more of a
way of life. This can be seen through different acts of service both inside and outside the church.
Through the research process of interviews and textual analysis it can be seen that the Bible
plays an important role in worship texts, it is intertwined in multiple aspects of a text, and it
plays a vital role in text creation. With the use of different sources, such as scholarly journal
articles and research studies, the positive impact of worship texts on religious reflection, deepen
semester. The interview process was short, and consisted mostly of people in the Orlando area
due to availability. With more time, I would have had the opportunity to reach out to a greater
pool of worship pastors/leaders and members of different congregations. More evidence would
throughout the different denominations of Christianity. Each denomination has different views on
the Bible and other Christian principles, which can influence the impact of texts in the
community. With this I propose another research question, how does the Bible and other
Appendix
1. How have lyrics and devotionals personally impacted your worship life?
2. What other textual sources affect your personal worship experience?
3. What leads to a successful worship text?
4. What is your writing process?
5. What type of experiences are the texts based of?
6. How do you use the Bible within text creation?
7. What causes these texts to surpass cultural barriers?
1. How have lyrics and devotionals personally impacted your worship life?
2. What other textual sources affect your personal worship experience?
3. What do you think leads to a successful worship text?
4. Do you write lyrics, devotionals, or any other worship related texts?
5. If so, What type of experiences are the texts based of?
6. How do you use the Bible within your personal worship time?
VERSE 1
CHORUS
VERSE 2
1.10.17
SometimesGodplacesusinverydifficultsituations.SuchasbeinginjaillikePaul.Butthosesituationsare
notmeanttobringusdown.InsteadtheyarepartofGod'sperfectplan.BytrustinginHimweareabletoshare
thegospelwithpeople.ItmightseemlikeanunconventionalwayofdoingitbutGodisnotaconventional
God,hewilldowhateverneedstobedonetohelpthosewhoareseekingsomethinggreater.Thesesituations
helpbuildupourfaithandourcouragesothatwecanproclaimtheGoodNewswithoutshame.(Philippians
1:1218)SpreadGod'sloveanddoitbasedonexperience.EverythingGoddoeshedoeswithloveforus.
(John3:16)
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Work Cited
Abernethy, Alexis D., et al. "Corporate worship and spiritual formation: insights from worship
leaders." Journal of Psychology and Christianity, vol. 34, no. 3, 2015, p. 266+.
auth=shibb&url=http: //go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=PPRP&sw=w&u=orla57816&v=2.1&id=GALE%
2017.
Farley, Harry. How Old Is the Bible? Christian Today, 19 Apr. 2016,
http://www.christiantoday.com/acrticle/how.old.is.the.bible/84327.htm. Accessed 26 Jan.
2017.
Gonzalez, Elimar. Personal interview. 15 February 2017.
Greene, Stuart. Argument as Conversation: The Role of Inquiry in Writing a Researched
Argument. Writing About Writing, edited by, Elizabeth Wardle, Doug Downs,
Ioja, Cristinel. The Mystery of the Holy Trinity and the Experience of God in Liturgy Dogma,
February 2017.
Streza, Ciprian. "The Divine Liturgy in Orthodox Spirituality: The Mystery of Man's Personal
Encounter with God through Worship and the Ascetical Life." The Greek Orthodox
Theological Review, vol. 58, no. 1-4, 2013, pp. 141-167. EBSCOhost,
login.ezproxy.net.ucf.edu/login?auth=shibb&url=http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.net
.ucf.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=reh&AN=ATLA0001986327&site=ehost-live.