Worship and Ecumenism

The Church's worship has changed and developed throughout twenty centuries. From the simple and spontaneous 'breaking of the Word' and sharing in the love feast in houses in the first century to a splendid medieval cathedral high mass is a huge jump. And when in history the Church has split and divided, this has usually involved conflict about worship and has resulted in great changes in worship. The Eastern (Orthodox) Church split from the Western (Roman Catholic) Church in the 11th century; as a very broad generalisation one can say that the Eastern Church has always been more conservative in retaining ancient forms of worship. The Protestant Reformation of the 16th century produced many different denominations (e.g. Lutheran, Calvinist or Reformed, Anglican, Baptist) which moved away from control by Rome and adopted very different worship styles (use of local language instead of Latin, rejection of ceremonies and images, a strong focus on the Bible and preaching). The Protestant world has continued to give birth to new denominations (e.g. Methodism, Pentecostalism), each with its own styles and traditions of worship.

This has resulted in some fundamental oppositions in worship:

1. 'Liturgical' or 'Free'?
   Anglican worship has followed Catholic tradition in making use of authorised written liturgies. Many but not all Protestant denominations have preferred a more spontaneous, Spirit-led style of worship, with no fixed forms, the congregation making use, if anything, only of a hymn book.
   
2. 'Word' or 'Table'?
   The architecture and arrangement of a church building often give away the emphasis and focal point of worship. Enter many a Methodist church and you will find a large central pulpit; go into the typical cruciform parish church and your eye will be led up to the altar at the east end. This tells you that the one church values the preaching of the Word most highly, the other emphasises the sacrament of Holy Communion as the heart of the church's life.
   
3. 'Sacrifice' or 'Memorial'?
   There is a wide spectrum in the way different churches (and different Christians within churches!) understand the Eucharist: at the Catholic end of the spectrum Christ is substantially present in the bread and wine and the action of the Eucharist effectively re-presents what Christ achieved on Calvary; at the Protestant end of the spectrum the Eucharist is a simple memorial meal.
   
4. 'Words' or 'Silence'?
   Much worship, both Catholic and Protestant, is full of words, read, sung, proclaimed. By contrast, the Quakers sit in silence, waiting for the Spirit of God to speak within them; they may choose to share that with others present, or not.
   
5. 'Icons' or 'Simplicity'?
   Partly because of its Jewish heritage, there has often been anxiety among some Christians about the use of images in worship. Eastern Orthodox Christians awaken in themselves the reality and wonder of the incarnation by venerating icons. Puritan Christians, by contrast, destroyed much Christian art in churches because it seemed to them idolatry, removing the mind and heart from pure spiritual worship.

Many other polar opposites of Christian worship could be mentioned. The scandal of disunity, however, began to make a serious impact on the minds and hearts of Christians about one hundred years ago, and the 20th century saw increasingly effective attempts to bring the different churches back into dialogue, reconciliation, covenant relationships, collaboration and in some cases reunion. Among the achievements of the Ecumenical Movement in relation to worship are:

1. The rediscovery by many churches (thanks also to the Liturgical Movement) of the fundamental shape of the Eucharist, going back to the earliest Christian centuries. Go into a Methodist or a United Reformed or an Anglican or a Catholic Eucharist today, and you will find more similarities than differences.
   
2. 'Free' churches have discovered the value of well-written liturgies; liturgical churches have discovered the excitement of spontaneity within fixed structures.
   
3. Eucharistic mutual hospitality is now a fact between many denominations. (By contrast the Roman Catholic Church will only offer holy communion to non-Catholics in exceptional circumstances.)
   
4. 'Ecumenical worship', at occasions when Christians of different traditions come together, is no longer often required to be a lowest-common denominator, giving offence to no-one, but having little colour or character of its own. Rather, the best traditions of particular churches are used without apology, or, in churches where Christians of more than one denomination regularly worship together, they seek a style which is fresh and creative beyond their inherited traditions.

Today many Christians are discovering and appreciating styles of worship quite new and alien to their own recent traditions. They are only re-appropriating aspects of their full Christian heritage.

Nicholas P A Jowett

Wainwright G.: 'Worship With One Accord: Where Liturgy and Ecumenism Embrace' (1997)
Lossky N (ed): Dictionary of the Ecumenical Movement (1991)
Butler D: 'Dying To Be One: English Ecumenism: History, Theology and the Future' (1996)
Ellis C: 'Together On the Way: A Theology of Ecumenism' (1990)