Carismatic Worship

8/12/2019 Carismatic Worship

1/18

Ordinary Theology as Narratives: An Empirical Study ofYoung Peoples Charismatic Worship in Scotland

Peter Ward and Heidi Campbell

Department of Education and Professional Studies, School of Social Science and PublicPolicy, Kings College London, Waterloo Bridge Wing, Franklin-Wilkins Building,

Waterloo Road, London SE1 9NH, Great BritainEmail: [email protected]

The ordinary has become a central theme in recent research in PracticalTheology. It is implicit in the turn towards practices.1 It is also there inthe growing interest in qualitative research and it is clearly central to thehermeneutic understandings of Practical Theology. This interest in the or-dinary has some similarities with work in the seventies and eighties on the-ologies that arise from below.2 The contemporary interest in the ordinaryemphasises the extent to which the expression of Christian communities isalready theological. Jeff Astley defines Ordinary theology as a lay theology.Lay because it is shared by the whole people of God the laosbut it is also

lay because it is non-expert.3

It typifies the person who has received littleor no scholarly, academic theological education.4 Ordinary is not used as anegative term. Astley sees it as a reference to the usual or the normal kind oftheology. It is the theology that we learn first. Ordinary theology is whatwe start with, a kind of primal knowing that co-exists with the more tech-nical and systematized knowing that is learnt through processes of educa-tion. It is the natural theology for people who are on their knees andclose to mystery. For ordinary theologians, their kneeling God-talkalso incorporates the deepest value convictions on which they rest theirlives and their deaths.5

1 Dorothy C. Bass / Craig Dykstra, eds,. For Life Abundant: Practical Theology, TheologicalEducation and Christian Ministry, Grand Rapids (Eerdmans) 2008.

2 Theologies from below tended to see ordinary theology as something to be producedthrough processes of reflection and education. For examples of this see Robert J. Schreiter,Constructing Local Theologies, London (SCM Press) 1985, and Laurie Green, Lets DoTheology. A Pastoral Cycle Resource Book, London (Mowbray) 1990.

3 Jeff Astley, Ordinary Theology. Looking Listening and Learning in Theology, Aldershot(Ashgate) 2002, 6263.

4 Jeff Astley / Ann Christie, Taking Ordinary Theology Seriously, Cambridge (Grove) 2007,5.

5 Astley (n 3) 76


2/18

The Ordinary and the Ideal, the Documentary and the Particular

The idea of a theology from below has been variously defined as popularreligion, local theology, common religion, contextual theology or ver-nacular theology. These notions of ordinary religion or theology share acommon construction that is based on an opposing other. So the popularor the vernacular or the contextual is defined against a powerful or formalor privileged or colonial construction of faith. This kind of dualism owes agreat deal to what are broadly Marxist understandings of culture, i.e. thatan economic base determines the shape of a cultural superstructure. Astleyshares this reading of the religion and culture around opposing positionswhen he defines the ordinary over and against educated or academic theol-ogy.6 While these dualistic frameworks have continued to have some pur-chase in Practical Theology7 in other fields they have undergone significant

challenge and revision.8

One of the leading critics from the left who championed a revisionistreading of culture was the literary critic Raymond Williams. In TheLong Revolution published in 1961 Williams argued that culture shouldbe understood as a complex interaction between three broad areas: theideal, the documentary and the particular. The ideal is derivedfrom the best of human thought and expression. The documentary refersto what is produced and remains from a particular period e.g. novels, songsor buildings. The particular relates to the social or in Williams terms, aparticular way of life.9 Williams refuses to valorise the particular overthe ideal or the documentary, rather he sees them as having an integral re-lationship. As he puts it, such analysis ranges from an ideal emphasis,the discovery of certain absolute or universal, or at least higher andlower, meanings and values, through the documentary emphasis, inwhich clarification of a particular way of life is the main end in view, toan emphasis which, from studying particular meanings and values, seeksnot so much to compare these, as a way of establishing a scale, but by study-ing their modes of change to discover certain laws or trends, by whichsocial and cultural development as a whole can be better understood.10

6 Astleys concern for ordinary theology has many echoes with Richard Hoggarts classicdescription of working class culture. (Richard Hoggart, The Uses of Literacy, London(Chatoo and Windus) 1957.) A similar kind of nostalgia is evident in Timothy Gorringe,Furthering Humanity. A Theology of Culture, Aldershot (Ashgate) 2004.

7 The various Liberationist approaches to Practical Theology are evidence of this.

8 These developments are set out clearly in Kathryn Tanner, Theories of Culture. A NewAgenda for Theology, Minneapolis (Fortress Press) 1997.

9 Raymond Williams, The Long Revolution, London (Chatto and Windus) 1957 (EditionLondon [Pelican Books] 1965), 57 58.

10 Ibid 58

Ordinary Theology as Narratives 227
http://www.degruyter.de/journals/ijpt/http://www.degruyter.de/journals/ijpt/


3/18

The insistence that the particular should be read in relation to the idealand documentary is an important corrective to the dualistic definition ofordinary theology. Williams work suggests that rather than being con-structed over and against formal or educated theology the ordinarymight actually built up in relation to these structures. In theologicalterms we might see the ideal as the idea of God, the Church or salvation in short the doctrinal or the theological. These ideals however are evidentfrom previous generations in the documentary. Here we might have litur-gies, formal doctrinal agreements, and systematic theology but we mightalso include liturgies, songs and prayers and indeed buildings and architec-ture. The particular is a way of talking about the way of life of ecclesialcommunities. In other words, it is the place where the ideal and documen-tary are lived. In Williams understanding both the ideal and the particularhave a double inflection. The particular relates to a particular way of life in

the present, but it also connects the documentary to previous particularways of life; ways of life that are hidden to us except in the documentary.The ideal exists as what is selectively passed on in the documentary but italso exists as a conversation about changing notions of value and meaningamong critics and academics. So it is not simply that ordinary theology is aparticular way of life that exists in relation to the documentary and theideal but the act of researching the particular contributes to a conversationaround the ideal (or the theological). And just to complete the pattern wecan add that this in turn gives rise to documents.

Williams sees the relationship between the ideal, the documentary andthe particular operating as a cultural tradition. Tradition however is nota static concept, rather it is a shifting and changing flow of relations thatarises from the continual selection and re-selection of ancestors.11

These selective and interpretative processes are of significant interest, hesays, when examining contemporary culture. Williams argues that in theanalysis of contemporary culture, the existing state of the selective tradi-tion is of vital importance, for it is true that some change in this tradition establishing new lines with the past, breaking or re-drawing existing lines is a radical kind of contemporary change.12 Williams is primarily con-

cerned with literary culture but his work is equally suggestive for the under-standing of ordinary theology. Williams approach to cultural traditionswould suggest that as we pay attention to ordinary theology, what wewill see are processes of selection and interpretation, which draw uponthe ideal and the documentary and locate them in particular ways of life.Ordinary theology grows and develops through an interaction with thetheological as it is expressed in the inherited documents of the tradition.

11 Ibid., 69.

12 Ibid

Peter Ward and Heidi Campbell228


4/18

One of the key ways in which this selection and interpretation is lived in theChristian church is through worship.

Ordinary Theology in the Scot Project

There has been a growing interest in the study of charismatic and Pentecos-tal worship in recent years. A number of these studies touch on what mightbe seen as ordinary theology. Albrecht for instance discusses the signifi-cance of gesture and bodily expression in a number of different charismaticcongregations in the United States.13 Mary McGann describes her study of aBlack Catholic Church in San Francisco as liturgical ethnography. Thelink to ethnography is also evident in Thomas J. Csordas study of ritualin the Catholic Charismatic renewal.14 InWorship in the SpiritJames Ste-

ven discusses charismatic worship in the Church of England through casestudies of five different congregations.15 These kinds of studies, in that theyembrace different kinds of qualitative research are orientated towards theordinary but they make no direct connection to ideas of ordinary theology.Mark CartledgesTestimony in the Spiritdraws explicitly on Astleys ideaof ordinary theology.16 Cartledges work is an extended treatment of ordi-nary theology in Pentecostal Church in Birmingham.

This paper and the SCOT Project, of which it is a part, contribute to thisgrowing field of research into the theological expression of charismaticcommunities. The SCOT Project is distinct in that it is the first significantstudy to deal with charismatic worship in the Scottish Churches. The SCOTProject is a qualitative research project investigating the language and ex-pressions used in extempore and informal prayer. The data from this studywas recorded at evangelical youth worship and prayer meetings held in dif-ferent parts of Scotland over a sixteen-month period in 20022003. Theevents that form part of the research include: Riding the Wave-Clan Com-munity Youth Conference, Thurso, Edinburgh Christian Union Half Nightof Prayer, Orkney Student Prayer Cell held in a private residence in Edin-burgh, Aberdeen Alive, Shetland youth prayer meeting, Firestarters with

Glasgow Prayer Network and Standing in the Gap held in Isle of

13 Daniel E. Albrecht, Rites in the Spirit, A Ritual Approach to Pentecostal/CharismaticSpirituality, Sheffield (Sheffield Academic Press) 1999.

14 Mary E. McGann, A Precious Fountain. Music in the Worship of and African AmericanCatholic Community, Collegeville (Liturgical Press) 2004, xv.

15 James H. S. Steven, Worship in the Spirit. Charismatic Worship in the Church of England,

Carlisle (Paternoster Press) 2002.16 Mark J. Cartledge, Testimony in the Spirit. Rescripting Ordinary Pentecostal Theology,

Aldershot (Ashgate) 2010



5/18

Lewis. In all approximately forty hours of youth prayer were recorded atthe fourteen events.17

The initial analysis of these events was focused on theological meta-phors and themes.18 Through detailed coding across the data set we wereable to identify phrases and metaphors that were regularly being used asthe young people were praying and worshipping. From the forty hoursof recordings we began to see a pattern of a familiar or vernacular theologythat was held in common by young people from all over Scotland. It is acharacteristic of charismatic and evangelical prayer and worship that litur-gies are not written down. So at the events all forms of spoken communi-cation were extemporary. It was this spoken element that we were captur-ing in the recordings. This means that this material offers a snap shot oftypical turns of phrase, ways of speaking and styles of prayer at a particulartime. To use Williams terms we were able to see changes in cultural tradi-

tion as it was taking place through selection and interpretation. The mostfrequently used theological metaphors and themes in order of their frequen-cy of use were: Gods Presence, Locality/Geography, prayer, restoration,worship and dance, army, forgiveness and generation. The initial analysisof these data findings connected the themes to expression and identity. Inthis paper we trace the way that these themes fall into two distinct groups ornarratives. The first we call the narrative of intimacy and the second thenarrative of revival.

The most common theme was Gods presence, noted 58 times in 13 ofthe 14 meetings, and this theological metaphor had two related parts. First

17 In the end approximately forty hours of youth prayer were recorded in fourteen locationsacross Scotland in 2002 and 2003. Meetings which were recorded, and referred to in thearticle, were as follows: Riding the Wave-Clan Community Youth Conference (held at StAndrews Church of Scotland, Thurso) Feb 2002 [Thurso, 2002]; Edinburgh ChristianUnion Half Night of Prayer (held at Community Church, Edinburgh) April 2002 [CU-Edinburgh, 2002]; Edinburgh 24/7 Prayer (held at private Residence in Edinburgh) April 2002 [24/7-Edinburgh, 2002]; Orkney Student Prayer Cell (held in private residenceEdinburgh) June 2002 [Orkney Prayer, 2002]; Aberdeen Alive (Prayer Outreach with

Firestarters held in Aberdeen) June 2002 [Aberdeen, 2002]; Shetland youth prayermeeting (held in Methodist Church in Scalloway) July 2002 [Shetland, 2002]; St GilesNoon Prayer (Edinburgh) Oct & Nov 2002 [StG-Edinburgh, 2002]; Edinburgh 24/7Prayer (held at Raven Center-St Ninians Edinburgh) March 2003 [24/7-Edinburgh,2003]; Riding the Wave Conference (held at Stirling Baptist Church) March 2003[Stirling, 2003]; City Life youth group (held in private residence in Edinburgh) April2003 [CL-Edinburgh, 2003]; Youth Prayer for the Nation gathering (held in privateresidence in Greenock) May 2003 [Greenock, 2003]; Firestarters with Glasgow PrayerNetwork (held at Findlay Memorial Church of Scotland in Glasgow) April 2003[Glasgow, 2003]; Standing in the Gap (Barvas Church of Scotland (held in Isle ofLewis) June 2003 [Lewis, 2003].

18 Heidi Campbell / Gordon Lynch / Pete Ward, Can you Hear the Army?. ExploringEvangelical Discourse in Scottish Youth prayer Meetings, Journal of Contemporary Re-ligion 24 (2009) 2 217 234



6/18

was the use of language acknowledging God as present in the meeting, forexample Thank you for being with us and for giving us words of redemp-tion, hope, light and peace.19 Second there were instances of young peoplehighlighting a desire for intimacy with God, and to have some tangibleexperience of this presence, such as please meet with us, we want a glimpseof your glory.20

Perhaps reflecting the fact that the events were prayer and worship re-lated prayer itself was another important theme occurring in 13 of the 14recordings. In all there were 36 references made to the importance of prayerand calling others to commit more time to prayer. These ranged from sim-ple requests directed towards God, teach us to pray21 to spiritual explan-ations of what happens when people pray, As we pray we release thingsover the city.22 Many references carried with them a belief that prayercan impact those present, to break the chains of those who feel they

cant pray today, as well as those outside the meeting, we are crying to-night that our friends might know you.23 Linked to prayer there are twofurther themes; worship, and forgiveness.

On 55 occasions during 10 of the recorded sessions, reference was madethe idea of worship and its connection to prayer. There was a noticeableemphasis on the need or desire for youth to have the freedom to openly ex-press themselves in their personal or corporate worship. The inference wasthat through worship defined as shouts of praise to God along with spon-taneous singing or dance/movement would change the individuals present

as well as youth across the nation. Prayers for increased freedom of expres-sion were common, such as worship breaks down strongholds, Lord freeus to worship24 and Are we ready? Its time to shout to the Lord.25 10references specifically highlighted the need for dancing as a form of prayerto be expressed, such as its time to dance on injustice, to do something inthe heavenlies26 and lets make a prophetic statementwe will danceupon injustice and dance unto God.27 Twenty tracks during 8 record-ings highlighted the theme of repentance and forgiveness, both at personaland corporate levels. When forgiveness was mentioned, it most often done

in relation to calling those present at the meeting to forgive others so theycould find freedom in Christ. One poignant example was a university stu-dents testimony of her journey to be able to forgive members of the IRA

19 Glasgow, 2003.

20 Lewis, 2003.

21 Greenock, 2003.

22 Glasgow, 2003.

23 24/7-Edinburgh, March 2003.

24 Glasgow, 2003.

25 Lewis, 2003.26 Stirling, 2003.

27 Glasgow 2003



7/18

who had murdered her father in Northern Ireland. She prayed for the grouppresent for the grace to be able to forgiveeven those who would murderour families.28 Forgiveness also surfaced in relation to prayer for the na-tions, such as forgive the pride of our nation of Scotland29 or the churchplease forgive us, as the church for our disunity.30 Forgiveness focused oncalls for personal holiness, and to repent for ones own sins and the sin ofthe nation.

The themes of Gods Presence, Worship, Prayer and Forgiveness seem torepresent a core theological style or sensibility among the young people. Wehave termed this style a narrative of intimacy. Alongside the narrative ofintimacy there is another cluster of metaphors. We have called this the nar-rative of revival. The narrative of revival is seen in the four remainingthemes that were most frequently found in the prayers of these young peo-ple. In 11 of the 14 sessions, we found prayers that were making reference

to a specific geographical location in Scotland. One-third of the 58 prayersrelated to this theme focused on praying for specific cities, such as, mayAberdeen come to know you31 or specific area, please open eyes in Shet-land to you.32 The most common prayer in this category were prayers forthe nation of Scotland: for spiritual renewal, this is the time of Gods fa-vour & salvation for Scotland 33 ; reconnecting with Scotlands spiritualpast, may prayer becoming the rock of the nation again34; or requestsfor change in the nation make us aware that choices we make in thistime will determine our nations future.35 Closely linked to location wasthe idea of restoration. The theme of restoration was found 26 times in8 of the prayer meetings. This theme focused on God restoring the brokenlives and situations of those willing to repent of their own sin and the sin ofthe nation. Prayers calling for repentance often transitioned into a focus onpersonal or national restoration. One prayer meeting began with commen-tary stating, tonight is about repentance, get into pairs and say sorry onbehalf of friends and the city and later transitioned to prayers, proclaim-ing a promise to young people God will restore the land & free its cap-tives.36 Different areas were highlighted as in need of being restored, suchas a prayer to Re-establish your word in the hearts in Orkney.37

28 24/7-Edinburgh, 2002.

29 24/7-Edinburgh, 2002.

30 Stirling, 2003.

31 Aberdeen, 2002.

32 Shetland, 2002.

33 Glasgow, 2003.

34 24/7-Edinburgh, 2003.

35 Stirling, 2003.36 Glasgow, 2003.

37 Orkney Prayer 2002



8/18

Central to the narrative of revival are two closely related themes, Armyand generation. In 7 sessions, 36 references were made to the idea of youngpeople or the Church in Scotland being an army. This includes reference toyouth being in a battle, such as request to give us wisdom to know when totake up the sword or the need for a Church of holy warriors to arise forGods purposes Father make us a church of warriors.38 The army themewas both personal and corporate, and used as a tool to pray for specific peo-ple to be empowered, such as Father make Fiona a freedom fighter, settingthe captives free.39 In 7 recording sessions, 16 examples of prayers focusedon the theme of reconciling the generations surfaced. These prayers dealtespecially with asking God to heal broken relationships between mothers,fathers and children. Often direct or inferred references to Malachi 4, verse5, which speaks of turning the hearts of the fathers to their children.40

The term generation was also use as way to describe youth as a corporate

entity, such as describing those present as the generation or our gener-ation. The term was used in a way to create cohesion and common identityof the youth present at the meeting, such as O God, let us be generationthat seeks to see your face.41 It was also used by adults present at thesemeetings as a way to speak about their potential as a group, such asYou could be the generation to really, really, really hear the voice ofGod.42 The generation theme centred on a corporate identity that had spi-ritual potential and promise.

The Narratives in Context

In The Book of Jerry FalwellSusan Friend Harding observes the processwhereby fundamentalist preaching evolves and changes.43 Her work de-scribes how preachers combine vernacular turns of phrase with biblical ma-terial in such a way that they create distinctive and innovative turns ofphrase, stories, and particular theological emphasises. These are in turnpicked up by members in the congregation and indeed by other preachers.

So through this communicative process what is ostensibly a conservativetheology actually evolves and changes in profound ways. The change thatcomes about through these processes of expression can happen over a quiteshort period of time.44 In the worship and prayer meetings that form part of

38 24-7-Edinburgh, 2002.

39 Greenock, 2003.

40 Greenock, 2003.

41 Thurso, 2002.

42 CL-Edinburgh, 2003.

43 Susan Friend Harding, The Book of Jerry Falwell. Fundamentalist Language and Politics,Princeton (Princeton University Press) 2000.

44 Ibid 12



9/18

this study we see a very similar process happening, as young people pick upon distinctive phrases and emphases. The two narratives that we have iden-tified however are not distinct to these young people. The particular andthe ordinary in the evangelical and charismatic ecclesial culture are linkedto a flow of communication.45 The events that we recorded in Scotlandform part of much broader media generated networks of theological ex-pression and creativity. So there is an interchange of speakers and worshipleaders not only in Scotland, but also with groups in the UK and in the USthat is evident in the data.

Speakers and worship leaders bring with them distinct forms of theolog-ical expression in songs, prayer, prophecies and sermons. This flow of im-agery and expression is seen in the two narratives identified in the themes.The narrative of intimacy shows echoes with the distinctive theology ofworship and intimacy that is associated with John Wimber and made pop-

ular in the United Kingdom through the New Wine and Soul Survivor Net-works.46 The narrative of revival draws on ideas of spiritual warfare and theconcept of revival taking place in the land. This narrative exhibits the the-ology of Restorationist or New Church Groups.47 The analysis of the SCOTdata shows that these narratives co-exist in the expression of the young peo-ple. In the prayer meetings and worship events young peoples expressionseems to draw upon both of these clusters of narratives. In order to explorethe theory that these are two different narratives that are co-existing in theordinary expression of these young people we decided to look at these nar-ratives in their context by carrying a further and more detailed analysis ofone of the events that formed part of the original data set.

For this next phase in the research we chose an event that took place at ayouth conference in Thurso, one of the most northerly cities on the Scottishmainland. The event was called the February Gathering of the Namelessand Faceless and it was aimed at teenagers and university students. It wasrun under the auspices of New Wine Scotland, an organization which spon-sors conferences and training events for Charismatic wings of traditionalchurches. New Wine Scotland has an annual conference called CLANGathering. The gathering attracts around 4,000 people and it is held in

St Andrews. The event in Thurso was run by the CLAN Communityyouth advisory team and hosted at by a local Church of Scotland parishthat was pastored by a New Wine Scotland board member. The youth con-ference was organized by young people for young people although most of

45 See Pete Ward, Participation and Mediation. A Practical Theology for the Liquid Church,London (SCM Press) 2009, also Pete Ward, Affective Alliance or Circuits of Power. TheProduction and Consumption of Contemporary Charismatic Worship in Britain, Inter-national Journal of Practical Theology 9 (2005), 1, 2539.

46 See Pete Ward, Selling Worship, London (SCM Press) 2005.47 Andrew Walker, Restoring the Kingdom. The Radical Christianity of the House Church

Movement Guildford (Eagle) 1998



10/18

the speakers were adults of different age groups. This was done deliberatelyas organizers described this as a tri-generational time of blessing and im-partation and so speakers were chosen accordingly: a 90 year old manwho had been a part of the Hebridean Revivals in the late 1940s, a pastorand New Wine leader in his late 40s, an American pastor with connectionsto Scotland in his late 30s and the leader of Clan Community in his early20s. The event took place over three days in February 2003 and it focusedon times of teaching and fellowship. There was a main worship event calledWorship & Waiting held the Saturday night at the local town hall and itwas this event that was recorded as part of the SCOT Project.

The February Gathering of the Nameless and Faceless was chosen first-ly because it was one of longer recordings in the data set. The main worshipevent on the Saturday evening lasted for around six hours from 7pm to1am. Secondly it was selected because during this extended time of worship

the two narratives, which we have identified as being typical of the expres-sion of the Scottish young people in the survey, were present in significantways. A further reason for the selection of this worship time was that, whiledance is a regular theme in the SCOT data, it was only at the Thurso eventthat we saw extended periods of prophetic dancing taking place. Alongsidethe dancing we also wanted to include sung worship in our research. In thisworship event there were extended periods of singing. This enabled us tocontextualize the themes that we had observed in the spoken words atall of the events within their original musical setting.

Selling Worshipsurveys the ordinary theology of worship songs in theUnited Kingdom.48 Changes in this ordinary theology over a thirty year pe-riod are identified through the content analysis of the most popular andwidely used song books. What is evident is that roughly every five or tenyears the metaphors and theological topes that are most commonly usedin songs alter in significant ways. InSelling Worshipthe idea of narrativeswas also used to describe the different kinds of encounter with God that aredescribed and enacted in and through the worship songs. The book arguesthat the narrative of encounter with God shifts and changes in substantialand quite radical ways between the different songbooks.

The two clusters of themes that we have observed in the SCOT data, i.e.the narrative of intimacy and the narrative of revival, have their counter-parts in the songbooks discussed in Selling Worship.The narrative of inti-macy corresponds closely to key theological themes in the Wimber linkedSongs of the Vineyard Vol 1 and the Soul Survivor SongBook. Here the wor-shipper is situated in a journey into intimacy with God through forgivenessand sacrificial worship.49 The narrative of revival by contrast with itsthemes of location, restoration, generations, and army is very similar to

48 Ward (n. 46), 121 162.

49 Ibid 145 162



11/18

way that encounter with God is characteristically constructed in Songs ofFellowship Volume 1.Here military metaphors, marching on the land andthe restoration of the temple and the nation are recurring tropes in thesongs.50 In the Thurso worship event we see evidence of both of these nar-ratives. But the narrative of intimacy is most strongly associated with thesongs that are sung at the start and at the end of the event. The narrativeof revival however is present in the prophecies, sermon and most signifi-cantly in the times of prophetic dancing.

Alongside these two narratives, drawn from the themes in the SCOTdata, we also found a third cluster of themes. These reference more formaldoctrinal metaphors. We have called this the doctrinal narrative. This nar-rative is evident in scattered and small references to God, Jesus, biblical ma-terial, salvation, and sin. This material was not picked up in the initial cod-ing of the SCOT data, partly because it is so varied that it does not register

in the coding, but also because it is embedded in more distinctive ways ofspeaking. By contextualizing the initial findings in the single event and alsolooking at the worship songs as well as the spoken material this doctrinalnarrative became more evident as a key contextual element in the ordinarytheology of these young people. The remainder of this paper we explore therelationship between the three narratives, the doctrinal, intimacy and reviv-al, through a detailed discussion of the Thurso event.

The Pattern of the Worship

The performance of worship at the Thurso event moves through a series ofdistinct moments. These moments structure the worship around particularforms of expression and representation. Some of these elements are builtfrom pre-existing composition e.g. the songs and the talk. Around theseset elements there are a number of spontaneously developed improvisationsand interactions. The dances for instance are free flowing improvised ex-pressions of worship. At the same time while the songs and the talks appearto be planned they also include elements of spontaneity. This spontaneity is

shown in patterns of interaction between the worship leader, the musiciansand the participants. The pattern of the worship emerges from this interac-tion between pre-planned or composed elements and improvised interac-tive moments, which develop periodically throughout. What follows is abrief description of the structure of the act of worship.

Singing

The meeting starts with an extended period of communal singing.

Prophecy

50 Ibid 135 141



12/18

A male leader gives a lengthy prophecy.

Talk

The prophecy leads directly into a 30 minute talk based on Genesis 32: 2230Jacob Wrestling with the Angel.

Ministry Time

The congregation are asked to turn to their friends and pray.

Singing

A second worship leader takes over at this point.

The First Dance

The worship leader introduces the idea dancing on the wave. A bodhran, a celticdrum, is added to the band. The group is invited to take their partners for an in-formal celidh. This is accompanied by whooping and clapping.

Message

An American steps in front of the band and gives a message of exhortation he saysthat worship songs should come from their own culture and be birthed out oftheir heart. He says, I wanted to hear the songs of Scotland.51

The Second Dance

The rock instrumentation of the band is supplemented by the addition of a fiddleand penny whistle and the drum kit is broken up as several hand drummers joincreating a 5 person drum chorus. The band begins with an extended improvisedScottish Jig. The new worship leader leads the groups into dancing by singing aseries of short improvised lyrics. These lyrics are sung, chanted and intoned overthe changing improvised Scottish Dance music. The musicians appear to interactand respond to the leading of the singer. A series of ritual moments form part ofthe flow of the dance. This improvised dance continues for approximately 2hours.

Singing

The original Worship leader returns and six more worship songs are sung.

Prayers and Words

A series of short prayers and messages focusing on what God has done, personalspiritual change and taking these changes into the rest of the weekend are said.

Notices

51 Thurso 2002



13/18

Finally a number of notices are given concerning the arrangements and schedulefor the rest of the weekend.

The act of worship follows a set liturgical structure common within con-temporary Charismatic worship.52 This pattern is based around an extend-ed period of singing, a message or sermon, and finally a time of ministry inthe Spirit. The ministry time will usually be quite lengthy and lead back intoanother time of singing and praise while ministry carries on. At the Thursoworship event this pattern is supplemented by the inclusion of the two ex-tended periods of improvised music, singing and dancing. Here the dancingacts as an additional enacted and embodied ritual performance.

Analysing Songs: The Narrative of Intimacy and the Doctrinal Narrative

The Thurso worship event is primarily shaped around worship songs. Themeeting starts with the standard worship set, in this case six songs. Fol-lowing the sermon and the ministry time there are a further three songs,then after the two dances there is another extended time of singing. In ad-dition to this within each of the dances, songs and singing shape and directthe ritual flow of the group experience. The songs therefore not only formthe bulk of the act of worship, they also appear to generate a direction orshape to the worship.

The songs are sung in a series of repetitions. The first song for instanceOpen the Eyes of my Heart53 consists of three distinct sections: Verse, cho-rus, and bridge. The song, if it is sung from beginning to end, is really veryshort. In this act of worship, however, each section is repeated multipletimes. Repetition may take the form of one line being sung over andover, or one of the sections, e.g. the bridge, being repeated. In this waythe lyrics of this bridge section Holy, Holy, Holy which are repeatedthree times in the original composition are turned into a more extendedchant. Repetition in the songs is related to a directional flow, which oper-ates both within individual songs, and during the extended time of singing.

The songs develop a movement between steady crescendo and extended di-minuendo.

The dynamic between praise and intimacy and the instrumental andvocal patterns, which accompany these phases, are repeated throughoutthe act of worship. They develop an interaction between songs as structureand as particular improvised expression. In the praise sections this is mostlyexpressed in various forms of what we term vocal surfing. Vocal surfingrefers to the exclamatory shouting by the worship leader over the top of

52 See Steven (n. 15), 91 134.

53 Paul Baloche Integritys Hosanna! Music / ASCAP 1997



14/18

the communal song. In the intimate moments fragmented and strippeddown chords are accompanied by improvised (mainly female) harmoniesand singing in tongues. In the two dance sections of the act of worshipthis pattern of exultant praise and quiet intimacy also serves to shape theritual actions and the way that the worship flows through particular mo-ments.

Content analysis of the songs reveals two interrelated narratives. Incommon with many contemporary worship songs those used during theThurso event do not have a specifically doctrinal focus. Rather they set tra-ditional evangelical doctrine within an overarching narrative of intimacy.This narrative is repeated throughout the songs and also in the way thesongs structure the worship event. The narrative of intimacy presents wor-ship as a relational dynamic in which the worshipper is positioned as bow-ing down and acknowledging an embodied relationship with God, who is

exalted in worship. Worship therefore involves honoring God by doingservice to and for him. In worship the worshipper is accepted and receivedinto an unequal and an undeserved relationship based on forgiveness. Therelationship, which emerges however, is intimate and loving, and leads tothe transformation of the worshipper. The songs carry this narrative as adominant theme in the worship. Scattered throughout the songs howeverthere are the fragments of a more traditional evangelical theology. So forinstance the songs have isolated doctrinal references such as Lord GodChrist Father, Holy Spirit, Risen One and Saving One and Jesus.The saving action of Christs death on the cross forms the focus of twoof the songs and Jesus is specifically identified as the saving one andrisen one. So while evangelical doctrine may not be a primary content ofthe song lyrics it remains as a point of reference that is assumed ratherthan explained.

The songs operate as the dominant overall framework for the act ofworship. The worship starts and ends with an extended period of singing.After the sermon and ministry time there is another short period of singingand then at the close of the meeting there is again an extended period ofsinging. The narrative of intimacy is therefore established as starting

point and the finishing point for the event but within this overarching nar-rative another competing narrative is also animated in performance as theyoung people are worshipping. This is the narrative of revival.

The Narrative of Revival

The narrative of revival is most evident in the Thurso event in the sermon,the prophecies and in a extended form in the two dances. The dances are a

curious mixture of a Scottish Celidh and improvised prophetic ritual. Thefirst period of dancing draws specifically upon the Celidh as a form withpeople being invited to take their partners and form a circle The dancing



15/18

then starts but it is interrupted when the band start to play a contemporaryworship song. The song however is the wrong rhythm for Scottish Tradi-tional dancing. This dissonance between the expression of the charismaticsubculture and Scottish culture is then taken up in a message given from thestage by an American who identifies himself as Ellies Father. His messagechallenges the group to search for the songs of Scotland.54

The musicians take up this challenge and they start to play an impro-vised Scottish jig. The fiddle and the whistle are a particular feature ofthis change in musical genre and they have not featured in the worship be-fore this point. With the music as a backing the dance develops as a sharedinteraction between sung message and embodied ritual. The dance startswith an improvised lyric He is coming chanted loudly by a young manover the jig. This picks up on a prophecy given before the talk that talksabout the coming of the Holy Spirit and the marriage of the Church

the bride of Christ.55

The coming of the Lord needs preparation. The wor-ship leader develops this theme as he improvises his sung chant. He tellsthose gathered that the people must prepare the way. Preparation relatesto the idea that Scotland must find its voice. The worship leader continuesto improvise a song around the Scottish Jig.

We know your love, we dance for you and we need you Lord and we find ourvoice, our voice is for you and we have your voice, our dance is for you and wehave our dance.56

Then the people are encouraged by the leader to sing aloud any song that

God has given them. A number of people begin to take up their own impro-vised songs in response to this invitation. As the group starts to dance theworship leader explains that the dance will crush the head of the enemy. Atthis point the music builds and a woman is heard to scream. The scream isintense and accompanied by shouting. Over the music a female voice isheard to shout:

Oh Lord, we are your warrior bride, we are your warrior bride.57

The dance is a kind of spiritual warfare, which echoes the first dance wherethe song lyric Were dancing on injustice is used as a repetitive chant at theend of the dance. The metaphor of warfare is evoked as an image of thespiritual life is also present in the talk. Here on two occasions the movieGladiator is referred to. Worshipping within the narrative of revival isseen as being about both warfare and intimacy. After about an hour ofdancing there are high pitched screams audible from people in the congre-gation. This follows the improvised lyric O Lord GodThe lion that well

54 Thurso 2002.

55 Thurso 2002.56 Thurso 2002.

57 Thurso 2002



16/18

follow, the lion of the tribe of Judah. After the screams the worship leadertakes up the theme of the Lion. He sings The lion is in our midst. The lion isin our midst. The lion is in our midst. Hes shaking off his mane. Hes shak-ing off his mane. The fragrance of the Lord, the fragrance of the Lord, iscoming to this The fragrance of the Lord.58 The image of the Lionis closely linked to that of the marching army and the army imagery is inturn linked to the idea of a restored and united Church. This particulartheme is enacted within the dance in two prophetic rituals. The first relatesto the unity of the Church. Earlier in the dance what are called, Mothersand Fathers are asked to gather around the Sons and Daughters. Theolder members are asked to form a protective ring around the younger wor-shippers. The imagery of the army is enacted in a lengthy period of march-ing. Here the band adapts their Scottish jig to a more martial rhythm. Theworship leader sings: Hear the army march. Marching with a limp, march-

ing with limp, marching with a limp. Can you hear the army?59

The dance enacts the narrative of revival in vivid and embodied waysbut in the worship event it is bracketed by the two extended times of wor-ship. In the songs in these worship sets the narrative of intimacy, and thedoctrinal narrative that is also carried in the songs, is much more evident.The narrative of intimacy appears to operate as an orientating point for theworship. It is the comfortable point of departure and the reassuring place ofreturn for the worshippers. Alongside it the narrative of revival appears tobe more adventurous and risky. These two narratives seem therefore to co-exist but they also carry within them a kind of tension or even conflict.

Ordinary Theology and Narratives

Analysis of the SCOT project demonstrates how empirical work into char-ismatic worship can contribute to the growing field of ordinary theology.Through research into acts of worship we are able to see how the particularis constructed through the selection and interpretation of groups and indi-viduals. By looking at one worship event we have observed these processes

in action. The analysis in this paper has centred on how ordinary theology isstructured around clusters of metaphors or narratives. These narrativeshowever do not arise simply from below they come from the selectivechoice of theological metaphors which are carried in the documentary.The documentary here does not just relate to the Bible or other theologicalliterature, it also includes the wider flow of charismatic communicationseen in the way that festivals, worship leaders, preachers, prophets, andpublisher reproduce and circulate particular styles of theology. So the par-

58 Thurso 2002.

59 Thurso 2002



17/18

ticular is always interacting with these wider elements. The research indi-cates that the narrative of intimacy seems to be a key location or the decisivepoint of departure and return for the young people at the Thurso event. Thenarrative of revival on the other hand seems to be a more adventurous andout of the ordinary form of expression. There is some evidence that thesetwo narratives rest slightly uneasily with each other in the single worshipevent. So while the initial findings of the SCOT project might be read asan indication that there is a single theological style of expression amongScottish charismatics, the analysis of the Thurso event suggests thatwhile these might co-exist they may well do so slightly uneasily. Finallythere is the observation that while the narrative of intimacy and the narra-tive of revival are clearly the dominant forms of expression among theseyoung people there is also another, perhaps slightly hidden doctrinal nar-rative in this particular expression of ordinary theology. The doctrinal nar-

rative seems to suggest that formal or more systematic forms of theologicalexpression are carried within the ordinary. So while this doctrinal elementmay be in an abbreviated form it can be read as the persistence of doctrinalformulations within the processes of particular selection and interpreta-tion.

Abstract

Through a detailed analysis this paper demonstrates the usefulness of investigating pub-lic worship events as a site for studying the construction of ordinary theology. By iden-tifying the theological narratives being enacting and affirmed by a specific group in suchcontexts helps strengthen our understanding of the documentary of a specific commun-ity. It also illustrates how the particular of a given culture is linked to and used to situatethe larger narrative tradition. We suggest more studies of narrative and flow of worshipevents would benefit Practical Theology to help reveal new aspects of construction andflow of ordinary theology for evangelical and charismatics groups.

Zusammenfassung

Mit Hilfe einer detaillierten Analyse veranschaulicht dieser Beitrag den Wert der Erfor-schung ffentlicher Gottesdienste fr die Auseinandersetzung mit der Entstehung undVermittlung von Laien-Theologie. Durch die Rekonstruktion der theologischen Erzh-lungen, die durch die Handlungen der an solchen Ereignissen Beteiligten erzeugt und be-sttigt werden, gelingt es, das theologische Verstndnis einer spezifischen Gemeinschafund seiner Formen der Darstellung besser zu verstehen. Auerdem wird so illustriert, wiedas Spezifische einer gegebenen Kultur mit allgemeineren narrativen Traditionen verbun-den ist und auf diese bezogen wird. Es wird deshalb vorgeschlagen, weitere Studien berdie Erzhlungen und den Ablauf von Gottesdiensten durchzufhren, damit die Prakti-sche Theologie gewinnbringend neue Aspekte der Konstruktion und Gestaltung der

Laien-Theologie im Bereich evangelikaler und charismatischer Gruppierungen zu entde-cken vermag.



18/18

Copyright of International Journal of Practical Theology is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not

be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written

permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.

Carismatic Worship

Documents

Transcript of Carismatic Worship