Celebrating 25 Years of Worship

The recently released 25th Anniversary issue of Reformed Worship offers a sampling  of services on “joyful living” inspired by the book of Philippians, as well as a model worship service, based on 150th anniversary service for the Christian Reformed Church, to help congregations seeking to celebrate anniversaries.

There is also an article on incorporating visual art in a worship setting, a short story about a grandfather’s love of a particular hymn, and an article on the power of dance to praise God.

Although it is a special issue and some articles refer to the anniversary celebration, it contains the core—material submitted by churches for churches to enhance worship—that has sustained RW for all of these years.

Published by Faith Alive Christian Resources, the publishing agency of the Christian Reformed Church, Reformed Worship (RW) has worked through 100 issues in 25 years to achieve “a delicate balance… (by the) creating of worship services that point to God rather than humans,” writes Joyce Borger, editor of RW in her editorial for the anniversary issue.

“It is a delicate balance to offer twenty-five years of worship resources and articles that support the worship of God without encouraging  idolatry of the innovative, the newest …,” Borger writes.

It is also quite an accomplishment, she writes, for the magazine to continue publication for 25 years – especially “given the changes in worship and the economics of publishing.”

At the same time, she says, RW couldn’t exist without all of the contributions from the churches themselves. Churches submit a range of worship resource materials -- dramas and litanies, visual arts, dance, music, worship outlines, sermon notes as well as articles that encourage readers to ponder individually and dialogue with others.  

“These resources … come from large and small churches, established congregations and church plants, churches that consider themselves traditional and those who say their worship is contemporary as well as school chapel programs,” says Borger.

“People are encouraged to take the resources as starting points and then adapt them for their own.”

In the anniversary issue, John Witvliet, director of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, writes a reflection on Psalm 73 and how it reminds him of what he has appreciated about RW over the years.

The psalm, he writes, helps connect and put him in conversation with people who “realize that by the Spirit’s power – worship is formative, not merely expressive; it changes our perspectives, shapes our desires, corrects our vision.”

People who read RW help “pull those of us who plan and lead services back into the second half of Pslam 73,” writes Wilvliet.

Words in the second half of the psalm speak of being drawn nearer to God, who holds us in his hand, leading to the conclusion: “You treat me as an honored one with your beloved I stand. Now my song is altogether new. Now my song is altogether new. Now my song is altogether new. For God has changed my vision as only God can do.”

After discussing what kind of gift RW could give readers on its 25th anniversary, RW staff decided “that nothing says ‘thanks’ quite like a new look and website upgrade,” writes Borger.

The magazine redesign includes the use of four-color printing, a new table of contents and additional illustrations. The updated website for RW provides expanded features and the ability for readers to comment on articles and other materials, especially to react to how using some of the worship resources went in the reader’s church. Back issues of RW are also available on the website.

On the website, Reformed Worship is described as “a quarterly magazine that provides practical help and support to the worship planner, offering 48 illustrated pages in each issue of ideas, tips, and nuts-and-bolts advice on planning, structuring, and leading your church in worship: no advertising, only solid pick-up-and-use resources and perspectives.”

Also on the website, it says that Reformed Worship stands “in a particular historic tradition. RW has roots in the Reformed branch of the 16th century Protestant Reformation that finds expression around the world in many languages and styles of worship, especially in churches with Reformed, Presbyterian, or Congregational in their names.”

Looking to the future, former RW editor Emily Brink writes in the anniversary issue about a far-reaching worship document – “Worshipping the Triune God” -- adopted in 2010 by the World Communion of Reformed Churches, which represents some 80 million Reformed Christians worldwide.

“One important goal for RW from the coming year will be to consider the wisdom and respond to the challenges set forth in ‘Worshipping the Triune God’,” writes Brink.

While the WCRC has adopted it, the document is still a work in progress.  “We’re all invited into the next phase, with another edition planned for 2012 based on feedback from churches everywhere,” writes Brink. 

On page 48 of the anniversary issue, Judy Hardy, managing editor of RW, also writes about the future. But she first mentions how her own church has recently lost beloved members of the congregation and how the economy remains in the doldrums and there is a very unpleasant side to the current political scene.

Yet, she writes, “there is reason for joy when we have eyes to see what God is doing in our lives and in the congregations that meet together each week to celebrate our redemption and that of creation itself …”

Considering the joy that God provides and for all of aspects of worship that enliven one’s spirit, she writes, she celebrates the 25th anniversary of RW and how the magazine will keep “our eyes open to see what God has in store for the body of Christ over the next decades as we anticipate the greater joy of God’s kingdom come and God’s will done on earth as it is in heaven.”