PUTTING AN END TO WORSHIP WARS - Elmer Towns

"God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:24).
Advocates of the liturgical approach to worship might argue true worship is more likely when
the rich variety of worship traditions from all ages and cultures are incorporated. To limit one's
worship of God to one worship style popular in a particular culture at a particular time may
hinder one from worshipping God in spirit with integrity. But when many worship traditions are
available to the worshipper, a particular worshipper is more likely to identify with one of those
options and worship God appropriately.
A second strength of the Liturgical Church is its commitment to ministry. Most
Liturgical Churches incorporate a wide variety of ministries designed to meet various social
needs in their community as a part of their service to the community. Whereas the bulk of
ministry in many churches is often directed toward serving the needs of church members, a
significant portion of the typical ministry of Liturgical Church is concerned with meeting needs
of those outside the church's membership. While this does not always translate into church
attendance by recipients of the church's ministry, it does improve the influence of the church in
the community. For this reason, the minister of the Liturgical Church is often contacted by nonchurch
families at transitional times in the lives of people, i.e. weddings, funerals, birth of a
child, loss of a job, etc. As people are more receptive to change in times of transition, this
provides ministers of Liturgical Churches a unique ministry opportunity which may prove fruitful
in reaching people for Christ and increasing church attendance.
THE WEAKNESSES OF THE LITURGICAL CHURCH
While ministry to the community is one of the strengths of the Liturgical Church, it can
also be viewed as an expression of one of its significant weaknesses. Liturgical Churches are
often lacking in evangelistic outreach. The example of Dr. D. James Kennedy and the Coral
Ridge Presbyterian Church suggests a strong evangelistic outreach and is not incompatible with a
liturgical approach to ministry. Still, many Liturgical Churches emphasize social ministry to the
exclusion or near exclusion of evangelistic ministries. As a result, many evangelicals view
Liturgical Churches as lacking evangelistic zeal.
Once again, one of the strengths of this worship style also contribute to its weakness.
Many Liturgical Churches are part of older denominations with a rich history of worship
traditions. Part of that history reaches back into the early years of the Twentieth Century when
most denominations engaged in the fundamentalism/modernism controversy. In most
denominations, liberalism or modernism won this struggle in the seminaries and within a
generation many denominational pulpits were occupied by ministers who denied the essentials or
fundamentals of the faith. There were of course notable exceptions to this general rule, but they
were the exceptions. Today, many Liturgical Churches have adopted theological positions which
are incompatible with evangelistic fervour. This lack of sound biblical teaching coupled with a
tendency to address the social ills of society often leaves little room for evangelism.
TAPPING INTO THE STRENGTH OF THE LITURGICAL CHURCH
Despite significant doctrinal differences between some Liturgical Churches and their
evangelical counterparts, many evangelical churches would be wise to incorporate some of the