Title: Beyond the worship wars: building vital and faithful worship. Author: Long, Thomas G Beyond the worship wars 119 p. Publisher: Bethesda, Md : Alban Inst, 2001

Jacobsen, David Schnasa

English

Wilfrid Laurier University

ConsensusVolume 30Issue 1 Globalization Article 215-1-2005Beyond the worship wars: building vital and faithfulworshipDavid Schnasa JacobsenFollow this and additional works at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensusThis Book Reviews is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Consensus by anauthorized editor of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact scholarscommons@wlu.ca.Recommended CitationJacobsen, David Schnasa (2005) "Beyond the worship wars: building vital and faithful worship ," Consensus: Vol. 30 : Iss. 1 , Article 21.Available at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus/vol30/iss1/21Beyond the Worship Wars:Building Vital and Faithful WorshipThomas G. LongBethesda, Maryland: The Alban Institute, 2001.110 pages, $23.50 SoftcoverFew parish pastors and laypeople would be surprised to learn thatworship has become a battleground of late. Tom Long of EmoryUniversity’s Candler School of Theology takes up the conflict byoffering his own view of the problem and a possible way through it.Although this book does not break much new ground (its disarmingalmost home-spun style sometimes conceals the depth of reflection),it does ask all the right theological questions of people on both sidesof the worship wars. For that reason it should be read by lay andclergy together, not so much to provide all the answers, but toprovoke the right questions.The primary conflict in Long’s view is that between the“Hippolytus Force” and the “Willow Creek Force”. The Hippolytus Force is represented by those who desire toreclaim the traditions of early Church worship (Hippolytus being thethird-century Roman Bishop who provides us with perhaps theearliest example of a eucharistic prayer). This liturgical renewal, saysLong, began with the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on theSacred Liturgy, and continued in the 1970’s and beyond with astartling ecumenical convergence among mainline Protestants andCatholics in the revision of liturgies and hymnbooks as well as in anemphasis on the use of lectionaries, sacramental renewal, and adeepening of the connection between Word and Table. The drivingvision, according to Long, is an order of church worship that reflectsthe beauty and theological depth of a unified Christian tradition. By contrast, the Willow Creek Force is that which seeks to makeworship less traditional and more contemporary. Here the issue isrelevance and cultural familiarity. Its tendencies play themselves outthrough issues like music selection (especially the use of praisechoruses), informality in worship order, the use of drama, and anover-all casual ambience. Willow Creek, of course, refers to thefamous seeker-oriented worship service of a church in suburbanChicago. Whether in big or small ways, the Willow Creek Force hasinfluenced many of the worship practices of churches today. The factBook Reviews 139Published by Scholars Commons @ Laurier, 2005that many such services are also better attended has not goneunnoticed either.In reality, the contending forces are certainly more complex, asLong acknowledges. Not a few churches either split two services, sayan early informal service for younger parishioners and a more formaltraditional service for the older crowd, or try to blend the two worshipstyles with a juxtaposition of formal liturgy with informal pastoral ormusical leadership. The point is, however, not that we just find waysto split the difference, but that we know the right questions to askwhen these conflicts in worship style bubble to the surface incongregational life. To that end, Long’s book is most useful. If thetendency of the Hippolytus Force is to forget that worship is not justthe church’s rite (as if it could choose to be a closed, private club withits own liturgical nomenclature) but a place of public hospitality, thensomehow our present context worship practices need to take accountof that cultural reality. By the same token, if the tendency of theWillow Creek Force is to forget that there is a depth to Christian faithand discipleship (to trade, as it were, transcendence for a personalfeeling of relevance or intimacy), then our attempts to make worshipmore public need to be grounded in something “Other” thanourselves.Please notice the nature of Long’s arguments. In the end, theissues around Hippolytus vs. Willow Creek are emphatically notabout taste and aesthetics. Too often proponents of both forces end uparguing their case as if the issue were really what is culturally “high-minded” and what is “relevant”. The underlying issues, says Long,are really theological. To that end, Long proposes nine criteria ofchurches that have “vital and faithful worship”. Having seen thesecriteria in action in many churches, Long offers living examples ofwhat he’s talking about. Naturally, the book has some problems. The high, transcendentGod of reformed theology is not nearly enough grounded in the God-for-us disclosed in the cross. In fact, it is that Christological elementwhich would deepen his theological critique of both sides.Furthermore, although Long recognizes that traditionalism has morethan one face (for some congregants “traditional” worship hasnothing to do with Hippolytus and everything to do with nineteenth-century hymnody), his description of the conflict would benefit froma little more nuance.140 Consensushttp://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus/vol30/iss1/21Nonetheless, there is no doubt that many clergy and laity willrecognize themselves in the pages of Long’s book. Yet they will seethemselves not only in the trenches of the battlefield, but also in theirenic moments where, sometimes despite ourselves, we manage tomanifest the reconciliation with which Christ has gifted God’sworshipping people already. If Long’s trenchant questions canprovoke this much among us it, it will have done more than its partfor peace.David Schnasa JacobsenWaterloo Lutheran SeminaryAnamnesis as Dangerous Memory:Political and Liturgical Theology in DialogueBruce T. MorrillCollegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2000212 pages. $25.26 SoftcoverWithin the field of liturgical theology, the category of anamnesis orremembrance has been quite crucial. Certainly much of the renewedinterest in Eucharistic prayers since the beginning of the liturgicalrenewal movement has been the result of a greater emphasis onrendering the past of salvation history present in anamnesis. AuthorBruce Morrill, however, is not content to let anamnesis be devoid ofethical content. By drawing together the political theology of JohannBaptist Metz and the liturgical theology of Alexander Schmemann,Morrill hopes to show that the category of Eucharistic anamnesis canbe deepened in ways that unite worship and the shape of Christian lifein the world.From the Roman Catholic theologian Metz, Morrill highlights apolitical theology centered on the dangerous memory of Jesus Christ.Such a memory, an anamnesis, is capable of pulling the placidbourgeois church more deeply into the world’s suffering through aChristology of imitation. To be sure, this dangerous memory requiresthe help of disruptive narratives of apocalyptic eschatology and themysticism of prayer and (sacramental) symbol to sustain it against themiddle-class world. Precisely here Morrill finds a place for liturgicalBook Reviews 141Published by Scholars Commons @ Laurier, 2005

Beyond the worship wars: building vital and faithful worship

Scholars Commons

Consensus
Volume 30
Issue 1 Globalization Article 21
5-1-2005
Beyond the worship wars: building vital and faithful
worship
David Schnasa Jacobsen
Follow this and additional works at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus
This Book Reviews is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Consensus by an
authorized editor of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact scholarscommons@wlu.ca.
Recommended Citation
Jacobsen, David Schnasa (2005) "Beyond the worship wars: building vital and faithful worship ," Consensus: Vol. 30 : Iss. 1 , Article 21.
Available at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus/vol30/iss1/21
Beyond the Worship Wars:
Building Vital and Faithful Worship
Thomas G. Long
Bethesda, Maryland: The Alban Institute, 2001.
110 pages, $23.50 Softcover
Few parish pastors and laypeople would be surprised to learn that
worship has become a battleground of late. Tom Long of Emory
University’s Candler School of Theology takes up the conflict by
offering his own view of the problem and a possible way through it.
Although this book does not break much new ground (its disarming
almost home-spun style sometimes conceals the depth of reflection),
it does ask all the right theological questions of people on both sides
of the worship wars. For that reason it should be read by lay and
clergy together, not so much to provide all the answers, but to
provoke the right questions.
The primary conflict in Long’s view is that between the
“Hippolytus Force” and the “Willow Creek Force”. 
The Hippolytus Force is represented by those who desire to
reclaim the traditions of early Church worship (Hippolytus being the
third-century Roman Bishop who provides us with perhaps the
earliest example of a eucharistic prayer). This liturgical renewal, says
Long, began with the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the
Sacred Liturgy, and continued in the 1970’s and beyond with a
startling ecumenical convergence among mainline Protestants and
Catholics in the revision of liturgies and hymnbooks as well as in an
emphasis on the use of lectionaries, sacramental renewal, and a
deepening of the connection between Word and Table. The driving
vision, according to Long, is an order of church worship that reflects
the beauty and theological depth of a unified Christian tradition. 
By contrast, the Willow Creek Force is that which seeks to make
worship less traditional and more contemporary. Here the issue is
relevance and cultural familiarity. Its tendencies play themselves out
through issues like music selection (especially the use of praise
choruses), informality in worship order, the use of drama, and an
over-all casual ambience. Willow Creek, of course, refers to the
famous seeker-oriented worship service of a church in suburban
Chicago. Whether in big or small ways, the Willow Creek Force has
influenced many of the worship practices of churches today. The fact
Book Reviews 139
Published by Scholars Commons @ Laurier, 2005
that many such services are also better attended has not gone
unnoticed either.
In reality, the contending forces are certainly more complex, as
Long acknowledges. Not a few churches either split two services, say
an early informal service for younger parishioners and a more formal
traditional service for the older crowd, or try to blend the two worship
styles with a juxtaposition of formal liturgy with informal pastoral or
musical leadership. The point is, however, not that we just find ways
to split the difference, but that we know the right questions to ask
when these conflicts in worship style bubble to the surface in
congregational life. To that end, Long’s book is most useful. If the
tendency of the Hippolytus Force is to forget that worship is not just
the church’s rite (as if it could choose to be a closed, private club with
its own liturgical nomenclature) but a place of public hospitality, then
somehow our present context worship practices need to take account
of that cultural reality. By the same token, if the tendency of the
Willow Creek Force is to forget that there is a depth to Christian faith
and discipleship (to trade, as it were, transcendence for a personal
feeling of relevance or intimacy), then our attempts to make worship
more public need to be grounded in something “Other” than
ourselves.
Please notice the nature of Long’s arguments. In the end, the
issues around Hippolytus vs. Willow Creek are emphatically not
about taste and aesthetics. Too often proponents of both forces end up
arguing their case as if the issue were really what is culturally “high-
minded” and what is “relevant”. The underlying issues, says Long,
are really theological. To that end, Long proposes nine criteria of
churches that have “vital and faithful worship”. Having seen these
criteria in action in many churches, Long offers living examples of
what he’s talking about. 
Naturally, the book has some problems. The high, transcendent
God of reformed theology is not nearly enough grounded in the God-
for-us disclosed in the cross. In fact, it is that Christological element
which would deepen his theological critique of both sides.
Furthermore, although Long recognizes that traditionalism has more
than one face (for some congregants “traditional” worship has
nothing to do with Hippolytus and everything to do with nineteenth-
century hymnody), his description of the conflict would benefit from
a little more nuance.
140 Consensus
http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus/vol30/iss1/21
Nonetheless, there is no doubt that many clergy and laity will
recognize themselves in the pages of Long’s book. Yet they will see
themselves not only in the trenches of the battlefield, but also in the
irenic moments where, sometimes despite ourselves, we manage to
manifest the reconciliation with which Christ has gifted God’s
worshipping people already. If Long’s trenchant questions can
provoke this much among us it, it will have done more than its part
for peace.
David Schnasa Jacobsen
Waterloo Lutheran Seminary
Anamnesis as Dangerous Memory:
Political and Liturgical Theology in Dialogue
Bruce T. Morrill
Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2000
212 pages. $25.26 Softcover
Within the field of liturgical theology, the category of anamnesis or
remembrance has been quite crucial. Certainly much of the renewed
interest in Eucharistic prayers since the beginning of the liturgical
renewal movement has been the result of a greater emphasis on
rendering the past of salvation history present in anamnesis. Author
Bruce Morrill, however, is not content to let anamnesis be devoid of
ethical content. By drawing together the political theology of Johann
Baptist Metz and the liturgical theology of Alexander Schmemann,
Morrill hopes to show that the category of Eucharistic anamnesis can
be deepened in ways that unite worship and the shape of Christian life
in the world.
From the Roman Catholic theologian Metz, Morrill highlights a
political theology centered on the dangerous memory of Jesus Christ.
Such a memory, an anamnesis, is capable of pulling the placid
bourgeois church more deeply into the world’s suffering through a
Christology of imitation. To be sure, this dangerous memory requires
the help of disruptive narratives of apocalyptic eschatology and the
mysticism of prayer and (sacramental) symbol to sustain it against the
middle-class world. Precisely here Morrill finds a place for liturgical
Book Reviews 141
Published by Scholars Commons @ Laurier, 2005


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