Melodie Rivera

Professor Jenna Campbell

ENC 1102-0040
21 April 2017
Worship: A Textual Way of Life
Worship is an activity associated with religion, in which the Christian community

commonly partakes in, as a way to express gratitude and respect towards God. It might seem like

a ritual but for the non-denominational Christian community it goes beyond that. The view of

worship as an impersonal religious act has transformed into the perspective of a more personal

way of life, reflected through a persons everyday testimony. This can be achieved through a

variety of texts and genres. The primary text used in the literate activity of worship is the Bible.

The Bible can be read in different ways, however, for this specific literacy activity it will be

interpreted to fit modern time circumstances. Other text examples include lyrics, and devotionals

that are influenced by the Bible. Everyday Christians searching for ways to enhance their

worship experience with God are both the consumers and creators. These texts help shape other

participants contribution to the literate activity of worship. Due to technological advances the

sharing of worship materials has been facilitated, allowing Christians from all over the globe the

opportunity to communicate how God is working in their lives and share their experiences with

others. Through the use of different research methods, the ways in which worship texts

contribute to religious reflection, deepen religious understanding and build religious

communities will be identified.

In order to support my research findings, I used journal articles developed by scholars

from different areas of Christianity. A group of clinical psychologists, part of the Christian

Association for Psychological Studies, conducted research on corporate worship and spiritual

formation. The purpose of the study conducted was to gain a greater understanding of the process

worship leaders go through that contributes to the act of corporate worship. The study was
composed of different interview questions that each worship leader had to elaborate upon.

Researchers got their insight by studying 26 worship leaders. The main concept discovered

within each participant was the God-Centered approach. They also suggested a definition of

worship, which is sharing the essence of God that is experienced in times of prayer and bible

reading. The research focuses on congregational aspects but the evidence suggests the influence

of personal worship time. Worship goes beyond a simple act done in church, it is a lifestyle

impacted by different texts. Taking the view away from an impersonal ritual to a personal

everyday experience.
Along with the study, I used the journal article The Mystery of the Holy Trinity and the

Experience of God in Liturgy Dogma, Spirituality and Liturgy in Orthodoxy by Dr. Cristinel

Ioja. Dr. Cristinel Ioja is an assistant professor of Orthodox Theology at the University Aurel

Vlaicu in Romania. In his journal article, Dr. Ioja discusses the Holy Trinity through the set

principles of Christianity, spirituality and worship. He draws a connection between the Holy

Trinity and the Church. He has a similar approach to Father Ciprian Streza, because he also

discusses the relationship between the Trinity and Lithurgy, but the overall focus of his journal

article is the different roles of the Holy Trinity in Christianity. Overall Dr. Ioja concludes that

there is no way to fully understand the Holy Trinity. It is a mystery that the deeper we go, the

more perspectives are uncovered. For my research purposes, I drew Dr. Iojas claim on the

establishment of the Holy Trinity. This is seen as what broke the veil between man and God.

Now there is no distance between them and man has unlimited access to Gods abundant grace.

Through this perspective, worship is no longer a ritual done to fulfill religious requirements, it

becomes a personal experience between man and God.

The section The Divine Liturgy in Orthodox Spirituality: The Mystery of Man's

Personal Encounter with God through Worship and the Ascetical Life from The Greek Orthodox
Theological Review, written by Father Ciprian Streza. Father Ciprian Streza is a theologist and a

member of the Greek Orthodox clergy. He and a group of clergy members collaborated in writing

The Greek Orthodox Theological Review. This review is a book establishing the concepts and

beliefs of the Greek Orthodox church. My focus was on the section written by Father Streza,

which covers the topic of mans personal encounter with God through worship during the Divine

Liturgy. The Divine Liturgy is a special service conducted by the Greek Orthodox Church with

hymns, prayer and scripture readings. This section covers the beliefs of the Greek Orthodox

Church which is a different denomination of Christianity. My research is focused within the

Nondenominational community. However, the reading discusses concepts that apply to both of

the communities, such as the concept of Worship and the effects of text on mans personal

encounter with God. It is discussed that the word of The Bible is a way in which God manifests

Himself during times of personal worship. The text becomes a place to establish a relationship

and deepen religious understanding. This relates to the creation of devotionals, having a greater

understanding of the Word of God provides courage and a passion that drives Christians to share

the insight they have gathered through texts, which assist in expressing their Faith.
The Bible is a very important source, every Christian text revolves around it. The

scholarly journal articles all had references to the scripture. This shows the importance of the

text. I was able to draw connections from my own personal research to The Bible. From

analyzing song lyrics to devotionals, The Bibles importance is evident. Along with these books,

the Bible was the number one textual source mentioned by every interviewee. This text is plays a

vital role because it is considered the Word of God. The Bible is revered very highly in the

community. Due to the importance of the Bible, all the other texts used by the community

revolve around it. An example of this can be seen in worship song lyrics. My research findings

suggest that the majority of song lyrics are based off a biblical text. In order to support this claim
I picked a song to rhetorically analyze. According to the iTunes Hot Tracks the number one song

at the moment in the Christian & Gospel genre is What a Beautiful Name by Hillsong

Worship.
In order to gain a greater understanding of how worship texts influence personal worship

lives, I conducted multiple interviews. Since there are different levels of expertise within the

population, the interviews consisted of two sets of people. One set of interviews was conducted

with a group of worship pastors/leaders. They have a higher level of expertise due to their

education and years of experience in the field of worship. The other set of the population

interviewed is the congregation, which are people who attend church and are involved in the

worship experience. The use of these two populations show the different perspectives and how

they all tie together in the act of worship. The two groups had similar questions, with slight

differences to best fit the interviewees.

Worship has gone past religious acts and is now considered more of a way of life. This

can be seen through different acts of service both inside and outside the church. Through the

research process of interviews and textual analysis it can be seen that the Bible plays an

important role in worship texts, it is intertwined in multiple aspects of a religious text, and it

plays a vital role in text creation. With the use of different sources, such as scholarly journal

articles and research studies, the positive impact of worship texts on religious reflection, by

deepening religious understanding and building religious communities is evident.

Abernethy, Alexis D., et al. "Corporate worship and spiritual formation: insights from worship
leaders." Journal of Psychology and Christianity, vol. 34, no. 3, 2015, p. 266+.
Religion and Philosophy Collection login.ezproxy.net.ucf.edu/login?
auth=shibb&url=http: //go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=PPRP&sw=w&u=orla57816&v=2.1&id=GALE
7CA454485083&it=r&asid=a5eff9a64f3ccaaa9f022c1347dcc84f. Accessed 16 February
2017.
 A group of clinical psychologists, part of the Christian Association for Psychological
Studies, conducted research on corporate worship and spiritual formation. The purpose of
the study conducted was to gain a greater understanding of the process worship leaders
go through that contributes to the act of corporate worship. Researchers got their insight
by studying 26 worship leaders through a series of interview questions. The main concept
discovered within each participant was the God-Centered approach. They also suggested
a definition of worship, which is sharing the essence of God that is experienced in times
of prayer and bible reading. The research focuses on congregational aspects but the
evidence suggests the influence of personal worship time. Worship goes beyond a simple
act done in church, it is a lifestyle impacted by different texts, taking the view away from
an impersonal ritual to a personal everyday experience. These claims relate to the data
collected through my interview process of both the congregation and church
pastors/leaders. Worship texts are influenced by times of intimacy spent reading The
Bible, which enhances the textual experience of worship by deepening religious
understanding.

Gonzalez, Elimar. Personal interview. 15 February 2017.

Elimar Gonzalez is a member of Restoration Christian Center, a local nondenominational

church in the Orlando, Florida area. She is very involved in the church, by serving in
different ministries. Wherever there is a need Elimar and her family are there to help in
whatever it may be. Her favorite part of the Sunday service is worship. With this in mind,
I asked her about her personal worship life, aside from the routinely congregational
Sunday morning service. Elimar was very open about her views on worship as a lifestyle.
For her, lyrics and devotionals lead to breakthroughs in situations by presenting the
different perspectives, everything is a learning experience when it comes to God. When I
asked her what other texts influenced her personal worship time, she said The Bible.
During her times of trouble Elimar turns to the scripture in order to find peace and
strength. It is during those times of trouble that her faith is strengthened and she gains a
deeper understanding of who God is in her life. This interview is crucial to my research
because it demonstrates that texts can influence personal worship time, not only for
worship leaders/pastors, but also for the congregation. The texts, such as lyrics and The
Bible can deepen a persons religious understanding.

Hillsong Worship. What a Beautiful Name. Let There Be Light, Capitol CMG Label
Group/Sparrow Records, 2016, http://hillsong.com/lyrics/what-a-beautiful-name.

Hillsong Worship is the praise and worship musical group of a local church in Australia,
that through the years has grown and impacted many people. They are a very successful
group who have earned the chance to travel the world sharing their passion for God.
Hillsong Worship seeks to spread their love of Christ, no matter the situation and
circumstances. The power of Jesus Christ will always shine through and overcome
adversity. Through an analysis of the song What A Beautiful Name it is evident that
their lyrics demonstrate how worship texts impact personal worship experience by
deepening religious understanding. The overall motif of the song is to exalt the greatness
of Jesus Christ. They constantly proclaim the beauty of all His works, using biblical
 scriptures and concepts as a basis. By stating One with God the song then goes on to
reference the Holy Trinity. The Holy Trinity is a fundamental concept within Christianity
which describes God as three people in one: The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit.
This is a foundational belief in Christianity, especially when it comes to understanding
Gods grace. When analyzing the lyrics, I personally gained a greater understanding of
their biblical truths and was able to draw a connection between the lyrics and Dr.
Cristinel Lojas view of the Holy Trinity and how it relates to the textual experience of
worship.

Ioja, Cristinel. The Mystery of the Holy Trinity and the Experience of God in Liturgy Dogma,
Spirituality and Liturgy in Orthodoxy. International Journal of Orthodox Theology, vol.
2, no. 1, 2011, pp. 106-116, www.socwork.net/sws/article/view/60/362. Accessed 16
February 2017.

Dr. Cristinel Ioja is an assistant professor of Orthodox Theology at the University Aurel
Vlaicu in Romania. In his journal article, Dr. Ioja discusses the Holy Trinity through the
set principles of Christianity, spirituality and worship. He draws a connection between the
Holy Trinity and the Church. He has a similar approach to Father Ciprian Streza, because
he also discusses the relationship between the Trinity and Lithurgy, but the overall focus
of his journal article is the different roles of the Holy Trinity in Christianity. Overall Dr.
Ioja concludes that there is no way to fully understand the Holy Trinity. It is a mystery
that the deeper we go, the more perspectives are uncovered. For my research purposes, I
drew Dr. Iojas claim on the establishment of the Holy Trinity. This is seen as what broke
the veil between man and God. Now there is no distance between them and man has
unlimited access to Gods abundant grace. Through this perspective, worship is no longer
a ritual done to fulfill religious requirements, it becomes a personal experience between
man and God, which is related to the song What a Beautiful Name by Hillsong United.
The text leads to a deeper religious understanding of biblical concepts.

Montanez, Marielis. Personal interview. 15 February 2017.

Marielis Montanez is a worship leader at Corner Stone Church in Bowie, Maryland.

Aside from being a worship leader, Marielis is also a Christian singer/songwriter who has
had the privilege to work behind the scenes with some of the most influential Christian
music songwriters in the business. She has a great passion for music and for reaching out
to others. When I asked her about her personal worship time, she responded the it was
more than just something that is done. For her worship is a way of life. Worship is how
our testimony speaks to others. Her testimony is her story and what brought her to the
place she is currently in. It plays an influential role in her song and text creation. In her
perspective, the most successful worship texts are those based on personal experiences. I
asked her if there were any other texts that influenced her worship time, and she
responded with a whole list of different resources. The list consisted of book titles, blogs,
podcast and The Bible. They each cover different topics and perspectives, but there is one
thing that ties them all together, God. Each text shares a persons perspective on
Christianity, which leads others to a deeper religious understanding. The texts also
 encourage religious reflection by highlighting a persons views which help shape our
own.

Respondent Personal Devotional. 10 Jan. 2017. Accessed 16 Feb. 2017.

As part of my research I collected a sample of a devotional text. The text is based on the
biblical scripture found in Philippians 1:12-18. This scripture covers the story of Paul in a
jail cell. The devotional is reflecting upon a difficult situation and establishing a sense of
hope. The writer takes this scripture and relates it to any unideal situation. Faith is
expressed by assuring that God will take any situation and turn it around to show His
greatness. This devotional was created while reading and contemplating The Bible. It was
a personal act that can also impact others. An act of religious reflection can lead to
establishing religious communities. By sharing his understanding of what Gods word is
saying through text, the author can encourage others to pursue faith and hope. This
establishes religious communities in which the members encourage one another to
enhance their worship experience by reading different texts, such as devotionals. This
devotional is an example of the use of intertextuality within the Nondenominational
Christian community. The author pulled scriptures from The Bible and developed a text
that influences others religious understanding.

Streza, Ciprian. "The Divine Liturgy in Orthodox Spirituality: The Mystery of Man's Personal
Encounter with God through Worship and the Ascetical Life." The Greek Orthodox
Theological Review, vol. 58, no. 1-4, 2013, pp. 141-167. EBSCOhost,
login.ezproxy.net.ucf.edu/login?auth=shibb&url=http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.net
.ucf.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=reh&AN=ATLA0001986327&site=ehost-live.

Father Ciprian Streza is a theologist and a member of the Greek Orthodox clergy. He and
a group of clergy members collaborated in writing The Greek Orthodox Theological
Review. This review is a book establishing the concepts and beliefs of the Greek
Orthodox church. My focus was on the section written by Father Streza, which covers the
topic of mans personal encounter with God through worship during the Divine Liturgy.
The Divine Liturgy is a special service conducted by the Greek Orthodox Church with
hymns, prayer and scripture readings. This section covers the beliefs of the Greek
Orthodox Church which is a different denomination of Christianity. My research is
focused within the nondenominational community, however the reading discusses
concepts that apply to both of the communities, such as the concept of Worship and the
effects of text on mans personal encounter with God. It is discussed that the word of The
Bible is a way in which God manifests himself during times of personal worship. The text
becomes a place to establish a relationship and deepen religious understanding. This
relates to the creation of devotionals, having a greater understanding of the Word of God
provides courage and a passion that drives Christians to share the insight they have
gathered through texts, which assist in expressing their Faith.
The Bible. New International Version, Biblica Inc., 2011.

The Bible is the number one textual source within the Nondenominational Christian
community. This text plays a vital role because it is considered the Word of God. It is
made up of two components, the Old and New Testaments. Each testament consists of
multiple books, each written by different authors, with a specific message. The Bible is
known as the Word of God because it is said that God revealed each message to His
disciples with the purpose to share it with His people. This book is revered very highly in
the Christian community. Due to the importance of The Bible, all the other texts used by
the community revolve around it. Which means, all the different texts used within my
research have at least one reference to The Bible. Each journal article uses the scripture
as a way to establish credibility in the Christian community. For my research purposes
The Bible is the prime example of how intertextuality is used within the
Nondenominational Christian community. Members of the community pull quotes and
scriptures from this text and use them in order to develop new texts that represent a
deeper understanding or personal reflection.