Corporate Worship?
According to G. Temp Sparkman in his article “Corporate Worship: The Experience and the Event,” (Perspective in Religious Studies 18 (Fall 1991), 291-48), “Corporate worship is the energizing center for all that the church is and does.” I’ve read many articles, both printed and on the internet, that agree with this statement. Sparkman organizes his article in two sections: 1) The experience of corporate worship and 2) the corporate worship event. If I understand his reasoning, then the “energizing center” of a group of believers is the meeting of that group.
I believe that the assembly of the church is very important (thus the name of this blog). However, I do NOT think that the meeting of the church is the “energizing center” of the church. If anything, the assembly of the church is an indication of whether or not the believers are connected to the “energizing center” – which is God himself through the work of the Holy Spirit.
What happens when a church believes its “worship service” is its “energizing center”?