Engaging the Whole Person
Jack Hayford
We teach the Word and we sing praises; we sing both choruses and hymns; we sometimes pray with heads bowed and other times with faces up; we pray for each other privately and in small groups; we praise with voice and hands and, on rare occasions, have even danced! In short, we aim to worship not only with our minds, but also with our hearts.
—Jack Hayford During the opening of the last Olympics, everyone in the stadium joined hands and sang. On television talk shows, the guests greet one another and the host with smiles and handshakes or kisses. Athletes give each other high fives or dance in the end zone. We're a far more expressive society than thirty years ago when I began ministry. Along the way, many churches have become more expressive, as well. More people seek worship that allows them to display more openly their joy and praise. It's not that they have a diminishing respect for the mind. They simply have an increasing need to experience their faith emotionally, and they see that the Bible enjoins such freedom. In our ministry at Church on the Way, we've tried to offer worship that engages the whole person. We teach the Word and we sing praises; we sing both choruses and hymns; we sometimes pray with heads bowed and other times with faces up; we pray for each other privately and in small groups; we praise with voice and hands and, on rare occasions, have even danced! In short, we aim to worship not only with our minds, but also with our hearts. The Value of Expressive Worship
Not everyone, of course, is comfortable with open expression of emotion in worship. Some are concerned emotional display will lead to unseemly behavior. Others believe that expressive worship is unworthy of thoughtful Christians. We've tried to address ...
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