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Melodie Rivera
Professor Jenna Campbell
ENC 1102-0040
1623 February 2017
Worship: Analysis of a Textual Way of Life
The act of worship is an activity associated with religion. Christians commonly

express their gratitude and respect towards God through worship. It might seem like a

ritual but for the Nondenominational Christian community it goes beyond that. Worship

has gone from this view of an impersonal religious act to a more personal way of life. It is

reflected through a persons everyday testimony. An aspect that is overlooked is the literacy

activity involved in worship. Everyday Christians use a variety of texts and genres to enhance

their personal worship experience with God. These participants in the Nondenominational

Christian community are both the consumers and creators. These texts also help shape other

participants contribution to the literate activity of worship. Through the use of different research

methods the different ways in which worship texts change to religious reflection, deepen

religious understanding and build religious communities will be identified.

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. These are people who attend church and are involved in the

worship experience both congregational and personally. The use of these two populations show

the different perspectives and how they all tie together in the act of worship. The interview

questions can be found Iin the appendix. The two groups had similar questions, with slight

differences in order to best fit the interviewees.

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Worship lyrics and devotionals each have a different impact on personal worship. A

common trend, however, is they all draw people closer to a relationship with God. Lyrics in

particular can lead to breakthroughs, which give a clear understanding of what God is doing,

as described by Elimar Gonzalez, a member of a local Nondenominational Church, in her

interview. Lyrics help shine a light on a different perspective of a situation which encourages

religious reflection. This can be an eye opening experience to those who partake in the worship

activity. As explained by Marielis Montanez, a worship leader at her local church in Maryland,

shared that It's really inspiring to hear that some people can go through the same things as

you do and how God can work in their lives, and that helps you to have a different

perspective in worshipping Him. It is always reassuring to know you are not the only one

going through that situation. By hearing others experiences that relate to ones own gives a

sense of hope and helps build religious communities. When it comes to worship texts there is

also an emphasis on Gods characteristics. It was due to a song that Kathy Serrano, member of

aa worship leader at local church in the Orlando area, was able to understand the greatness of

Gods love. The song was called How Great is Your Love and although it sounds simple,

they had a deep wordsimpact on her understanding of truth. It made me really reflect on how

great Gods endless love is, not only to me,in her life but to my friends, and to the world.

Through these different experiencesin the life of those around her. The lyrics proclaimreflected

the essence of God and deependeepened her religious understanding. When it comes to

worship texts the focus on God's revelation, including his character and his redemptive work

(Abernethy).

According to Justin Mercado, a member of a local churchs dance ministry, there's

no such thing as a "perfect" worship text but an honest one that not just connects you more
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with God but also makes others around you feel and connect with that it. When creating a

worship text one of the most important parts is authenticity. Lyrics and devotionals are

based on personal experiences. Honesty is what speaks to the heart. Things that touch a

persons heart during their time of prayer are then developed into different forms of texts.

Abernethy sharesA group of clinical psychologists, part of the Christian Association for

Psychological Studies, conducted research on corporate worship and spiritual formation. They

got their insight by studying worship leaders. The data collected proposed four qualities of

worship (1) the aim of worship is to glorify God; (2) God's glory pertains to what is revealed in

the Christian scriptures; (3) worship is always "culturally embodied and embedded"; and

(4) worship invites full participation as we bring our whole life to worship. (Abernethy et al.).

In other words, worship is sharing the essence of God that is experienced in times of prayer and

bible reading. Worship goes beyond a simple act done in church, it is a lifestyle impacted by

different texts.

Based on the results from the interviews conducted lyrics and devotionals are not

the only texts that affect personal worship time. Blogs, podcasts and books are all different

genres that contribute to the worship experience. Blogs can cover different topics. An

example of a popular Christian blog is The Secret Garden. This video blog is geared

towards young adult Christian women. It provides advice and different testimonies of

extraordinary women who can be seen as role models. The general ideas of blogs are to

unite Christians with similar interests and tie those interests to their relationship with God.

Podcasts are also a way to share words of encouragement with members of the Christian

worship community. Each dayIn Pastor Ricks Daily Hope Podcast, he shares new scriptures

and devotionals are sharedwith a sense of hope, encouraging others to deepen their religious
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understanding. Some churches such as Elevation Church and Bethel Church use podcasts to

share weekly sermons. Books also share encouraging words, such as Crazy Love by Francis

Chan. This book describes the different attributes of Gods love. Another book mentioned

during the interviews was Doxology and Theology by Matt Boswell. This book covers

guidelines based on biblical principles on the life of a worship leader and how to lead others

into worship. This text mainly impacts the worship pastor/leader community but it

inadvertently impacts the congregation also because the information read during the

leadersleaders personal worship time is implanted to benefit the congregations worship

experience. Along with these books, the Bible was the number one textual source mentioned

by every interviewee.
Along with these books, the Bible was the number one textual source mentioned by

every interviewee.The number one text used in the Nondenominational Christian community is

the Bible. 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.

Based on researchResearch 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 understand the context of the song I gathered information on the writers of the

text. Hillsong Worship is the praise and worship 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 obtained the chance to travel the world sharing their vision on the unshakeable belief

in the power of Jesus Christ. Despite the pain, sorrow and tension of this world, Jesus is not
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threatened by the darkness (hillsong.com/worship). 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 the lens of their beliefs, I rhetorically analyzed the

song What a Beautiful Name. .

It was stated earlieris evident that many of the texts in the community revolvethis text

revolves around the Bible. This reigns true in, the song, which What a Beautiful Name starts by

stating You were the Word at the beginning which relates to the biblical scripture of John 1:1

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (New

International Version, John. 1.1).. This automatically establishes credibility within the Christian

community because it is referencing the main text. By stating One with God the song then

goes on to reference the Holy Trinity. The Holy Trinity is a concept in which God is three people

in one. The Father, God, the Son, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Jesus explains this when he states I

and the Father are one, (New International Version, John. 10.30). The overall motif of the song

is to exalt the greatness of Jesus Christ. They constantly proclaim the beauty of all His works.

The diction used in the lyrics such as You didnt want heaven without us/So Jesus, You brought

heaven down, Death could not hold you and You are raised to life again show that Jesus

greatest work is considered to be His crucifixion and resurrection. All of these phrases are related

to biblical scriptures.

By stating One with God the song then goes on to reference the Holy Trinity. The Holy

Trinity is a concept in which God is three people in one. The Father, God, the Son, Jesus, and the

Holy Spirit. Jesus explains this when he states I and the Father are one, (New International

Version, John. 10.30). references. This concept also relates to the personal aspect of worship. As

described by Dr. Cristinel Ioja, an assistant professor of Orthodox Theology at the University
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Aurel Vlaicu, the establishment of the Holy Trinity is what broke the veil between man and God.

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

Devotionals are common text within times of intimacy with God in the

Nondenominational Christian community. As described by Father Ciprian Streza, a theologist,

the time of reading the bible creates such a communion that the same inspired word becomes a

revelation from God at the same time as it brings him glory and praise (Streza 147). It becomes

a place to establish a relationship and deepen religious understanding. A greater understanding of

the Word of God provides courage and a passion that drives Christians to share their Faith.

As part of my research I collected a sample of a devotional text, the writer of the text

wishes to remain anonymous. For this particular example, please refer to figure 4, in the index.

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. While Paull is in the jail cell, he continues to praise God and encourages those

around him to do the same. The writer of the devotional 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. By sharing his understanding of what

Gods word is saying the author can encourage others to pursue faith and hope. The devotional is

based on a single scripture, but it also mentions other scriptures to emphasizes the message. John

3:16 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in

him shall not perish but have eternal life, is used by the writer to support his claim of the love

God has for his people.

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Through the years, 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 text, and it

plays a vital role in text creation. Overall, there is an positive impact of worship texts on

religious reflection, deepen religious understanding and build religious communities.

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Appendix

1. How have lyrics and devotionals personally impacted your worship life?
2. What other textual sources affect your personal worship experience?
3. What leads to a successful worship text?
4. What is your writing process?
5. What type of experiences are the texts based of?
6. How do you use the Bible within text creation?
7. What causes these texts to surpass cultural barriers?

Figure 1. Interview questions for Worship Pastors/Leaders.

1. How have lyrics and devotionals personally impacted your worship life?
2. What other textual sources affect your personal worship experience?
3. What do you think leads to a successful worship text?
4. Do you write lyrics, devotionals, or any other worship related texts?
5. If so, What type of experiences are the texts based of?
6. How do you use the Bible within your personal worship time?

Figure 2. Interview questions for Members of the Congregation.

What a Beautiful Name-Hillsong Worship

VERSE 1

You were the Word at the beginning

One with God the Lord Most High
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Your hidden glory in creation

Now revealed in You our Christ

CHORUS

What a beautiful Name it is

What a beautiful Name it is
The Name of Jesus Christ, my King
What a beautiful Name it is
Nothing compares to this
What a beautiful Name it is
The Name of Jesus

VERSE 2

You didnt want heaven without us

So Jesus, You brought heaven down
My sin was great, Your love was greater
What could separate us now

Figure 3. Worship song lyrics.

1.10.17

SometimesGodplacesusinverydifficultsituations.SuchasbeinginjaillikePaul.Butthosesituations

arenotmeanttobringusdown.InsteadtheyarepartofGod'sperfectplan.BytrustinginHimweare

abletosharethegospelwithpeople.ItmightseemlikeanunconventionalwayofdoingitbutGodisnot

aconventionalGod,hewilldowhateverneedstobedonetohelpthosewhoareseekingsomething

greater.ThesesituationshelpbuildupourfaithandourcouragesothatwecanproclaimtheGood

Newswithoutshame.(Philippians1:1218)SpreadGod'sloveanddoitbasedonexperience.Everything

Goddoeshedoeswithloveforus.(John3:16)
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Figure 34. Personal devotional example.

Work Cited

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?

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7CA454485083&it=r&asid=a5eff9a64f3ccaaa9f022c1347dcc84f. Accessed 16 February

2017.

Gonzalez, Elimar. Personal interview. 15 February 2017.

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.

LojaIoja, 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.

Mercado, Justin. Personal interview. 16 February 2017.

Montanez, Marielis. Personal interview. 15 February 2017.

Serrano, Kathy. Personal interview. 15 February 2017.

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
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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

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The Bible. New International Version, Biblica Inc., 2011.