Many CRCs Using New Worship Styles

The Christian Reformed Church rates among the top Christian faith groups whose congregations say they offer their members “innovative and contemporary” styles of worship, according to the recently released results of a Faith Communities Today (FACT) study.

Although it is too soon to tell, churches in these denominations and faith groups may be on the growing edge of “creating a new style of worship among Protestant groups,” said Marjorie H. Royle, the author of the study, in a telephone press conference.

The survey reports that 51 percent of Assemblies of God churches, 46 percent of historically black denominations, 34 percent of non-denominational churches, and 25 percent of CRC congregations report that they use innovative and creative worship styles.

Worship in emerging churches, said Royle, plays down the role of the leader or pastor. Sermons often come in the form of stories or informal group discussions. These churches may also make use of candles and incense at the same time they play popular music instead of singing hymns.

“Exactly what this style will look like will become more dominant as these new churches emerge within their denominations and become more mainstream,” said Royle.

The FACT report is one in a series produced by The Cooperative Congregational Studies Partnership, based on a 2010 survey that analyzed responses from 11,077 randomly sampled congregations of all faith traditions in the United States.

Ben Becksvoort, director of the Great Lakes Region for Christian Reformed Home Missions, helped with the report on worship. He says that Home Missions is currently supporting several new churches that could fit into the category of “emerging churches.”

Royle said that emerging churches are experimenting, often in successful ways, with combining ancient liturgies and practices of the church with liturgies and practices that are common today.

This approach, the study shows, has a very practical effect. “Churches that are more innovative and open to change are more likely to be growing. It is also true that young adults like this style of worship,” said Royle.

Royle is former director of research for the United Church of Christ and currently serves as secretary of the Religious Research Association. She has written extensively about worship, congregational vitality and clergy leadership.

In the press conference, she said it was clear that the main focus and experience of worship remained, no matter what type of worship a church used.

“Although the churches reported to us great varieties in forms of worship, they said that their worship is still filled with God’s presence,” she said.

The study says churches tend to define contemporary worship as worship that includes the use of guitars and drums for music, projecting videos and other materials on screens, frequency of offering the Lord’s Supper or Eucharist, and the role of the pastor in the life of the church.

Overall, the survey found a fair amount of change in worship styles between 2000-2010. In addition, it found that 42 percent of congregational leaders said there had been conflict in their churches over worship style.

Although almost 30 percent of congregational leaders said that the conflict the had was not serious, they still reported members leaving the church as the result of the conflict.

One of the results that “blew me away,” said Royle, was the vast range of languages — some 66 — that are now spoken in churches. “Clearly, the number of ethnically diverse churches is growing. We see many more languages spoken in 2010 than 10 years before,” she said.

Other findings of the study include:

• Decreasing average attendance at worship was the biggest difference since 2000. The median size of the congregation decreased in every Christian denomination group.
• Sunday morning remains the most common time for worship.
• Change continues to occur slowly. When asked how much they had changed in the last five years, nearly half of all congregations said they had not changed at all.
• Congregations with contemporary worship elements are more likely than others to be rated as vital.