God At the Crossroads: The Four Movements of Transformational Worship

Worship is crucial to the Christian life. Yet fewer and fewer people are in our buildings worshiping. Why? Perhaps we aren't meeting their needs, aren't speaking their language, and, therefore, aren't relevant or meaningful. In trying to respond to the needs of the community, "worship wars" sometimes erupt, and rarely does anyone win. Styles are only tactics, says Jeff Patton, and, apart from a sense of God's transformational presence, empty at best. Transformational worship occurs when worship is indigenous, speaking to the whole person in a particular culture at a specific time regardless of style. Patton describes four aspects of life (the Holy, the void, the lived world, and the self) and sees in these four aspects a "divine intersection" where the Holy invades our reality and brings us to a deeper, transformational experience of God's love, presence, and purpose.