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Melodie Rivera
Professor Jenna Campbell
ENC 1102-0040
914 March 2017
Worship: A Textual Way of Life
Worship is an activity associated with religion. Christians, the Christian community

commonly partake in this activity. Worship is as a way to express gratitude and respect towards

God. It might seem like a ritual but for the non-denominational 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. This can be achieved through a

variety of texts and genres. The primary text used in the literate activity of worship is the Bible.

The Bible can be read in different ways. It can be read in a literal account; historians usually

partake in this form of reading. For this specific literacy activity, the Bible is interpreted to fit

modern time circumstances. Other text examples include lyrics, and devotionals that are

influenced by the Bible. Everyday Christians searching for ways to enhance their worship

experience with God are both the consumers and creators. These texts help shape other

participants contribution to the literate activity of worship. Due to technological advances the

sharing of worship materials has been facilitated. Now Christians from all over the globe can

communicate how God is working in their lives and share their experiences with others. Through

the use of different research methods the different ways in which worship texts contribute to

religious reflection, deepen religious understanding and build religious communities will be

identified.
In order to support my research findings, I used journal articles developed by scholars in

from different areas offof Christianity. I reviewed a previously done study conducted by a group

of clinical psychologists, from the Christian Association for Psychological Studies. They

conducted research on worship by studying worship leaders. The study was composed of
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different interview questions that each worship leader had to elaborate upon. With all their

compiled research the group of clinical psychologists came to the conclusion that worship is

sharing the essence of God, and it goes beyond a simple act done in church, it is a way of life.
Along with the study I used the journal article The Mystery of the Holy Trinity and the

Experience of God in Liturgy Dogma, Spirituality and Liturgy in Orthodoxy by Dr. Cristinel

Ioja, an assistant professor of Orthodox Theology at the University Aurel Vlaicu. This article

discussed the Christian principle of the Holy Trinity. The Holy trinity, which is important when

examining the concept of personal worship. The establishment of the Holy Trinity is what broke

the veil between man and God. Now there is no, dismissing the distance between them and

allowing man has unlimited access to Gods abundant grace creatingthe development of a

personal relationship with God through worship.

A section from The Greek Orthodox Theological Review, written by theologist, Father

Ciprian Streza also played a role in my research. The section The Divine Liturgy in Orthodox

Spirituality: The Mystery of Man's Personal Encounter with God through Worship and the

Ascetical Life, covers different aspects of a mans encounter with God through personal

worship. Father Streza expresses the importance of reading The Bible and spending intimate time

with God. It becomes a place to establish a relationship and deepen religious understanding. A

greater understanding of the Word of Godwhich provides courage and a passion that drives

Christians to share their Faith, which establishes with others, establishing religious communities.
The Bible is a very important source, every Christian text revolves around it. The

scholarly journal articles all had references to the scripture. This shows the importance of the

text. I was able to draw connections from my own personal research to The Bible. From

analyzing song lyrics to devotionals, The Bibles importance is evident.

ResearchMy research findings suggest that the majority of song lyrics are based off a

biblical text. In orderEvidence to support this claim Ican be found in my rhetorically

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analyzedanalysis of the song, What a Beautiful Name by Hillsong Worship. Right from the

start, the influence of the scripture is evident. As part of my research I also, collected a sample of

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

Nondenominational Christian community. I studied the form and the content in order to gain a

greater understanding of the text. Similar to the worship song lyrics, the use of the scripture as a

basis was apparent.

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 two groups had

similar questions, with slight differences to best fit the interviewees. For the purpose of the

annotated bibliography, I selected one personal interview from each of the population samples.

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. With the use of different sources, such as scholarly journal

articles and research studies, to support my primary research findings; the positive impact of
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worship texts on religious reflection, deepen religious understanding and build religious

communities is evident.

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?
auth=shibb&url=http: //go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=PPRP&sw=w&u=orla57816&v=2.1&id=GALE
7CA454485083&it=r&asid=a5eff9a64f3ccaaa9f022c1347dcc84f. Accessed 16 February
2017.

A group of clinical psychologists, part of the Christian Association for Psychological

Studies, conducted research on corporate worship and spiritual formation. The purpose of
the study conducted was to gain a greater understanding of the process worship leaders
go through that contributes to the act of corporate worship. Researchers got their insight
by studying 26 worship leaders. The main concept discovered within each participant was
the God-Centered approach. They also suggested a definition of worship, which is,
sharing the essence of God that is experienced in times of prayer and bible reading. The
research focuses on congregational aspect but the evidence suggests the influence of
personal worship time. Worship goes beyond a simple act done in church, it is a lifestyle
impacted by different texts. Taking the view away from an impersonal ritual to a personal
everyday experience. These claims relate to the data collected through my interview
process of both the congregation and church pastors/leaders. Worship texts are influenced
by times of intimacy spent reading The Bible, which enhances the textual experience of
worship by deepening religious understanding.

Gonzalez, Elimar. Personal interview. 15 February 2017.

Elimar Gonzalez is a member of Restoration Christian Center, a local nondenominational

church in the Orlando, Florida area. She is very involved in the church, by serving in
different ministries. Wherever there is a need Elimar and her family are there to help in
whatever it may be. Her favorite part of the Sunday service is worship. With this in mind,
I asked her about her personal worship life, aside from the routinely congregational
Sunday morning service. Elimar was very open about her views on worship as a lifestyle.
For her, lyrics and devotionals lead to breakthroughs in situations by presenting the
different perspectives. Everything, everything is a learning experience when it comes to
God. When I asked, her what other texts influenced her personal worship time, she said
The Bible. During her times of trouble Elimar turns to the scripture in order to find peace
and strength. It is during those times of trouble that her faith is strengthened and she
gains a deeper understanding of who God is in her life. This interview is crucial to my
research because it demonstrates how texts can influence personal worship time, not only
for worship leaders/pastors, but also for the congregation. The texts, such as lyrics and
The Bible can deepen a persons religious understanding.
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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.

Hillsong Worship is the praise and worship musical 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 earned the chance to travel the world sharing their passion for God.
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 an analysis of the song What A Beautiful Name it is evident that
their lyrics demonstrate how worship texts impact personal worship experience by
deepening religious understanding. The overall motif of the song is to exalt the greatness
of Jesus Christ. They constantly proclaim the beauty of all His works, using biblical
scriptures and concepts as a basis. 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. This is a foundational belief in
Christianity, especially when it comes to understanding Gods grace. When analyzing the
lyrics, I personally gained a greater understanding of their biblical truths and was able to
draw a connection between the lyrics and Dr. Cristinel Lojas view of the Holy Trinity
and how it relates to the textual experience of worship.

Ioja, 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.

Dr. Cristinel Ioja is an assistant professor of Orthodox Theology at the University Aurel
Vlaicu in Romania. In his journal article, Dr. Ioja discusses the Holy Trinity through the
set principles of Christianity, spirituality and worship. He draws a connection between the
Holy Trinity and the Church. He has a similar approach to Father Ciprian Streza, because
he also discusses the relationship between the Trinity and Lithurgy, but the overall focus
of his journal article is the different roles of the Holy Trinity in Christianity. Overall Dr.
Ioja concludes that there is no way to fully understand the Holy Trinity. It is a mystery
that the deeper we go, the more perspectives are uncovered. For my research purposes, I
drew Dr. Iojas claim on the establishment of the Holy Trinity. This is seen as what broke
the veil between man and God. Now there is no distance between them and man has
unlimited access to Gods abundant grace. Through this perspective, worship is no longer
a ritual done to fulfill religious requirements, it becomes a personal experience between
man and God, which is related to the song What a Beautiful Name by Hillsong United.
The text leads to a deeper religious understanding of biblical concepts.

Montanez, Marielis. Personal interview. 15 February 2017.

Marielis Montanez is a worship leader at Corner Stone Church in Bowie, Maryland.

Aside from being a worship leader, Marielis is also a Christian singer/songwriter who has
had the privilege to work behind the scenes with some of the most influential Christian
music songwriters in the business. She has a great passion for music and for reaching out
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to others. When I asked her about her personal worship time, she responded the it was
more than just something that us done. For her worship is a way of life. Worship is how
our testimony speaks to others. Her testimony, is her story and what brought her to the
place she is currently in. It plays an influential role in her song and text creation. IIn her
perspective, the most successful worship texts are those based on personal experiences. I
asked her if there were any other texts that influenced her worship time, and she
responded with a whole list of different resources. The list consisted of book titles, blogs,
podcast and The Bible. They each cover different topics and perspectives, but there is one
thing that ties them all together, God. Each text shares a persons perspective on
Christianity, which leads others to a deeper religious understanding. The texts also
encourage religious reflection by highlighting a persons views which help shape our
own.

Respondent Personal Devotional. 10 Jan. 2017. Accessed 16 Feb. 2017.

As part of my research I collected a sample of a devotional text, the writer of the text
wishes to remain anonymous.. 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. 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. An act of religious reflection, can lead to establishing
religious communities. By sharing his understanding of what Gods word is saying
through text, the author can encourage others to pursue faith and hope. This establishes
religious communities in which the members encourage one another to enhance their
worship experience by reading different texts, such as devotionals.

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
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
.ucf.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=reh&AN=ATLA0001986327&site=ehost-live.

Father Ciprian Streza is a theologist, member of the Greek Orthodox clergy. He and a
group of clergy members collaborated in writing The Greek Orthodox Theological
Review. This review is a book establishing the concepts and beliefs of the Greek
Orthodox church. My focus was on the section written by Father Streza, which covers the
topic of mans personal encounter with God through worship during the Divine Liturgy.
The Divine Liturgy is a special service conducted by the Greek Orthodox Church with
hymns, prayer and scripture readings. This section covers the beliefs of the Greek
Orthodox Church which is a different denomination of Christianity. My research is
focused within the nondenominational community, however the reading discusses
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concepts that apply to both of the communities. Such as the concept of Worship and the
effects of text on mans personal encounter with God. It is discussed that the word of The
Bible is a way in which God manifests himself during times of personal worship. The text
becomes a place to establish a relationship and deepen religious understanding. This
relates to the creation of devotionals, having a greater understanding of the Word of God
provides courage and a passion that drives Christians to share the insight they have
gathered through texts, which assist in expressing their Faith.

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

The Bible is the number one textual source within the Nondenominational Christian
community. This text is plays a vital role because it is considered the Word of God. It is
made up of two components, the Old and New Testaments. Each testament consists of
multiple books, each written by different authors, with a specific message. The Bible is
known as the Word of God because it is said that God revealed each message to His
disciples with the purpose to share it with His people. This book is revered very highly in
the Christian community. Due to the importance of The Bible, all the other texts used by
the community revolve around it. Which means, all the different texts used within my
research have at least one reference to The Bible. Each journal article uses the scripture
as a way to establish credibility in the Christian community. For my research purposes
The Bible is the prime example of how texts affect personal worship time. It deepens
religious understanding and encourages religious reflection by learning from the
experiences of those who lived thousands of years ago.