Consumer Worship

John Parker, a priest in the Orthodox Church in America, has an excellent article on church worship services in this month's issue of Touchstone Magazine. Therein, he discusses the increasing market-driven commodification of many modern Christian worship services. Churches today are determining what they do in their public services (and when and where they hold the services) by what the consumers--baptized, believing members or not--want, rather than by the Word of God and tradition. As a result, they have forgotten that the audience of worship is the triune God, and that the purpose of the church's public gatherings is primarily for God's people to worship Him corporately and to be built up in faith by Word and sacrament. Though Rev. Parker and I would undoubtedly come to significantly different conclusions regarding the details of the worship service, we share the fundamental perspective that it is for the Church, not "seekers" or "consumers" or "the unchurched." And it is God who determines how his people are to approach him--not the latest fad or gimmick that will get people in the doors.