Wednesday, July 30, 2008

I Follow Teen Pop, I Follow Adult Boomer... Is Worship Divided?

Below is an excerpt of an interview with J. I. Packer from Modern Reformation on The State of Evangelism.

Shane Rosenthal: What do you think about a niche marketing approach that has by virtue of the different worship styles--teen pop, alternative, and adult boomer--created generational segregation?

J. I. Packer: We have separated the ages, very much to the loss of each age. In the New Testament, the Christian church is an all-age community, and in real life the experience of the family to look no further should convince us that the interaction of the ages is enriching. The principle is that generations should be mixed up in the church for the glory of God. That doesn't mean we shouldn't disciple groups of people of the same age or the same sex separately from time to time. That's a good thing to do. But for the most part...

You can read the rest at Between Two Worlds here.
You can read the original, complete interview here. (you must sign up for a free subscription)

Some questions:
-Do you think worship should be all inclusive?
-Does having seperate worship services negatively impact the body?
-Is there a positive (when it comes to the local body of believers) for having seperate worship styles for different tastes?
-What is the purpose of corporate worship?
-Who is worship intended to cater to?

1 comment:

Craig said...

Absolutely worship music should be inclusive. I think music has caused the greatest division. There is a major problem if people need contemporary music to worship God. I would even go as far as telling someone who only prefers contemporay music that they should evaluate what they are worshiping.