08-05-2008, 11:46 AM
Is there a difference between blended worship and convergence worship?
Convergence worship is not blended worship. Blended worship has primarily to do with musical styles, and the balancing of the amount of new and old styles used in a service. Blended worship tends to dilute and generalize worship and can result in a generic service. It is intended to produce a predictable product. Although the intention is to please everyone with something to the musical taste of their generation, it often has the opposite effect. One writer has defined blended worship to be "a service designed to make everyone equally angry".
Convergence worship, on the other hand, has to do with bringing contemporary music into the theological and and procedural models established in the foundations of the church and yet be relevant to the current culture. It encompasses the sweeping ranges of musical styles of the church both past and present, seeks to recover the arts in worship and expresses the celebratory nature of worship that focuses on who God is and what He has done, and does it within the established order of service. Convergence worship is dynamic, in that it is always evolving.
An excellent article contrasting blended and convergence worship can be found here: https://www.reformedworship.org/article/...at-it-isnt
Some further thoughts that bring in the liturgical connection:
https://www.reformedworship.org/article/...liturgical
Convergence worship is not blended worship. Blended worship has primarily to do with musical styles, and the balancing of the amount of new and old styles used in a service. Blended worship tends to dilute and generalize worship and can result in a generic service. It is intended to produce a predictable product. Although the intention is to please everyone with something to the musical taste of their generation, it often has the opposite effect. One writer has defined blended worship to be "a service designed to make everyone equally angry".
Convergence worship, on the other hand, has to do with bringing contemporary music into the theological and and procedural models established in the foundations of the church and yet be relevant to the current culture. It encompasses the sweeping ranges of musical styles of the church both past and present, seeks to recover the arts in worship and expresses the celebratory nature of worship that focuses on who God is and what He has done, and does it within the established order of service. Convergence worship is dynamic, in that it is always evolving.
An excellent article contrasting blended and convergence worship can be found here: https://www.reformedworship.org/article/...at-it-isnt
Some further thoughts that bring in the liturgical connection:
https://www.reformedworship.org/article/...liturgical