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The Worship Mall: Contemporary Responses to Contemporary Culture
Religion today is in competition with the leisure and entertainment industries. Gen Y, the postmodern generation, is open to spirituality; but most of todays young adults have not been born into faith communities where they feel any lasting allegiance. Studies suggest that for the young, belief in God is an optional matter, a virtual consumer choice. As a result, different trends in worship and worship styles are offered by different churches to suit lifestyles, attitudes, and personal taste.
- GenresReligion
242 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 23, 2020
I bought this book when it was published, which shockingly I discover is ten years ago. In the introduction Bryan Spinks talks of the contemporary world of DVDs and iPods, noting that Apple were even now blending their iPod with a phone. At the end of the book he mentions that he had no space to consider online worship which was becoming increasingly important. So important in fact that in the summer of 2020 it was, quite literally, the only way you could worship. Apart from reminding me that I really should buy books that I am likely to read now, rather than confine to the shelf for a decade, it also reveals that generations now change every ten years. Once it would have been more like 40.
That being said, the book is not anachronistic nor irrelevant to these times. Whether we are still postmodern, or transitioning to something different, seems still up in the air. Throughout his book his makes some useful comments to the effect that much of "postmodern worship" really appeals to Baby boomers and Gen Xers; Millennials may be looking for something entirely different. My own experience in church leadership backs this up, to some extent.
The Worship Mall is a series of essays covering a range of expressions of worship from the late Twentieth Century - the expected candidates are all there: alt-worship, charismatic, Celtic. But the book is made interesting by his excursion into Amish worship and snake-handling, Vatican II and African worship. Not all are what we would consider to be "post-modern" and yet all are either adapting to (or in the case of the Amish and snake-handlers) very definitely standing aside.
Spinks is generous throughout. Some the examples he quotes are truly egregious: how anyone could worship to the words "I can feel your love swelling, swelling and growing inside me/ swelling and growing deeper and wider inside me" baffles me. But even in these worst examples he neither sticks the boot in nor steps back with a knowing detachment, but gently points out that the medieval mystics said much the same thing (although didn't expect people to sing it in worship, and there I think lies the difference). With the fabricated middle class eco-worship that goes by the name Celtic, he points out that even if it bears no resemblance to what scraps of authentic Eighth Century Celtic liturgies that we have, it still manages to do what the authors wish it to do, and should probably be accepted on those terms.
Spinks is a wise writer, who guides us kindly through the oddities of Twenty First century worship. I also appreciated his ability to be bilingual in both American and English.
That being said, the book is not anachronistic nor irrelevant to these times. Whether we are still postmodern, or transitioning to something different, seems still up in the air. Throughout his book his makes some useful comments to the effect that much of "postmodern worship" really appeals to Baby boomers and Gen Xers; Millennials may be looking for something entirely different. My own experience in church leadership backs this up, to some extent.
The Worship Mall is a series of essays covering a range of expressions of worship from the late Twentieth Century - the expected candidates are all there: alt-worship, charismatic, Celtic. But the book is made interesting by his excursion into Amish worship and snake-handling, Vatican II and African worship. Not all are what we would consider to be "post-modern" and yet all are either adapting to (or in the case of the Amish and snake-handlers) very definitely standing aside.
Spinks is generous throughout. Some the examples he quotes are truly egregious: how anyone could worship to the words "I can feel your love swelling, swelling and growing inside me/ swelling and growing deeper and wider inside me" baffles me. But even in these worst examples he neither sticks the boot in nor steps back with a knowing detachment, but gently points out that the medieval mystics said much the same thing (although didn't expect people to sing it in worship, and there I think lies the difference). With the fabricated middle class eco-worship that goes by the name Celtic, he points out that even if it bears no resemblance to what scraps of authentic Eighth Century Celtic liturgies that we have, it still manages to do what the authors wish it to do, and should probably be accepted on those terms.
Spinks is a wise writer, who guides us kindly through the oddities of Twenty First century worship. I also appreciated his ability to be bilingual in both American and English.
August 9, 2012
Great book for those looking a wholistic overview of worship cultures, and how they fit together. Spinks proposes that we 'shop' for worship styles similarly to how we browse a mall. The various types on offer are post-modern, entertainment, blended... the list goes on. Maybe I don't agree with his assessment, but it's an interesting parallel.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews