Multisensory worship in traditional setting

Abstract

This paper shares how multisensory worship is vital in reaching people today and how multisensory worship can be implemented in "traditional" settings -- small and medium-sized churches where worship has primarily been an exercise of print culture. This paper shares information gathered from the implementation of multisensory worship and preaching at First United Methodist Church, Canton, Texas, from January 2004 until the present as well as information gathered from workshops and research of trends in worship. In the first chapter entitled "Multisensory Worship in Traditional Settings," definitions are formed to frame the discussion, a history of communication changes are given, multiple intelligence theory is introduced, the "contemporary-traditional" worship discussion matrix is critiqued and the current situation of worship of churches in traditional settings is described. The second chapter, entitled "The Danger and Reality of Consumerism in Worship," helps answer the criticism of many who feel that new styles and modes of worship are a capitulation to the consumer-dominant society that we live in today. The third chapter, entitled "The Worship Corpus as the Word of God," shares a theological construct by which the entire worship celebration of a church can embody the Word of God. The fourth and fifth chapters, entitled "Elements of Multisensory Worship in Traditional Settings" and "Multisensory Worship Preparation," give the practical aspects of implementing multisensory worship in churches in traditional settings, including a new way in which churches can use advanced planning to facilitate the production of many time-consuming elements.