This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from the King’s Research Portal at https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/ 'Worship in the spirit' : a sociological analysis and theological appraisal of charismatic worship in the Church of England. Steven, James Henry Stevenson The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without proper acknowledgement. END USER LICENCE AGREEMENT Unless another licence is stated on the immediately following page this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ You are free to copy, distribute and transmit the work Under the following conditions: Attribution: You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Non Commercial: You may not use this work for commercial purposes. No Derivative Works - You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. Any of these conditions can be waived if you receive permission from the author. Your fair dealings and other rights are in no way affected by the above. Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact [email protected] providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 09. Oct. 2021 'WORSHIP IN THE SPIRIT': A SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS AND THEOLOGICAL APPRAISAL OF CHARISMATIC WORSHIP IN THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND (7 by The Revd James H.S. Steven King's College, London Ph.D. 1 ABSTRACT Since its beginnings in the early 1960s the Charismatic Movement has gradually become an established feature within the life of the Church of England. Parishes from a variety of traditions have absorbed and adapted the Pentecostal styles of worship mediated by the Movement, which has been at its most visible and influential in the sphere of public worship. By combining a case study approach with the research methods of participant observation and interviewing, this thesis provides the first systematic investigation into the liturgical practice of parishes that have identified themselves with the Movement. My aim was to develop a research method which could be used within the context of a selection of six case study parishes representative of the different Anglican traditions influenced by the Charismatic Movement and which was sensitive to the subtle and complex social processes of liturgical activity. The resultant sociological analysis focuses upon three main aspects of the case study public worship. First, the liturgical structures and strategies developed by the parishes in their respective attempts to render their public worship hospitable to charismatic expression. The second and third are elements of charismatic worship culture shared by the case studies: the phenomenon of congregational singing, typified by what was often called the 'time of worship', and the ministry of prayer to individuals, often called 'prayer ministry'. The public world of meaning, or 'public horizon' as I call it, mediated by these two ritual activities is revealed by analysing the role of leaders, congregational participation, and the relationship with God celebrated in such ritual. It is this theological dimension that provides the focus for a concluding appraisal, which explores the adequacy of the implicit trinitarianism within such ritual. Compared to previous theological attempts to interpret and interrogate charismatic worship this appraisal has the advantage of being rooted in the realities of a detailed and systematic field study. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION page 8 CHAPTER 1- A HISTORY OF CHARISMATIC RENEWAL IN THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 20 1. Early Beginnings 20 2. 1964 - 1970: Fountain Trust and Developments 24 3. 1970 -1980: Broadening Horizons 28 4. Early 1980s: Closure of the Fountain Trust 37 5. 1984-1990: Wimber and 'Signs and Wonders' 39 6. 1990s: Post-Wimber and the 'Toronto Blessing' 48 7. Conclusion 54 CHAPTER 2- METHODOLOGY 56 1. Case Studies with a 'Verstehen' Approach 56 2. Research Methods 61 a. Participation Observation 61 b. Interviews 65 3. Research Strategy 69 a. The Public Horizon of Worship 71 b. Observing the Public Horizon 72 (i) Ritual subject 73 (ii) Symbols 74 (iii) Ritual Process 75 c. Interpreting the Public Horizon 76 d. Judging the Public Horizon 78 3 CHAPTER 3- CASE STUDY LITURGIES 80 1. Introduction 80 2. St.A: A Modern Catholic Approach 82 3. SLB and St.E: 'Free' Evangelical Approaches 93 4. St.C: An Anglican Evangelical Approach 104 5. St.D: An Anglo-Catholic Approach 108 6. St.F: A 'Radical' Approach 117 7. Conclusion 126 CHAPTER 4- SINGING GOD'S PRAISE 128 1. Introduction 128 2. The 'Time of Worship' at St.C: 'Block Worship' 129 3. The Music Group and Sung Worship 135 a. The Music Group as 'Live' Performers 136 b. The Music Group as Leaders of Worship 139 4. The Songs as Liturgical Text 142 5. Ritual Process as Transformation 150 a. Transformation of Place 150 b. Transformation of Personae 152 (i) The Music Group 153 (ii) The Congregation 157 c. Transformation as 'Flow' 161 6. The Goal of Ritual Process: 'Intimacy' in Worship 163 7. Intimacy, Prayer and God 173 4 CHAPTER 5- PRAYER MINISTRY' 179 1. Introduction 179 2. Prayer Ministry' at St.D 181 3. Administrators of 'Prayer Ministry' 186 a. Prayer Ministry' Leader 186 b. 'Prayer Ministers' 191 4. The Congregation 194 a. The Sermon 194 b. Words of Knowledge 196 c. Musical Accompaniment 200 d. The 'Prayer Ministry' Space and Respondent Posture 205 e. Summary of Congregational Response as a Romantic Narrative 208 5. The Divine Action: God as 'Live Performer' 212 a. God's Presence 212 b. God's Visibility 213 c. God's Spontaneity 216 CHAPTER 6- A THEOLOGICAL APPRAISAL 220 1. A Summary of the Numinous in Case Study Worship 220 2. The Trinitarian Expression in Case Study Worship 226 a. Extempore Prayers of Leaders 228 b. Congregational Songs 232 3. Worship 'In The Spirit' 234 a. Celebrating God the Holy Spirit 235 b. Celebrating a Vocation to Worship 242 c. Celebrating the Community at Worship 246 5 4. The Place of Christ in Congregational Sung Worship 249 a. Christ as the Exalted Dispenser of the Spirit 254 b. The Spirit-Inspired Congregation as Sole Subject of Worship 256 c. The Collapse of Worship into Immanentism 257 d. Individualism and the Climax of Worship 260 e. The Priestly Character of Worship 262 5. Receiving the Spirit in 'Prayer Ministry' 266 a. The Spirit as Divine Performer 267 b. The Therapeutic Spirit 270 c. The Spirit for the Individual 273 6. Conclusion 275 CONCLUSION 277 APPENDIX 283 Appendix A - Interview Questions for First Visit 283 Appendix B - Interview Questions for Second Visit 287 Appendix C - Words of Knowledge 288 BIBLIOGRAPHY 290 6 ACKNOWLED GEMENTS In submitting this research thesis I am aware of many to whom I am indebted for their help and support. I would especially like to thank the following: all at St. John's, Welling, whose company in worship inspired and stimulated the beginnings of my research; my supervisor, Dr Andrew Walker, for his sustained advice and constructive criticism throughout the development of the research; Richard Parrish for being an invaluable observer and fellow participant on fieldwork visits; my case study parishes for their hospitality, and most especially Rachel, my wife, and our children, for their unstinting support, encouragement and patience. This work is dedicated to the memory of the Revd Michael Vasey, liturgy tutor at Cranmer Hall, Durham, whose example and teaching first kindled my interest in the study of Christian worship. 7 INTRODUCTION Since the 1960s there have been two significant changes in the public worship of the Church of England. The first was the liturgical revision that led to the publication in 1980 of the Alternative Service Book (A.S.B.), a process that still continues as the Church of England looks to the year 2000 when the A.S.B. ceases to be authorised. This, the first successful major liturgical revision since the 1662 version of Cranmer's Book of Common Prayer, was a major landmark in the history of Anglican worship. Drawing upon the insights and inspiration of the Liturgical Movement, it has introduced new ritual structures and new language to congregational worship. The second change has been the growth of a Pentecostal style of worship associated with the Charismatic Movement. Unlike the authonsed liturgical revision, this has been a grassroots development in liturgical praxis which has developed more or less independently of the official provision. Borrowing a phrase used by Alexander Schmemann, through the influence of the Charismatic Movement the Church of England has absorbed a new kind of 'liturgical piety'.' Alongside the traditional Anglican spiritualities that focus the encounter with the Holy within the ministry of the Word (evangelical) and the Sacraments (catholic), this new liturgical piety typically locates this encounter within the Pentecostal elements of extended periods of congregational singing, inspired individual participation, and prayers for healing. Whilst there has been plenty of documentation and commentary that has accompanied the development of the authorised liturgical provision, 2 there has been comparatively little written on the character and significance of the worship associated with the Charismatic A. Schmemann, Introduction to Liturgical Theology (Leighton Buzzard: The Faith Press. 1975. 2nd ed). 2 R.C.D. Jasper and P.F. Bradshaw. A Companion to the Alternative Service Book. (London: SPCK. 1986): R.C.D. Jasper, The Development of the Anglican Liturgy 1662 - 1980 (London SPCK, 1989): C.O. Buchanan (ed). Modern Anglican Liturgies 1958-1 968 (Oxford: O.U.P., 1968): Further Anglican Liturgies 1968-1 975 (Nottingham: Grove Books.