In Worship Evangelism, Sally Morgenthaler calls the church to consider the remarkable, untapped potential of worship as an opportunity of those who aren't yet followers of Jesus Christ as well as those who are to encounter the presence of God. Combining the best of traditional and contemporary worship music and practices, Morgenthaler shows how to achieve worship that's both culturally relevant and authentic. She helps pastors, worship leaders, and musicians - Understand worship and its attraction for non-Christians - Tear down walls that keep unbelievers from meeting God in church worship - Make worship evangelism happen--in any culture Morgenthaler draws on sound research and her extensive experience as a worship leader to offer an energetic, hands-on approach. Now with a study guide that encourages group discussion and personal action, this timely book offers fresh vision for worship evangelism and provides the strategies to implement it. Sally Morgenthaler is a worship consultant, speaker, and writer. Formerly a church worship coordinator, she now leads seminars on worship throughout the US and Canada. She lives in Littleton, Colorado If you've sensed something vital missing from the church's outreach to the lost -- if you suspect that worship has far more potential than you've experienced -- then your heart will resonate with Worship Evangelism. Sally Morgenthaler sounds a call that ought to make Christians everywhere examine the true nature and scope of worship and its place in winning nonbelievers to Jesus Christ. With hands-on strategies for "worship that witnesses," Morgenthaler shows pastors, worship leaders, and musicians how to achieve worship that's both culturally relevant and authentic. In three parts, Worship Evangelism - Tells what worship is and how it attracts non-Christians to Christ - Tears down the walls that keep unbelievers from meeting God in church worship - Shows how to make worship evangelism happen-- in any culture -- It concludes with an appendix offering extensive cross-cultural information on worship resources. Worship Evangelism probes the biblical foundations of worship. It calls Christians back to a "whole-person" response to God based on scriptural truth. Such a response -- the essence of true worship -- ushers in God's presence. And when God shows up, searching hearts respond to the reality of Christ and the Gospel. Drawing on sound research and her extensive experience as a worship leader, Morgenthaler offers a fresh, "here's how" approach that is contemporary, yet honors the best of church tradition. Worship Evangelism plumbs the hidden depths of worship and supplies a vital missing piece in today's church. Sally Morgenthaler is a worship consultant, speaker, and writer. Formerly a church worship coordinator, she now leads seminars on worship throughout the US and Canada. She lives in Littleton, CO. CHAPTER 1 Time to Get Real You know what I would rather do? Sleep, read my Sunday paper. Oh, I love reading my paper on Sunday morning. I hate anything to interrupt that. And I gotta tell you, ... church wasn t giving it to me, not to get me away from my paper on Sunday morning. Vince, interviewee in Exit Interviews We should be less concerned about making churches full of people and more concerned about making people full of God. C. Kirk Hadaway and David A. Roozen Risky Business WORSHIP HAS ALWAYS BEEN a controversial subject within the church. Historically, whole movements and denominations have been birthed over what did or did not happen on Sunday mornings. The way we worship is often as much a part of our Christian identity as whom we worship sometimes even more so. Consequently, worship arouses intense personal feelings, and we tend to get defensive about it. I write this book well aware of the risks. Yet I also write with the deep conviction that it is time for the American evangelical church to face the truth: We are not producing worshipers in this country. Rather, we are producing a generation of spectators, religious onlookers lacking, in many cases, any memory of a true encounter with God, deprived of both the tangible sense of God s presence and the supernatural relationship their inmost spirits crave. A sickening emptiness pervades much of the born-again experience of the 90s, and the hollow rituals played out week after week in so many of our worship centers attest to it. Defining Worship in the 90s: Whatever Works What does it mean to worship in the evangelical church of the 90s? For a few, it means an absolutely fresh, rejuvenating encounter with the living God. For others, worship in the 90s means same song, 972nd verse ; nothing much has changed in the past twenty years. Still others are producing little updates, tweaking the old worship style to advertise that they are indeed living in the twentieth century. In other words, they have managed to break out of a few stylistic ruts. Apart from that, it is business as usual: The sermon is still the main even