Alternative worship is "what happens when people create

worship Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. It may involve one or more of activities such as veneration, adoration, praise, and praying. For many, worship is not about an emotion, it is more about a recogniti ...

for themselves," according to Steve Collins. As a phenomenon it began mainly in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

, Australia and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It is practiced by

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

across the age-range, although has a particular following amongst adults in their 20s and 30s. Alternative Worship usually refers to an approach to Christian worship and worship planning that emphasizes decentralized leadership, congregational participation, multi-sensory experience, ritual and narrative form. It is often discussed in contrast to

Contemporary worship Contemporary worship is a form of Christian worship that emerged within Western evangelical Protestantism in the 20th century. It was originally confined to the charismatic movement, but is now found in a wide range of churches, including many w ...

or "Youth" services. In fact it is (arguably) in part a reaction ''against'', or a development beyond

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

or charismatic forms of worship. It tends to use popular (secular) music forms in place of Christian worship songs, and more casual talks in place of the traditional

sermon A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present contexts. ...

. Alternative Worship often does not have an obvious leader or stage, and may not involve singing or lecture-style presentations at all. Alternative worship services often feature elements from ancient Christian spirituality and liturgy, such as a

labyrinth In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth (, ) was an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by t ...

, a

kyrie Kyrie, a transliteration of Greek , vocative case of (''Kyrios''), is a common name of an important prayer of Christian liturgy, also called the Kyrie eleison ( ; ). In the Bible The prayer, "Kyrie, eleison," "Lord, have mercy" derives f ...

, candle lighting and the sacraments in combination with very new elements, like projected images or video and/or electronic music. Terms that are more appropriate to the approach used in these services would be Holistic Worship, Multisensory worship or Creative Worship. Alternative worship is often associated with the

Emerging Church The emerging church is a Christian Protestant movement of the late 20th and early 21st centuries that crosses a number of theological boundaries: participants are variously described as Protestant, post-Protestant, evangelical, post-evangelical, ...

References

*''The Book of Uncommon Prayer'' by Steven L Case (Zondervan 2002) *''Alternative Worship'' by Jonny Baker and Doug Gay *''Multi-Sensory Church - Ready-to-use ideas for creative worship using, art, liturgies, rituals'' by Sue Wallace . Scripture Union *''Multi-Sensory Prayer - Creative prayer ideas using, art, the body, the senses'' by Sue Wallace . Scripture Union *''Multi-Sensory Scripture'' by Sue Wallace *''The Prodigal Project'' by Mike Riddell, Mark Pierson, Cathy Kirkpatrick. London, SPCK, 2000 *''Some Theological Reflections o
Seeker Friendly Worship and Alternative Worship
for Non-Churched People. Windsor long-course essay. *''The Complex Christ'' by Kester Brewin. London, SPCK, 2004

External links

Alternativeworship.orgVaux
Emerging church movement {{Christianity-stub