Why The Early Church Didn't Have Worship Services: A Conversation with Dr. Tom Wadsworth

As a young worship leader, I used to ask myself the question: “Why is worship such a big deal?” Not in the sense of “God isn’t worthy of it…” but I realized there were no worship leaders in the Bible. Lots of singing. And our church gatherings are built around worship. And there’s a worship industry. And a constant stream of songs and songwriters. It’s a big deal in our modern church culture.

I consoled myself with the thought that God is worthy of it. We sing so much because he’s worthy. We write so many songs because he’s worthy. We have so many services because he’s worthy.

And while that might not be wrong… has our emphasis on worship led us to an imbalance in our gatherings? Has our emphasis on worship being all about God, led us to neglect the very real horizontal aspects of ministry and discipleship?

I wanted to talk about it. My guest today is Dr. Tom Wadsorth, New Testament scholar whose doctoral dissertation was why the first century church did not use worship language when it described its gathering.

I know that is controversial. This is a worship podcast. You may be a worship leader. You may be a songwriter who resources the church with new songs.

We’re not talking about removing worship and singing from the church. That would be an obvious Biblical misinterpretation. What we are looking at is how did the first century church view its gathering and what can we learn from it today?

Because I don’t know about you - it’s possible to worship, listen to sermons, and give in the offering for a lifetime and not mature in my faith. Our churches are full… and growing numerically…but are people maturing in their faith? 

What would it look like for us to reimagine our gatherings?

This is controversial. You may disagree some. But I think it’s a healthy theme for us to wrestle with.

Topics Covered:

• What constituted the gathering of first century Christians
• Why worship language would be foreign to the first century church
• When the shift happened in church history from edification to worship
• Power and control dynamics throughout church history
• Why preaching is not a New Testament concept
• How to balance mega and small church

Resources Mentioned:

• Show Sponsor: Planning Center
• Tom Wadsworth
• 7 Part Series on The Christian Assembly

Show Sponsor: Planning Center

My goal in this podcast is to help you grow as a worship leader. Of course that includes your formation, but it isn’t limited to that—it’s also with practical tools to help you in your ministry.

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