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On the campus of Calvin University and Calvin Theological Seminary
© 2025 91ÁÔÆæ
: #5 in a series on the "10 Core Convictions about 91ÁÔÆæ" from Calvin 91ÁÔÆæ Institute on Vimeo.
How does worship relate to culture? How is worship in culture, but not of it? The Lutheran World Federation's Study Team on 91ÁÔÆæ and Culture met in Nairobi in January of 1996 and produced the . The statement presents four central principles of the relationship between worship and culture:
1) 91ÁÔÆæ is transcultural (91ÁÔÆæ has certain dynamics that are beyond culture).
2) 91ÁÔÆæ is contextual (91ÁÔÆæ reflects local patterns of speech, dress, and other cultural characteristics).
3) 91ÁÔÆæ is counter-cultural (91ÁÔÆæ resists the idolatries of a given culture).
4) 91ÁÔÆæ is cross-cultural (91ÁÔÆæ reflects the fact that the body of Christ transcends time and space).
We have found that the most meaningful worship - and the wisest worshiping community - does not just choose one of these four as its defining principle, but instead is invigorated by the truth of all four.
Note how this statement nuances the model of being "in but not of" culture, and calls us to a more sophisticated understanding of worship's relationship to culture.
is posted at the Lutheran World Federation website. It was also published in Christian 91ÁÔÆæ: Unity in Cultural Diversity, ed. S. Anita Stauffer (Geneva: Lutheran World Federation, 1996).
We encourage worshipers and worship leaders to reflect on it as they consider the context and challenges of their culture, and answer God's call to worship within it and minister to it.
Related Resources
The last few minutes of corporate worship are critical because they frame the entire purpose of worship and its connection to our lives in the world.
Explore how Christians in the earliest centuries of Christianity engaged topics related to wealth and poverty in their preaching, public prayers, offerings, celebrations of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and the shaping of buildings and spaces for Christian worship.
How did early Christians understand their illness and pain in their Greco-Roman context?
The last few minutes of corporate worship are critical because they frame the entire purpose of worship and its connection to our lives in the world.
Explore how Christians in the earliest centuries of Christianity engaged topics related to wealth and poverty in their preaching, public prayers, offerings, celebrations of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and the shaping of buildings and spaces for Christian worship.
How did early Christians understand their illness and pain in their Greco-Roman context?
Pastors of three Hispanic churches will share what they learned from experiences implementing congregational projects related to the development of new understandings and practices of worship and preaching.
