Envisioning the Congregation, Practicing the Gospel

foundational for any congregation’s ministry and witness. They are

Waypoint 4: Christian Worship Is Interwoven with — and Enhanced by — the Arts

Waypoint 5: Christian Worship and Diakonia Are Symbiotically Related

Waypoint 3: Worship Honors a Wide Range of Human Feelings and Experiences

Waypoint 1: Christian Worship as a Response to the Gospel

Waypoint 2: Christian Worship Prioritizes the “Means of Grace” — the Word of God, Sacraments, and Prayer

To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God.

Clearly, many mainline Protestant churches are adrift with changing liturgical styles, competing

“The Church is the Church only when it exists for others” (Bonhoeffer, 1972, 382).