Date
5-16-2024
Department
School of Music
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy
Chair
Richard Scott Connell
Keywords
Revivalism, Fundamentalism, Church History, Corporate Worship, Spontaneity, Liturgy, Charles Finney
Disciplines
Liturgy and Worship | Music
Recommended Citation
Yowell, Jeremy David, "An Inquiry into the Perceived Effects of Historical Revivalism on the Corporate Worship Behaviors of Modern-Day Fundamental and Independent, Baptist and Bible Churches" (2024). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 5511.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/5511
Abstract
Modern-day, independent Bible and Baptist churches continue to structure their corporate worship services after the pattern of the American revivalists of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The purpose of this qualitative study with an ethnographic design is to examine the lived experiences of pastors and church leaders from independent Bible and Baptist churches and seek to understand their perceptions of (1) the purpose of corporate worship, (2) the place of evangelism in corporate worship, and (3) the influence of revivalism upon corporate worship practices. Additionally, historical research about the revivalist movement and its influence on worship behaviors is considered. Several emerging themes identified during the data-gathering process include: (1) sola Scriptura in ordering corporate worship; (2) the prominence of preaching, (3) the priority of edification, not evangelism; (4) a compulsion to give altar calls; (5) an ignorance of church history; (6) a reticence toward formal liturgy; and (7) the importance of sincerity. In this research study, attention is given to a biblical understanding of corporate worship—its priority, pattern, and benefits. The findings of this study contribute to the literature addressing the impotence of today’s corporate worship by identifying discrepancies between methodology and theology.
