All Articles For Shall We Dance, Rock, and Play?

Rev. Gritters is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. In contrast to the new forms of worship, what is proper worship? Reformed, biblical worship is covenantal. We ought to be as precise as possible with our terminology. Our worship is certainly not contemporary. But neither is it simply traditional. Traditional can mean a lot of things. Even Reformed does not mean much today, although our worship is “Reformed” if it’s anything. But I prefer not to describe it now as Reformed, or even biblical, although it is both. Our worship—proper, God-glorifying worship—is also covenantal. By that, I...

Rev. Gritters is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. Because the Protestant Reformed Churches want earnestly to be obedient to Jesus Christ in their public worship, they look both ways more than once before they cross into a new neighborhood of worship practices. They feel very safe (that is, humbly obedient to Jesus Christ) in their old neighborhood. The explanation is not a stuffy traditionalism. They desire to be obedient to Scripture. These churches agree with Carlos Eirie in his contention that “the rebellion of man in regard to worship displeases God tremendously, not only because of...

Rev. Gritters is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. The church of Jesus Christ is encouraged these days to adopt some new kinds of worship styles. More often than not, these services include some sort of dancing, rock music, and drama. Thus, the question: “Shall we dance, rock, and play?” One kind of worship, described last time, is the “seeker-service,” designed to attract those who know nothing about church, who are uncomfortable in a church building. This service is casual, relaxed, and unceremonious. The Liturgical Service The second type of innovation in modern worship is the “liturgical...

Rev. Gritters is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. The Protestant Reformed Churches have never been accused of being innovative in their worship practices. They have never had the reputation for modernizing their liturgy. They refuse to follow the latest trendy practices. The reason for this is not that we want to be stuffy traditionalists. Simply put: the PRC desire to be obedient to Jesus Christ. They are opposed to the modern forms of worship because they believe them to be disobedient to Jesus Christ. If worship were a matter of personal preference, no critique of modern...