Many people have cause to be grateful for the work of Robert Webber. Well known for his books on worship, it was Webber who coined the term ‘blended worship’ as a genuine response to the so-called worship wars which were, and still are in some places, splitting congregations. Blended worship is a win-win approach to diversity in the local church where a variety of worship styles are woven into the Sunday worship.
In what may be seen as a natural development from his life’s work of helping Evangelicals to enrich their worship,[1] he has in recent years begun a new project which looks as though it is going to run and run.
In 1999 he published a book entitled Ancient-Future Faith: Rethinking Evangelicalism for a Post-modern World. Since then he has published books on Ancient-Future evangelism, the challenges of following the Christian year and classic approaches to spirituality and Christian formation.
Webber stands very much in the evangelical tradition and has even written about evangelicalism as a movement.[2] Yet there seem to be intellectual trends, relevant to his work, which are particularly significant within, but not restricted to, evangelicalism - to this I shall return. It’s very easy to use hype about cultural movements when one stands in the middle of them. The second half of the twentieth century is littered with labels such as, ‘New Reformation’ and ‘New Awakening’ in the hope that the signs of the times promise something akin to the good old days.
I want to make no such claim, but there is something fascinating afoot in different parts of the western church. A key aspect of the European Renaissance was a return to sources, ad fontes, and much of this was a re-discovery of classical Roman and Greek culture. This was the context within which the study of scripture, often in the original languages, came to the fore and was held critically over against the supposed accretions of the medieval church.
What seems to be gaining ground now is not so much a return to original sources, though there is a growing readiness to read scripture without the filter of the historico-critical method,[3] but often with a growing appreciation of the wisdom of the early centuries of the church. Many evangelicals have tended to disregard church history between 100AD and the sixteenth century and have leapfrogged over the centuries of perceived doctrinal distortion to the golden age of divinely inspired scripture. This disregard of history has often been coupled with a desire for relevance which has resulted in a submission to the spirit of their own age.
More widely, the work of George Lindbeck has had a growing influence since the publication of his The Nature of Doctrine in 1984.[4] In the mid 1990s the debate included evangelicals,[5] and those calling themselves ‘post evangelical’ have tended to have a more eclectic approach to the Christian past than their more restrictive predecessors. In both these ‘postisms’ there seems to be a rejection, or at least a suspicion of, modernist, enlightenment categories. This doesn’t only mean going beyond evangelicalism or liberalism, but returning to pre-enlightenment sources with a respect and expectation which is relatively new.
There is much in Webber’s work which reflects the writings of others. His account of ‘paradigm thinking’, modernity and post-modernity is clearly derivative, as his endnotes make clear. That is not to be undervalued, for he provides a readable introduction for those who do not have the time or the stamina for such philosophical and cultural studies. There is much generalization but, for the reader who wants to delve deeper, there are full notes and a helpful and an extensive section of recommendations for further reading.
Some will recognize themes which have appeared in a variety of areas. For example, Tom Oden began his writing on pastoral theology as someone wishing to marry pastoral care and psychotherapy, but since then has chronicled his journey into the wisdom of the past in a series of books which have acknowledged his indebtedness to such forbears as Gregory the Great and presented a comprehensive account of pastoral theology which can legitimately be called ‘neo-orthodox’.[6] Andrew Purvis has recently provided a substantial and systematic theological contribution with the same intent of redeeming pastoral theology from the limitations of a therapeutic model of the pastoral calling.[7] In the area of patristics, D H Williams has provided a self-explanatory title with his Retrieving the Tradition and Renewing Evangelicalism: A Primer for Suspicious Protestants. He comments that the forgetting of a common past is nothing short of ecclesial amnesia and the problem with that medical condition is that the patient not only forgets ‘his loved ones and friends, but he no longer remembers who he is’.[8]
Eugene Peterson has long called pastors back to the classic traditions of ‘the cure of souls’ and has argued that
“American pastors have abandoned this vocation and have gone whoring after other gods. What they do with their time under the guise of pastoral ministry hasn’t the remotest connection with what the church’s pastors have done for most of twenty centuries.[9]”
Peterson’s continuing theme in pastoral theology is that the pastor’s calling is ‘to keep the community attentive to God’.[10] This challenges evangelicals who may be driven by the need for apparent success to re-orientate their efforts in a more wasteful and more faithful way. His emphasis on spiritual direction and the pastoral axis of both celebrating life and learning to pray have been fruitful points of growth for many ministers in search of a pastoral identity which has both spiritual challenge and theological integrity.[11]
Such an emphasis has resonated both with a general interest in forms of spirituality in western society as a whole and the resurgence of interest in traditions of spirituality within the Christian church. Among evangelicals, Richard Foster has played a huge part in both enabling evangelicals to receive the spiritual wisdom of the catholic tradition and making the rich resources of that tradition available to them.[12] This increasing interest in classic forms of Christian spirituality has also found expression in the widespread interest in Celtic Christianity, monasticism and liturgical renewal. Further, an informal ecumenism has developed in which, instead of denominations seeking ecclesiastical mergers, there is informal fellowship and considerable traffic in cross-over borrowing of one another’s spiritual traditions. I believe that charismatic renewal in particular has given new life to so-called mainstream ecumenism by enabling many evangelical churches, which had previously stood aloof from interdenominational activity, to participate because of their contact with charismatic partners in the ‘mainstream churches’. This ‘Cornelius factor’ has meant that they have re-assessed their understanding of catholic spirituality, at least at the level of personal devotion and some liturgical forms of worship. Thus a renewal movement, while leading some into the pathologies of experience-led worship critiqued by Stackhouse, has led others into a discovery of God’s grace in earlier centuries of the church.
In the UK, Ian Stackhouse has given expression to the concern to learn from the past in worship, pastoral care and other aspects of local church life.[13] His critique of much evangelical life outlines the dangers of a missionary imperative which is not grounded in classical spiritual disciplines or orthodox theological perspectives. He highlights the danger of relying on the latest fad or formula for church success and the pathological need to play the numbers game or engineer yet another special experience in worship. His constructive response to these weaknesses in contemporary evangelicalism is to propose a future which builds on and feeds from the wisdom of the past and is configured by the dynamics of the gospel of Jesus Christ, calling the reader to ‘reconnect with the gospel’.[14] Thus the church is called to exemplify kingdom values and
“is most faithful to its vocation to be the people of God as it embraces the beatitudinal life of compassion and mercy rather than the way of success.[15]”
What we seem to have here is a movement, and Webber’s language of ‘Ancient Future Faith’ has, I believe, given this movement a name and a focus. His own agenda has been centred in the sphere of worship but, because worship is all-embracing, it touches many aspects of Christian faith and practice. This is particularly the case when, as Webber does, we look at the role of worship in the early church, as we shall see in a moment.
His considerable energy has given impetus to the trend of embracing aspects of historical orthodoxy which is gaining ground amongst Evangelicals in North America. If you visit his web site[16] you will find reference to ‘A Call to an Ancient Evangelical Future’ with sponsors including Christianity Today, Baker Books, and Emergent Village, a leading network of the emerging church movement. Here is its prologue:
“In every age the Holy Spirit calls the Church to examine its faithfulness to God's revelation in Jesus Christ, authoritatively recorded in Scripture and handed down through the Church. Thus, while we affirm the global strength and vitality of worldwide Evangelicalism in our day, we believe the North American expression of Evangelicalism needs to be especially sensitive to the new external and internal challenges facing God's people.
These external challenges include the current cultural milieu and the resurgence of religious and political ideologies. The internal challenges include Evangelical accommodation to civil religion, rationalism, privatism and pragmatism. In light of these challenges, we call Evangelicals to strengthen their witness through a recovery of the faith articulated by the consensus of the ancient Church and its guardians in the traditions of Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, the Protestant Reformation and the Evangelical awakenings. Ancient Christians faced a world of paganism, Gnosticism and political domination. In the face of heresy and persecution, they understood history through Israel's story, culminating in the death and resurrection of Jesus and the coming of God's Kingdom.
Today, as in the ancient era, the Church is confronted by a host of master narratives that contradict and compete with the gospel. The pressing question is: who gets to narrate the world? The Call to an Ancient Evangelical Future challenges Evangelical Christians to restore the priority of the divinely inspired biblical story of God's acts in history. The narrative of God's Kingdom holds eternal implications for the mission of the Church, its theological reflection, its public ministries of worship and spirituality and its life in the world. By engaging these themes, we believe the Church will be strengthened to address the issues of our day.”
Most of the themes in the call can be found in Webber’s original Ancient Future book,[17] and those which have followed it. They include an emphasis on “the primacy of the biblical narrative”, and the hermeneutical value of the ecumenical creeds in the connecting of that scriptural narrative to contemporary culture. Evangelicals are called to a form of public worship “which sings, preaches and enacts God's story”. They are called
“to turn away from forms of worship that focus on God as a mere object of the intellect or that assert the self as the source of worship. Such worship has resulted in lecture-oriented, music-driven, performance-centred and program-controlled models that do not adequately proclaim God's cosmic redemption.[18]”
Finally, there is a call to prophetic witness which embraces a wide range of ethical and political issues. Such witness is to be nurtured and supported by a spirituality which is embedded in worship, the communal life of the church and a rediscovery of the catechumenate,’ a process model of evangelism and Christian nurture which was focused in the seeker’s participation in worship.
What is particularly significant about Webber’s presentation of the material is his placing of the issues within a missional context. Previous writers who have encouraged evangelicals and members of the free churches to explore the possibilities of liturgical aspects of worship have tended to do so with arguments about the intrinsic value of ‘doing worship properly’. Often there have been calls to a past age or the preservation of what we might call ‘cultured’ forms of worship over and against ‘popular’ cultural forms. Webber’s work on blended worship had already cut through that dichotomy. Now he argues for the need to be faithful in a post modern world, faithful in our church life, in our witness and in our mission.
So what’s it all about? Webber’s basic argument is that post-modern culture offers particular mission opportunities and that there are some broad similarities with the culture of the Roman world in which the church developed its identity and doctrines. The first six centuries were the period when the doctrines of the faith were summarized in the historic creeds, when the canon of scripture was recognized and affirmed, and when the doctrines of the triune God and the person of Christ were formulated. It was the time when the church developed seminal thinking in the area of ecclesiology, ethics and worship.[19] Webber comments on the way in which many Protestants have ignored this period which was so important in the thinking of the Reformers, such as Luther, Calvin, the Anglican divines and the Anabaptists. In the desire to base everything on scripture, it has been as though many in Evangelicalism have leapfrogged over all the intervening history. The result has been a cultural naivety with churches trying to apply biblical principles to their contemporary situation without learning lessons from the past.
So Webber argues we have much to learn from the early church in the areas of doctrine, worship, mission, spirituality and formation. A promising alternative to faddism is a return to the classic traditions of the church. This does not mean attempting to go back to some supposed golden age, or rummaging in a romantic but archaic church while turning our backs on the world. The genius of Webber’s catchphrase is that it points us to the new as well as the old: he calls us to explore the Ancient-Future Faith: “the road to the future runs through the past.”
Not everyone will be persuaded by Webber’s cultural and philosophical argument that connects classical and Postmodern cultures. But this is broad brushstroke analysis and its purpose is to open a dialogue with the wisdom and practices of the church in the centuries immediately following the New Testament. He sees perspectives of what he calls “A Classical/Evangelical Response” resonating with what are generally identified as aspects of a post-modern view of the world, as distinct from a modern view. So in the move from a mechanistic world to a mysterious world, we need to recover a sense of the mystery of Christ. And in the philosophical transition from the modern distinction between subject and object to a post-modern view that all things are symbiotically interrelated, we need to offer a Christocentric worldview in which all things are interrelated in Christ. In the move from propositional, factual knowledge to an interest in myth, image, metaphor and story, we need to offer a communal knowledge and authority, and in a shift from knowledge as information to a postmodern view of knowledge as wisdom, we need to present and practice education and nurture as the formation of Christian character.[20] He therefore argues that there is much in the spirituality of the early centuries which is attractive to contemporary seekers, and a classical, worship-based approach to church responds to this opportunity.
What will Ancient-Future Church look like? Webber sketches a way forward in the areas of Christology, ecclesiology, worship, spirituality and mission. A classic understanding of the person of Christ is crucial, and so Christ is presented as the centre of all things. The Christus Victor theme becomes significant in the presentation of the gospel and accompanies a spirituality in which the Christian Year, with its witness to the Christ-centred story of salvation, has a framing influence. Similarly, Evangelicals are encouraged to renew their understanding of the church, both in its close relationship to Christ and in its communal dimensions: biblical models of church are highlighted and the credal themes of ‘one, holy, catholic and apostolic’ are given prominence.
In the area of worship, Webber identifies three negative consequences from Enlightenment categories. First, there is the loss of a theology of worship, resulting in a ‘conflict between the Enlightenment emphasis on reason and the nineteenth century romantic stress on emotion.’ Second, in the pursuit of freedom and spontaneity, there is little sense of order and considerable emphasis on entertainment. Finally, there is a rejection of symbolic speech, with an emphasis on words and cognitive understanding in communication.[21] The worship proposals which address these concerns include the creative use of space, a classic structuring of the worship gathering, the use of music to signal the transcendent, greater emphasis on the sacraments and a living within the rhythm of the Christian year. This last proposal is the basis of a subsequent book which has much to offer pastors both in the thematic arranging of worship as a celebrating of the story of salvation in Christ and in the formational opportunities such rhythmic celebrations make possible.[22]
In spirituality, Weber has two primary emphases:
The evangelical tendency to reject anything before the Reformation is replaced by an openness which values the classic traditions of the desert fathers, Francis, Ignatius, the Spanish mystics and others. This, in itself, is not new, as we have already drawn attention to the work of Roger Foster, Eugene Peterson and others. But what Webber does is to place this growing interest in contemplative and other forms of prayer within a broader theological and missiological framework. This spirituality is related to the spiritual disciplines, participation in worship and a process of deepening discipleship.
This deepening process also connects to his presentation of evangelism which will primarily be about a process of becoming Christian through involvement in worship - belonging before believing - process highlighted by John Finney in Finding Faith Today.[23] Webber outlines the process of coming to faith in the early church and builds on the growing ecumenical interest in the notion of the catechumenate. By the fourth century “the process of baptism was marked by four distinct periods of growth and three stages of passage rites.” These periods of growth were inquiry or ‘seeker’ stage, the catechumenate or ‘hearer’ stage, the purification and enlightenment or ‘kneeler’ stage, and entry into the full life of the church or the ‘faithful’ stage. The three transitions were marked by rites of passage: the rite of welcome, the rite of election and the rite of initiation or baptism. [24]
At a number of points, Webber makes a distinction between inner and outer, or subjective and objective, spirituality. Thus he views ritual actions as having great potential in the life of faith, and the rites of passage were “external means of organizing an internal experience.”[25] Consequently, the notion of formation becomes very significant as spiritual disciplines and participation in the Christian community and its practices are seen to shape the developing life of faith. There are natural resonances here with the Practising the Faith project led by Dorothy Bass which identifies practices such as worshipping, singing, testimony, hospitality and forgiveness as forms of patterned behaviour which form faithful Christian living and nurture its health and its faithfulness.[26] This approach has much to commend itself, as the subtitle of Tom Long’s Volume on testimony is “Talking ourselves into being Christian” reminds us.[27] There is a significant responsibility on the part of pastoral leaders to ensure that the practices of a local Christian community are going to build people up in the faith rather than the reverse. What Webber reminds us is that the rhythms and practices of church life can draw people towards faith and deeper into faith.
There is much in Webber’s flow of published work to stimulate and nourish those in pastoral leadership. What is most significant in Webber’s work is the way in which he draws together the work of others into a fruitful synthesis. He is not in the business of ecclesiastical archaeology, but church renewal. His thesis is that the Holy Spirit will have most scope if we expand our horizons beyond the limited vistas of modernity. To recover the transcendent and the mystical, the symbolic and the mysterious, will not only deepen faith, but will draw seekers into a journey towards and with Christ.
Where this is liberating for pastors is in its emphasis on mission being the calling of the whole community of faith and not the responsibility of a few leaders or specialists. But even more than this, there is the good news that ministry flows from and is shaped by the gospel of grace rather than bought as the latest package from a conference for successful Christians. In responding to the Ancient-Future agenda we must struggle with theology, spirituality and mission and that, in itself, is a healthy agenda for any church.
[1] See especially R E Webber, Worship Old and New: A Biblical, Historical and Practical Introduction (revised), Zondervan, 1994; Blended Worship: Achieving Substance and Relevance in Worship, Peabody MA: Hendrickson, 1994; Worship as a Verb, 2007 and the eight volume The Complete Library of Christian Worship, Peabody MA: Hendrickson, 1993.
[2] See R E Webber, The Younger Evangelicals: Facing the Challenges of the New World, Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2002; and Listening to the Beliefs of Emerging Churches: Five Perspectives, Zondervan, 2007.
[3] See particularly the increased interest in lectio divina: T Hall, Too Deep for Words: Rediscovering Lectio Divina, New York: Paulist Press, 1988; and E H Peterson, Eat this Book: The Art of Spiritual Reading, London: Hodder and Stoughton, 2006.
[4]G A Lindbeck, The Nature of Doctrine: Religion and Theology in a Post Liberal Age, Louisville and London: Westminster John Knox, 1984.
[5] See The Nature of Confession: Evangelicals and Postliberals in Conversation, Downers Grove IL: Inter Varsity Press, 1996.
[6] T C Oden, The Care of Souls in the Classic Tradition, Minneapolis MN: Fortress, 1984; and T C Oden, Pastoral Theology: Essentials of Ministry, New York: HarperCollins, 1983.
[7] A Purves, Reconstructing Pastoral Theology: A Christological Foundation, Louisville and London: Westminster John Knox, 2004.
[8] D H Williams, Retrieving the Tradition and Renewing Evangelicalism: A Primer for Suspicious Protestants, Grand Rapids MI: Eerdmans, 1999, 9.
[9] E H Peterson, Working the Angles: The Shape of Pastoral Integrity, Grand Rapids MI: Eerdmans, 1987, 1.
[10] E H Peterson, Working the Angles, 2.
[11] See especially E H Peterson, The Contemplative Pastor: Returning to the Art of Spiritual Direction, Grand Rapids MI: Christianity Today and William B Eerdmans, 1989. More recently, he has begun a multivolume spiritual theology: see Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places: A Conversation in Spiritual Theology, London: Hodder and Stoughton, 2005; and Eat this Book.
[12] See especially R J Foster, Celebration of Discipline, London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1980; Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home, London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1992; and Streams of Living Water: Celebrating the Great Traditions of Christian Faith, London: Harper Collins, 1998. For his collections of readings from the spiritual classics see Devotional Classics: Selected Readings for Individuals and Groups, London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1990; and, with Emilie Griffin, Spiritual Classics: Selected Readings for Individuals and Groups on the Twelve Disciplines, San Francisco: Harper Collins, 2000.
[13] I Stackhouse, The Gospel-Driven Church: Retrieving Classical Ministries for Contemporary Revivalism, Milton Keynes: Paternoster, 2004.
[14] I Stackhouse, Gospel-Driven Church, 275.
[15] I Stackhouse, Gospel-Driven Church, 272.
[16] http://www.ancientfutureworship.com
[17] R E Webber, Ancient-Future Faith: Rethinking Evangelicalism for a Postmodern World, Grand Rapids MI: Baker, 1999.
[18] Section four of The Call.
[19] R E Webber, Ancient-Future Faith, 28.
[20] R E Webber, Ancient-Future Faith, 37.
[21] R E Webber, Ancient-Future Faith, 99f.
[22] R E Webber, Ancient-Future Time: Forming Spirituality through the Christian Year, Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2004.
[23] J Finney, Finding Faith Today: How does it happen?, Swindon: British and Foreign Bible Society, 1992.
[24] R E Webber, Ancient-Future Faith, 147. See also Ancient-Future Evangelism: Making your Church a Faith-Forming Community, Grand Rapids MI: Baker, 2003; Journey to Jesus: The Worship, Evangelism and Nurture Mission of the Church, Nashville TN: Abingdon, 2001; and the Journey to Jesus workbooks published by the Institute for Worship Studies: Follow me!, Be my Disciple!, Walk in the Spirit! and Find your Gift!
[25] R E Webber, Ancient-Future Faith, 148.
[26] Practicing our Faith: A Way of Life for a Searching People, San Francisco CA: Jossey-Bass, 1997; and the other volumes which have come from the project.
[27] T G Long, Testimony: Talking Ourselves into being Christian, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2004.
You are reading Ancient-Future Faith by Chris Ellis, part of Issue 39 of Ministry Today, published in March 2007.
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