Alternative Worship is "what happens when people create worship for themselves," according to Steve Collins ([1]). As a phenomenon it began mainly in Europe in the early to mid 1990s. It is practiced mainly by Gen-X'ers and teenagers more than older generations. Worship usually refers to specific acts of religious praise, honour, or devotion, typically directed to a supernatural being such as a god or goddess. ... Europe is conventionally considered one of the seven continents which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiogeographic one. ... The 1990s decade refers to the years from 1990 to 1999, inclusive, the last decade of the 20th Century. ... This article is about the demographic Generation X. For the comic book, see Generation X (comics); for the novel, see Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture. ...

Groups have formed around this form of worship, and others are attached to traditional churches with existing more traditional services.

Alternative Worship is defined by its planning method and approach rather than its format, as the format will be different each time. Alternative worship is very different to Contemporary Christian worship movement or "Youth" services. In fact it is (arguably) in part a reaction against evangelical or charismatic forms of worship. It tends to use popular (secular) music forms in place of hymns, and more casual talks in place of the traditional sermon. Alternative Worship often does not have an obvious leader or stage, and may not involve singing or lecture-style presentations at all. Contemporary Christian worship is not easily defined, it finds its expression in many forms such as house churches, renewed traditional churches and new church movements such as from the Vineyard movement, Hillsong Music, Integrity Music, Maranatha! Music, Christian City Churches and various others. ... The word evangelicalism usually refers to a tendency in diverse branches of Protestantism, typified by an emphasis on evangelism, a personal experience of conversion, biblically-oriented faith, and a belief in the relevance of Christian faith to cultural issues. ... The Charismatic Movement is a movement for the adoption of certain Pentecostal beliefs—specifically what are known as the bibilical charisms of Christianity: speaking in tongues, prophesying, etc. ...

One form of alt worship uses a hybrid of ancient forms with postmodern/future elements. For example liturgy mixed with projected visuals and techno music. Using a labyrinth with visual, audio and tactile elements at stations along the way. Postmodernity (also called post-modernity or the postmodern condition) is a term used by philosophers, social scientists, art critics and social critics to refer to aspects of contemporary art, culture, economics and social conditions that are the result of the unique features of late 20th century and early 21st century... From the Greek word λειτουργια, which can be transliterated as leitourgia, meaning the work of the people, a liturgy comprises a prescribed religious ceremony, according to the traditions of a particular religion; it may refer to, or include, an elaborate formal ritual (such as the Catholic Mass), a daily activity such... Techno is a form of electronic music that emerged in the mid-1980s and primarily refers to a particular style developed in and around Detroit and subsequently adopted by European producers. ... Classical labyrinth Medieval labyrinth Walking the famous labyrinth within the Chartres Cathedral. ...

Alt worship tends to be decentralized and participatory in its form. There is no stage with a preacher. People moving about involved in doing and experiencing physical elements which are designed to bring them closer to God.

It is called Alternative as a parallel to the use of the word with non-mainstream music and culture.

Terms that are more appropriate to the approach used in these services would be Holistic Worship, Multisensory Worship or Creative Worship.

Alt worship is often associated with the Emerging Church. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

References

The Book of Uncommon Prayer by Steven L Case (Zovenderman 2002) ISBN 0-310-24142-1

Alternative Worship by Jonny Baker and Doug Gay ISBN 0801091705

External links

alternativeworship.org