NWYM Statements on Worship

In September 2007 the Next Steps Taskforce examined several Friends documents and the Bible to cause us to think about the worship principles that we should be following at NFC. Below are statements that come from the NWYM Faith and Practice.

Mark Ankeny

NWYM Statements on Worship

Worship

Worship is the adoring response of heart and mind to the Spirit of God. The meeting for worship brings a personal and corporate renewal, an edification and communion of believers, and a witness of the Gospel to the unconverted. We recognize the value of silence to center our thoughts upon God. We believe the Spirit speaks to worshipers through persons He has prepared and selected, whose message may be given in various modes by men or women, children or adults. We believe God calls some persons to a special preaching ministry, which the church should respectfully receive. Friends observe the first day of the week for corporate worship and for rest.

NWYM Faith and Practice, “Faith Expressed as Doctrine,” www.nwfriends.org

The Worship and Work of the Church

We believe all Christians receive certain gifts from the Spirit for use in and for the church. Some may preach, others evangelize, teach, heal, administer, counsel, bear burdens, or help in a variety of ways to fulfill the Great Commission. The church seeks to encourage and rightly order the exercise of these gifts for the sake of the Kingdom. Gifts in the ministry often warrant official recognition and financial support by the church.

Friends worship on the basis of obedience to the Holy Spirit. Our communion with the Lord is unbroken by outward rite or ceremony. In the covenant of the promised Holy Spirit, Christ leads us both in worship and in the business of the church. In our meetings we provide opportunity not only for preaching but also for praise, silent and vocal prayer, song, testimony, exhortation, and the sharing of concerns for the furtherance of the Gospel.

Friends observe the first day of the week for worship and rest. They also encourage daily private and family worship.

The Bestowment of Gifts

[Revised in 1982 and 1987] Friends believe that spiritual gifts are bestowed by the Holy Spirit for the propagation of the Gospel, for the perfection of believers, and for the edifying of the church in faith and power. In seeking the baptism with the Holy Spirit, Friends have sought not so much to receive a particular gift as to be controlled by the Giver of the gifts.
Even so, it is recognized that the Spirit gives different gifts to different members of the body of Christ (Romans 12). The exercise of these gifts brings Christ's truth to personal consciousness in varied ways appropriate to need. Accordingly, sharp distinctions between different types of ministry should not be attempted. Persons may have multiple gifts, exercised at different times, both through ordinary abilities sanctified to divine use and through extraordinary sensitivities and actions.

Friends believe that gifts are for God's glory and that enduement of power must be subordinate to purity. Friends also believe that the baptism with the Holy Spirit brings heart cleansing and conformity to the image of Christ (Acts 15:8). In Hebrews 12:14 (NIV) we are asked to "make every effort to live in peace with all men and be holy: without holiness no one shall see the Lord." For evidence of the presence of the Holy Spirit Friends are exhorted to look to inner transformation. This transformation empowers the believer to live in victory over willful sin and produces a condition of love, shown outwardly by the fruit of the Spirit and Christian graces.

Friends worship is characterized by simplicity and the freedom of the Holy Spirit to minister to the worshipers gathered. Similarly, service and ministry, both channels for Truth, are characterized by obedience to God and single devotion to His will. A local church in gospel order will foster the right use of gifts, whether in worship or as witness in the world.

There is a gift of speaking to the states and needs of individuals, to congregations, and to the orders of society. This prophetic ministry is characterized by its spiritual vision, its penetrating application of biblical truth, the self-evidence of its message, and its timeliness. Such discerning ministry often arises out of open, silent worship, as Christ lays His message upon a ready messenger. Such ministry reaches to the understanding as well as to the emotions, for it bears the mark of divine unction whether spoken by a minister or by another. It should not be confused with praise or testimony, although these have their place in worship. Prophetic speaking or writing may occur also within ordinary channels of human activity, as Friends declare the word of the Lord. Such prophetic words may be intensely personal and private or pertinent to public life. As a movement Friends have aimed at faithfulness to Christ as Truth without fear or compromise. They have aimed at the high gift of prophetic ministry as admonished by Paul in 1 Corinthians 14:1.

There is a gift for the ministry of instruction and exposition for teaching the truth. Those who possess this gift are enabled to contribute in different degrees toward establishing the membership and expanding the conception of divine things. This ministry of teaching requires a balanced, trained, and well-stored mind and the consecration of that mind to the service of Him who is the Truth.

There is the gift of exhortation, which is an ability for making an appeal to the hearts of men, stirring them to a sense of God's love and His purposes for them; it is the power of moving and convincing souls. Those who possess this gift are peculiarly fitted for evangelistic work.

There is also the pastoral gift, which consists especially of ability to do personal work with individuals or with families. This gift enables the possessor to comfort those who mourn, to lead the members into a deeper religious life, to arouse in the young an interest in the things of the Spirit, and to impress others with a sense of the scope and reality of the spiritual life. It is the gift of shepherding and feeding the flock.

The church does not make or appoint ministers; it only recognizes gifts where they exist and properly provides for their exercise and development as a sacred bestowal of the Head of the Church.

In addition to those for the ministry of the Word, other gifts are set forth in the Scriptures. Friends should prayerfully await and receive the divine leading and should be open to the movings of the Spirit. The gift of tongues (languages) is not considered the evidence of the baptism with the Holy Spirit. This view is supported in 1 Corinthians 12:30, where the question "Do you all speak in tongues?" is answered with an implied "no."
According to the belief of Friends, Scripture teaches that any gift of the Holy Spirit is to be exercised in a setting and manner edifying to the Church (1 Corinthians 14:26-33). Any practice in worship or other Christian gathering is to be a spiritual help to the body of Christ and to the individuals involved.

NWYM Faith and Practice, “Fundamental Truths,” www.nwfriends.org