Liberty University
Things to Remember 3
An Assignment
Submitted to Dr. Rodney Whaley
History and Philosophy of Worship
WRSP 502
By
Rachel Morway
Morway
In this week’s reading, we learned the various innovations to our modern worship that
Watts and the Wesley’s brought to worship during the Great Awakening as well as the
innovations brought on by the Camp Meeting Awakening. Concerning the Watts and Wesley’s, it
was “not until the arrival of the Methodists and Evangelicals in the mid-eighteenth century did
compassion seem once more to return to Christianity… with them returned the corporate
expression of faith in God which lies at the heart of Christian worship.”1 During this time period,
the composition of hymns also included educating the church the art of congregational singing.
These “singing schools” became popular and had a major impact on the local church and its
congregations. Not only did these hymns teach congregants about music, they were also used “as
a means for communication theology and doctrine.”2
The innovation introduced by the Watts and Wesley brothers impacted the innovations
brought on by the Camp Meeting Awakening in a few ways. First, congregants’ newfound
expressiveness in worship during this time period would not have been appropriate without the
headway that these men provided through their musical and theological advances. Second, the
theological emphasis that their hymns signified made it possible for worship services to be much
more personal during the Camp Meeting Awakening. “The shift in theological emphasis opened
doors for people to seek forgiveness of sin and publicly invite Jesus to reside in their hearts.”3
This made a profound impact on our modern worship as well – many evangelical churches
include “altar calls” in their services weekly because of this innovation, and this is how many
individuals come to know Christ.
1 Elmer L. Towns & Vernon M. Whaley, Worship Through the Ages, (Nashville: B&H Publishing Group,
2012), 125.
2 Ibid., 126.
3 Ibid., 151.
1
Morway
Another way the Camp Meeting Awakening impacted modern worship is by providing
opportunities for people of different ethnicities to gather and worship together. “Sometimes white
men and women would join the black congregants in singing. Many took these newly learned
songs back to their white churches in the city.”4 Because these men and women were not afraid
to gather together, we can now worship today with people from every nation, tribe and tongue –
a true picture of “heavenly” worship.
Bibliography
4 Towns & Whaley, Worship Through the Ages, 152.
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