Some notes I took at a conference several years ago (I’ve forgotten who the speaker was). There are many other facets of corporate worship of course, but these few are thought-provoking:

1. Does worship affect us profoundly emotionally? (How is it that worshippers – in biblical times and since – sometimes ‘fall down’ to worship their God?)

2. How does our worship exegete the character of God? For example, our God is a God of peace – not disorder – and goodness. The Corinthians were encouraged to ‘cool it’, the Thessalonians to ‘hot it up’!

3. Is the worship comprehensible?  In some cultures it’s mainly a teaching session. In some Western youth settings it resembles a ‘chat show’. How much should corporate worship be like/unlike anything else we do? Why is a restaurant-setting OK for some ‘Emerging’ churches. Why do Orthodox Churches worship in a way which is strange to ‘outsiders’?

4. Is it multi-voiced  or a ‘clerical solo’? Predictable or somewhat unprogrammed? Orderly or free? Are we listening? Sometimes silent?

5. Does it ‘edify’?   That is, are Christians being ‘formed’ to become more like Christ? How does the worshipping community ‘incarnate the incarnation’?

6. How does worship enable us to continue the missio Dei -  the mission of God? How do we relate in memory to the past, and in hope for the future? How are we salt and light in/as a result of our worship?

What else?