Welcome to the Influence Podcast! I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host.

“The so-called worship wars often consist of ill-suited judgments about worship,” writes Steven Félix-Jäger.

“The debates generally center around the question of what constitutes appropriate worship and can include issues such as the use of contemporary music versus traditional hymns, the role of preaching, the usual of visual aids and technology, and the role of personal experience in worship.”

In this episode, I talk to Félix-Jäger about how to assess the arguments in these debates and use good judgment when planning a worship service.

Steven Félix-Jäger is associate professor and chair of Worship Arts and Media at Life Pacific University and a credentialed minister in the Foursquare Church. He is author of How to Worship for All Its Worth, published by Zondervan Academic.

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Show Notes

• 00:00 — Introduction and Sponsor Ad
• 01:49 — How do you define “worship”?
• 06:20 — Should all churches adopt a common worship style or improve whatever style they currently utilize? Or both?
• 11:35 — What do you mean by “judgment,” generally speaking, and what is good “biblical judgment”?
• 23:30 — What is aesthetics, and how do we exercise good aesthetic judgment?
• 31:58 — How is theological judgment different from biblical judgment, and how do you use it in the context of planning a worship service?
• 47:37 — What is pastoral judgment, and how do we use it?
• 53:18 — What is “flow,” and how do we plan a worship service for better flow?
• 1:03:48 — What are you reading right now that is interesting, helpful, and/or personally challenging?
• 1:04:34 — Conclusion