James F White Protestant Worship Summary

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James F. White is a researcher in liturgical studies who wrote notable books related to Christian worship such as Documents of Christian Worship, Introduction to Christian Worship and Protestant Worship: Traditions in Transition. This work is an analysis of Protestant worship where the author elucidates the main worship traditions of nine specific traditional segments of the church that shaped the history of Protestant worship in Europe and North America. These evangelical institutions are identified as Lutheran, Reformed, Anabaptist, Anglican, Separatist and Puritan, Quaker, Methodist, Frontier, and Pentecostal. According to White, each one of these nine traditional churches had a major influence on the development of Protestant worship. Therefore, his thesis is that each one of these traditions has specific characteristics and values that facilitates the historical analysis of Protestant worship in Europe and America. (24).
Summary
White divides his book into twelve chapters that describe the main worship aspects of particular Protestant churches. First, he explains the purpose of the study of Protestant worship and then, he clarifies that by illustrating seven categories of Protestant worship: piety, time, place, people, prayer,
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Moreover, in the same section, the author examines the Reformed tradition in America (72). According to him, the Anabaptist tradition of worship provides the first example of “Free Church” worship (80-81), which had a strong influence on worship tradition in America. Furthermore, White introduces a concise historical background of the main worship practices and traditions developed by Anglicans, Separatists, Puritans, Quakers, Methodists, Frontiers, and Pentecostals. The author closes the book with a sequence of rhetorical questions and answers about the future of Protestant

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