{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.02631578947368421, 'fraction_numerical': 0.0, 'mean_word_length': 5.291338582677166, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Duty and Delight: Baptist Worship and Identity

This essay takes Alexander Schmemann's liturgical theology as a guide and approaches questions of Baptist identity by examining Baptist worship. Worship is revelatory of the convictions at the heart of a faith community. The focus is chiefly upon British Baptist life. There is first a broad sketch of the patterns of Baptist worship from the seventeenth through the twentieth centuries. Next, the principal characteristics of Baptist worship are delineated: attention to Scripture; devotion; community; and eschatology. In light of these, the “presiding conviction” of Baptist worship and life, “Jesus Christ is Lord,” is articulated and applied to worship. The essay concludes with a definition of worship drawn from the cumulative Baptist witness.