Abstract
The purpose of this article is to present one aspect of a larger research project. The Spirit tradition (Charismatic) and its liturgical rituals as well as the Meal tradition (Liturgical Movement) and its liturgical rituals through history were researched as well as the concomitant theology. The aim was to gain a better understanding of whether the future of Charismatic worship can benefit from a somewhat closer integration of aspects of the meal tradition, especially the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. This article will mostly be focused on the empirical research done in this project within three Charismatic churches in Gauteng, South Africa. This research seeks to contribute to Robert Webber’s model of bringing old and new together in synergy. In the end, this article poses a new model for Charismatic worship when liturgical-rituals of the Spirit are combined with the celebration of communion in a way that worshippers experience as being more meaningful.
Highlights
The Spirit tradition1 is a tradition with its essential focus on experiencing the Holy Spirit
We have seen in this research that there is a new phenomenon amongst the Charismatic churches, namely doi:10.4102/hts.v69i1.2025
That the celebration of the communion service is totally different from that experienced by the church through the ages. This phenomenon includes tables set out in front of the church and people allowed to partake as they wish, mostly when they wish and only if they wish. This creates the atmosphere and communicates to members that communion is of secondary importance and sometimes not even as important as the ‘main’ worship service
Summary
The Spirit tradition is a tradition with its essential focus on experiencing the Holy Spirit. This tradition has made its latest and most influential appearance during the Azuza street revival in Los Angeles in the early 1900s (Cox 1995:48). This revival has spread globally to most countries and has influenced most church traditions (cf Wepener 2010a:405–407). Along with a scholar such as Albrecht (1999:30–35), we see the Charismatic tradition as a more recent manifestation of the Pentecostal tradition which commenced with the Azuza Street Revival. As a relatively new worship tradition, the influence of the Spirit cannot be underestimated (cf. Albrecht 1999:34, 81)
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