20 reminds us that the knowledge of God is also embedded in liturgical
practices.
The seemingly “static” forms of liturgy that early Pentecostals rejected
can be the medium through which the free Spirit encounters and leads
people to greater, holistic knowledge of God. This holistic knowledge is,
as has been argued, formatively powerful. Its power lies in subtly shap-
ing one’s identity and worldview. At this juncture, having weaved my
argument through RO, Pentecostal epistemology and ontology, and
Exodus 20, I will now briefl y construct a proposal for a Pentecostal liturgy
through conversation with Simon Chan, for whom liturgy and the church
is inseparable. 62
Liturgy is a foundational medium in which the church does theology.
Akin to fi rst-order beliefs, liturgical theology is primary theology. 63 Thus,
for Chan, church reform is only possible through the embodiment of the-
ology in liturgy. 64 Since all services have a liturgical shape, all liturgy dem-
onstrates and performs the beliefs of the church. However, there seems
to be an inconsistency between the acknowledgment of God’s encoun-
ter with the whole person in a Pentecostal worship service (e.g., through
healing, Spirit baptism, and words of knowledge) and the subjective, spiri-
tualized, individual worship that eschews embodied liturgy. 65
Chan provides a corrective, a clarion call, to the fl awed, pragmatic
forms of worship in Pentecostal churches. Similar to my emphasis on
covenantal existence, Chan defi nes liturgy as that “which constitutes
[the church] as the covenant people.” 66 As such, the formative power
of liturgy is evident. Coupled with the arguments I have presented so
far, liturgy practiced in a manner that correctly embodies the Creator’s
self-revelation can powerfully form the person. In this regard, Chan
has provided a valuable resource in offering a shape of a Sunday liturgy
that revolves around the Entrance, the Proclamation of the Word, the
Eucharist, and the Dismissal. 67
But fi rst, while I will utilize his Sunday liturgy, I believe that Chan has
missed an aspect of liturgy that sets its tone. While not a liturgy itself,
the architecture of the place of worship can greatly shape the direction
of the liturgy. Architecture can aid in determining how the service instills
the knowledge of God through the affections, and I believe this is a cru-
cial, but much ignored aspect of modern, contemporary, pragmatic wor-
ship that tends to emphasize the personality of the pastor and the talent
of the worship team. Thus, a Pentecostal liturgy should begin with the
architecture.
132 Y. SHIN