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Though those concerns of the Reformation have faded, others have lingered. Schultze says a number of older Reformed pastors have denounced visuals in worship as "too emotional," "too people-focused rather than God-focused," and a sign that "worship is becoming entertainment."

Others are more hopeful that images might actually enhance the Reformed method. The Rev. Mike Laird, pastor of the North Shore Chapel, which meets in a Danvers, Massachusetts, movie theater, keeps a library of several thousand images for display on the big screen during worship. And he's been known to play film clips from the film When Harry Met Sally or a Winnie the Pooh episode as a means to introduce his sermon.

"It's a channel for speeding up God's Word to get into their hearts," said Laird, an ordained minister in the Christian Reformed Church. "Our idea is to allow different channels to be open to any person at the service."

Mainline churches have seen their share of new images, often in the form of carefully crafted banners that bring vibrant color to white walled sanctuary spaces. At Hope Church in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, parishioners use images to tell stories as they create "prayer journals" with their own photographs. In worship, they're apt to soon see such fine art works as Rembrandt's depiction of John the Baptist.

"The sermon is providing commentary on the image, and the image is providing commentary on the sermon," said Matthew Myer Boulton, assistant professor of preaching and worship at Andover Newton and an associate pastor at Hope Church. "It's not that the Reformed tradition is being lost but it's being brought into dialogue with other traditions."

Indeed, Reformed voices across the board have been careful to make sure visuals don't displace the sermon as worship's main event. Schultze takes heart in seeing today's developments occurring in sync with new emphasis on good preaching, which he deems "a resurrection of the visual in the midst of a renewal of presentation of the Word."

In the final analysis, some Reformed preachers argue, what mattered most to Reformers was to make the life-changing Word of God as accessible as possible. In the 16th century, more rigorous analysis and fewer imprecise images might have helped convict the masses that what they believed was true. But in our day, many are willing to bet the opposite approach will be more effective.

"Some folks hear and say, 'OK, that may be true, but I don't care. It doesn't motivate me or encourage me. It's just a block of information,'" Marcey said. "We put up an image (in worship) when it communicates something we're having trouble saying with words … The Reformers ought to be pleased because their idea was to take it out of the hands of the elite and put it in the hands of the people. And that's what we're doing."

Copyright © 2004 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Our sister publication, Books & Culture, said, " Whatever the future shape of Reformed worship, it will emerge in greater conversation with our wider community around the world," in Reformed, Reforming (Sept./Oct. 2003).

Other Christianity Today articles on the power of images and worship include:

Grave Images | The photos from Abu Ghraib have reopened debate on the power of pictures. (June 21, 2004)

Wholly, Wholly, Wholly | Calvinists and conga drums in Grand Rapids: a report from the seventeenth annual Calvin Symposium on Worship and the Arts. (Feb. 02, 2004)

Image Is Everything | The Taliban's destruction of Buddhist statues is only the latest controversy over the Second Commandment. (April 6, 2001)

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December (Web-only) 2004, Vol. 48