Swimming against contemporary trends that conceive of Christian worship primarily as entertainment or sheer celebration, Walter Sundberg argues that authentic worship is at heart repentance. Both Jesus and Paul in Scripture consistently call people to repent, and worship as repentance has formed Christian identity throughout history.
Sundberg outlines the history of repentance and confession within worship from the early church to the mid-twentieth century. He advocates moving away from a "eucharistic piety" common in mainline Protestant worship today and toward the "penitential piety" of older traditions of Protestant worship, especially as this piety was shaped by Luther's theology. While focusing especially on Lutheran worship practice, Sundberg's Worship as Repentance is relevant to a broad spectrum of Christian worship in the Western church.
