Some critics praised the album's emphasis on traditional Christmas songs and the worship aspect of Christmas, while others criticized the album's original songs and felt it was a disappointment in comparison to the band's previous albums.
Jared Johnson of Allmusic gave the album 4.5 out of 5 stars, praising it for its "wide appeal" and for having "a cohesive set of songs that brings out the worship aspect of the holidays" and particularly praising "While You Were Sleeping" and "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel".
The importance of the yam is demonstrated in an annual harvest festival in which the first yam is symbolically offered to the ancestors, whose worship is a prominent aspect of Baule religion.
Private and personal worship was an important aspect of religious practices.
There's a recurrent feeling of the necessity of in-person, bodily presence in worship -- an "incarnational aspect" that keeps coming up in her case studies and interviews.
Relations between the two buckled last year when the pope created a special wing in the Catholic church for traditionalist Anglicans disaffected with greater inclusion of gay and female clergy, by allowing them to convert while retaining Anglican aspects of worship.
In the first instance, 'Entertainment-social' celebrity worship reflects the social aspects of para-social attachment and is driven by an attraction to a favorite celebrity because of their perceived ability to entertain.
The spiritual can get lost in the specific aspects of worship, with the "faithful" feeling they need to complete a checklist for worthiness rather than focus on basic principles and what really matters.
As I sat in church this Sunday, I was struck with the ritual aspects of worship: the set prayers of the communion, the ritual dress of officiators, the songs sung, the architecture of the building itself, the division of men and women, the silence, the images of Christ displayed prominently, even the box of tissues placed at the pulpit for those speaking who were overcome by emotion.
However, one aspect of celebrity worship has emerged as the strongest predictor, which is the intense-personal celebrity worship.
The oracle given by the priests as the inspired word of the Law, called the Torah, which was referred back to Moses in postexilic Judaism, acquired a new significance, involving a rigid observance of its ritual and legal commands that permeated every aspect of life, worship, and conduct.
