Liturgical Worship
Author Mark Earey
Publisher CHP £14.99
Format pbk
ISBN 9781781400586 2018
This revised and enlarged edition of a book first published a dozen years ago can work as a primer for those new to leading worship and as a stimulus and challenge to more experienced practitioners. The opening chapters explore the nature of worship, offering ‘something to make corporate worship possible’ as a definition of liturgy and commenting that this will include things implicit as well as explicit. This makes the book valuable for those from all backgrounds and experience, no matter what for them is customary on a Sunday morning. It encourages the questions: ‘What do we do?’, ‘Why do we do it?’ and ‘How could it be better?’ Four of the chapter headings begin: ‘Being intentional about…’ and cover such topics as words, music, symbols, and calendars. I found particularly stimulating the discussion of the need to seek a balance between worship shaping us for the future and worship expressing what we are now. The book is set out very clearly with sections bracketed off, creating spin-offs from the flow of the text into different aspects of liturgy. Each chapter concludes with questions ‘For further reflection’, therefore creating a useful resource for parish ministry teams, house groups and Reader meetings to read and then discuss.
JOHN KNOWLES
Liturgy