Reimagining Worship

Reimagining Worship

Authors Anna de Lange, Trevor Lloyd, Tim Stratford & Ian Tarrant (eds)
Publisher Canterbury Press £21.99
Format pbk
ISBN 9781848259133  2017

‘What does the ever-present God…desire from us as we worship?’ Is our worship ‘dynamic, on the move, going somewhere’? Do people ‘grow in their faith more through preaching, Bible reading or home groups’? ‘Does our welcome demonstrate a God who cares?’ Put together by a group of twenty, experienced Church of England leaders from the Group for the Renewal of Worship, Reimagining Worship is a comprehensive, practical handbook that methodically examines how worship works (or does not work) in today’s evolving churches. Four main sections correspond to liturgical patterns of Gathering, Word, Responding and Sending. Further subdivisions break up the text into manageable chunks, with boxed examples and suggestions to discuss or think about. This is not a book to read through but to work with. Groups of church leaders, PCCs, ministry or music groups might select relevant parts to discuss together. Probing questions, quoted above, encourage examination of what worship should look like and how to be creative and transformative within the local context. Readers, particularly those in training, should find this material helpful and challenging.

APRIL McINTYRE

Worship, Liturgy

 

Liturgical Worship

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

 

To Nativity and Beyond

To Nativity and Beyond

Author David Sinclair
Publisher Canterbury Press £16.99
Format pbk
ISBN 9780861538461  2016

Sinclair, a Church of Scotland minister, has given us a book of ‘Worship Resources for Advent, Christmas and Epiphany’, packed with fully-worked services, reflections, prayers and stories: enough to make the weary leader or preacher leap for joy during this busy time of year. There is an interesting range of ideas for services that are ‘a bit different’, a few clearly ‘all age’, such as the dressing of the Christmas tree. Others include The Service of Angels, Silent Night (a quiet, meditative service), a pre-Christmas service for the bereaved and lots of ideas for Christmas Eve. One possible downside is that the book does not follow traditional lectionary reading patterns and can seem a little confused, particularly the Advent material. The book also seems rather word-heavy. Readers leading worship and preaching may find some of the prayers, reflections and stories too long to use as they are.

APRIL McINTYRE

Advent/Christmas, Liturgy

 

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