Ready, Fire, Aim!

• True Worship: Reclaiming the Wonder and Majesty ~ Donald Hustad ~ Harold Shaw Publishers, Hope Publishing Company In Hustad’s words, ”This is a book for study, not for casual reading. It is basically a primer of historical worship concepts.” He addresses Worshiping God in: Spirit and Truth, in Cognitive and Affective Truth, in Theological Truth, in Biblical Truth, as the Community of Faith, in Cultural Truth, in Artistic Truth, in Liturgical Truth, and in Educational Truth. His prophetic words are most thoughtful in an age of careless worship theology and popular worship culture.


• The New Worship: Straight Talk on Music and the Church ~ Barry Liesch ~ Baker Book House Leisch’s book is a kind of running commentary on various issues surrounding the whole subject of traditional and contemporary worship. In addition, there is considerable discussion regarding the practical aspects of planning, carrying out, and evaluating worship services in light of Scripture. Each chapter closes with questions for reflection and discussion. This book would serve as a good study guide for committees.


• The Integrity of Worship: Ecumenical and Pastoral Studies in Liturgical Theology ~ Paul Waitman Hoon ~ Abingdon Press Written in 1971 this book continues to address the issues at the turn of this millennium. Hoon deals with questions of relevance, worship and mission, subjective versus objective worship, the language of worship, symbols, forms (aesthetically and psychologically understood), liturgy and the minister’s task as liturgical theologian. It most certainly is not light reading and, at times, a little difficult. But, it is well worth the effort.


• Worship ~ Evelyn Underhill ~ Harper Torch Book, Harper & Row Publishers This is a classic from 1936. As she writes, “my object has been rather to explore those primary realities of man’s relation to God which our devotional action is intended to express.” She examines the nature and principles of worship and the chief forms in which they find expression in Christianity. Among areas explored are: man’s response to the eternal, ritual and symbol, sacrament and sacrifice, temple and synagogue, the characters of Christian worship, free-church worship, catholic worship: western and eastern.


• The House of the Soul & Concerning the Inner Life ~ Evelyn Underhill ~ The Seabury Press Part I of the book deals primarily with “our bodies as the Temple of the Holy Spirit.” The second part of the book specifically addresses the nurture and development of the inner life of the pastor and worship leader. The insight into worship and the nature of the Body of Christ is most helpful. In her words, “The clergymen above all others needs to learn, and raise to the level of habit George Fox’s art of ‘seeing all things in the Universal Light’. Yet it very often happens that the busy and driven parish priest entirely loses sight not merely of his own spiritual position, but also this great spiritual landscape in which he is placed; by concentrating all the while on those details of it that specially concern him. He cannot see the forest, because he is attending so faithfully to the trees.”


• Music Through the Eyes of Faith ~ Harold Best ~ HarperSanFrancisco, a division of HarperCollins Publishers Best leads us in a most stimulating discussion of music making and the theology of creativity and creation. He delves into excellence and quality covering a wide variety of music. Not surprisingly, much of the material is extremely useful in a discussion of the role of music in worship from a theological perspective. “Christian music makers have to risk new ways of praising God. Their faith must convince them that however strange a new offering may be, it cannot out-reach, out-imagine, or overwhelm God…Meanwhile, a thousand tongues will never be enough.”


• What Ever Happened to Worship? ~ A.W. Tozer ~ Christian Publications In my mind A.W. Tozer is one of the most helpful prophets in the world of worship. This little book is a compilation of ten sermons taken from tapes following his untimely death in 1963. His is powerful discussion on authentic, vibrant worship so necessary in every church. He decried much of the “modern worship” in his day as entertainment. I can only imagine what he might have to say today! For example, in discussing a lack of awareness of the presence of God in worship, Tozer writes “Today, it is not a question of whether we have Isaiah’s cleanness, but a question of whether we have his awareness. He was unclean and, thank God, he became aware of it. But the world today is unclean and seems to be almost totally unaware of it.” Amazingly this was written around 1960!


• Jubilate II: Church Music in Worship and Renewal ~ Donald P. Hustad ~ Hope Publishing Company This magnum opus of Hustad’s is a thorough discussion of music and worship in the evangelical church. He brings broad first hand experience in church music, historical knowledge of the history of music in the church, and practical, yet theological and philosophical thought regarding the nature of music and worship. The scriptural detail and thoroughness make this an invaluable resource.


• The Reading and Preaching of the Scriptures: in the worship of the Christian Church Vol. 1, The Biblical Period ~ Hughes Oliphant Old ~ William B. Eerdmans Publishing Old discusses in depth the relationship between preaching and worship, especially as it relates to the early centuries. This first volume begins with the nation of Israel’s worship, travels through the time of Christ and the Apostles, and concludes with the ministry of Origen in the second and third centuries. Old views preaching as an act of worship and the purpose of the book is to understand how that happens. This entire study by Olds canvasses the history of preaching from the words of Moses at Mt. Sinai through modern times by addressing the question, “How is preaching worship?” He goes on to discuss several different genres of preaching throughout the series.


• The Idea of the Holy ~ Rudolph Otto ~ Oxford University Press This is a classic which should be in everyone’s library.


• The Worship of God: some theological, pastoral, and practical reflections ~ Ralph P. Martin ~ William B. Eerdmans Publishing In Martin’s words, this book is “a compact guide to some of the main themes of the public worship of God.” The object is to examine the model of Christian worship and help the readers think theologically regarding the various things they do in worship. His hope is that we may then apply some of these biblical principles to our various situations thereby enhancing the integrity of our differing worship practices. What is interesting is that some of the concerned observations he made in the early 1980’s, when this book was written, were not adequately dealt with as he feared and have, as a result, added to some of the confusion we have regarding worship today.


• No Place for Truth: or whatever happened to evangelical theology? ~ David F. Wells ~ William B. Eerdmans Publishing Wells’ writing is a direct challenge to think theologically about what we are doing as a church. Obviously this will carry into how we think about worship. His great concern is that the Church has turned in upon itself and “substituted for the knowledge of God a search for the knowledge of self.” If this is true, then one can see how the shift in worship moves from encountering God to how I feel about my “worship experience.” This is not a settling book and a most important one.


• The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind ~ Mark Noll ~ William B. Eerdmans Publishing This book is a good companion for Well’s book. Noll challenges the reader to consider the place of the mind in theological thinking. A historian of the American church, Noll traces “the decline of evangelical thought in North America.” He decries the lack of impact the evangelicals have had in all aspects of society. By implication, absorbing this book can help us in our thinking and in our theology in relation to worship. Why is this helpful for the worship planner? “The search for a Christian mind is not, in the end, a search for mind but a search for God.”


• People in the Presence of God ~ Barry Liesch ~ Zondervan Publishing House This work focuses on various examples of worship throughout the Scriptures. Liesch looks at Old and New Testament principles, synagogue, Tabernacle, and Temple worship, at Pauline worship as well as practical and participatory activity in worship. He weaves together worship principles and practical suggestions. As with his other book listed, each chapter ends with questions for discussions. His models include: worship in the family, then small groups and large groups, and culminating with the Revelation model. In addition he addresses many of the common topics of interest and controversy for those who deal in worship planning and practice.


• The Complete Library of Christian Worship (8 Volumes) ~ Robert Webber, General Editor ~ Star Song This set is invaluable. With writing by more than five hundred authors, this covers the gamut both in depth and breadth. We have long needed a set such as this. Webber, whose love of worship is so apparent, has done us a great service in producing this magnum opus. I dare say you could find information on anything you can think of in relation to worship written by experts in the various fields. The set is worth every penny!


• Worship Is a Verb ~ Robert Webber ~ Word Books Webber outlines basic principles then devotes the rest of the book to a programmed study and application of those principles. The basic four-fold pattern is explained and developed in detail.


• Reaching Out without Dumbing Down: A theology of worship for the turn-of-the-century culture ~ Marva Dawn ~ William B. Eerdmans Publishing Any one engaged in the “worship wars” needs to read this discussion. Recognizing that wars such as these divide the church, she works to bridge both sides through helping us think more about both worship and the culture in which we live. She reminds us that true worship always keeps God at the center, builds believers as well as the community in which they live. This book is especially useful to those of us who are absorbed with a desire to reach our culture, …and not because she gives easy answers.

Related Subjects

• The Sacred Bridge: the interdependence of liturgy and music in synagogue and church during the first millennium ~ Eric Werner ~ Columbia University Press This is another scholarly historical classic. The title describes the book’s content. The relationship between Judaism and early Christianity is most instructive. This book is one of the main sources of that dialogue. In the discussion we can see the depth of theology involved as worship practice continued to be interpreted, expressed, and developed. (I once had this book stolen at a laundromat when I was a graduate student. It was years until I found another copy! Shortly after that, we bought our own washing machine.)


• The Book of Daily Prayer ~ Robert Webber ~ William B. Eerdmans Publishing This book, patterned around the seasons of the church year, is a practical guide to daily prayer. It brings both structure and guidance to an individual’s prayer life.


• Leading in Prayer: A Workbook for Worship ~ Hughes Oliphant Old ~ William B. Eerdmans Publishing The title says it all. This is a most useful book filled with practical help for the content of worship services in terms of prayers of various kinds: invocations, confessions, supplications, intercessions, thanksgivings, prayers for illumination, benedictions, doxologies and hymnic settingsThe title says it all. This is a most useful book filled with practical help for the content of worship services in terms of prayers of various kinds: invocations, confessions, supplications, intercessions, thanksgivings, prayers for illumination, benedictions, doxologies and hymnic settings.

A Starting Point