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Worship by the Book | 
 enlarge | Authors: Rev. Mark Ashton, R. Kent Hughes, Timothy J. Keller
Creator: D. A. Carson
Publisher: Zondervan
Category: Book
List Price: $16.99
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Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 57449
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.9
ISBN: 0310216257
Dewey Decimal Number: 264
UPC: 025986216252
EAN: 9780310216254
ASIN: 0310216257
Publication Date: September 1, 2002
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Product Description
A how-to book on corporate worship for the twenty-first century: how to be authentic and contemporary without being glitzy or faddish.
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Pastors Should Read This Book August 18, 2008
This book would be valuable for most Pastors to read because of its wisdom on the subject of worship. So often, the focus of the Pastor is on preparing and preaching the sermon. While this is a critical part of the worship service and should not be neglected, all of the essayists point to the need for well-planned services from start to finish. God-exalting, Christ-centered, Bible-based services are a worthy goal. This book should challenge Pastors, especially those from a free church background, to plan worship services in a more thoughtful way. The book is practical, with sample worship service outlines from different traditions. Highly recommended for all who want to honor God in corporate worship.
Convicting and Uplifting! March 18, 2008
Introduction
What is worship? If worship in our daily lives means a consecrated lifestyle that aims to glorify God, how then should our corporate gatherings look like? And further, what makes our corporate gatherings any more worship than glorifying God in the other six days of the week? Worship by the Book is a compilation of essays that seeks to respond to such issues that concern today's church. By looking back into the past to see how previous generations have done corporate worship aright, the authors look forward into the future to what biblical corporate worship should look like.
Edited by D. A. Carson (research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School), this book incorporates a biblical theology of worship in the opening chapter by the editor, which is then followed by three application chapters written by pastors from differing denominational backgrounds who set out to show how they have applied the principles of such a theology of worship in the practices of their local church. In unveiling the varying practices of different church traditions, what arises from the pages is a portrait of what worship by the Book looks like.
Summary
Chapter 1, "Worship Under The Word," D. A. Carson attempts to provide a theology of worship, despite the fact that there are many challenges in doing so. The author admits that worship has caused much heated debate in the contemporary church (11), that there are many diverse theologies of worship available (13), and that even though the word worship itself is found in Scripture (14), it is still hard to construct a theology of worship when biblical theology and systematic theology may give us different definitions. Be that as it may, Carson endeavors to examine the English word worship (18), as well as the underlying Greek and Hebrew words (19) and then follows with a brief examination of recent scholarship that show the challenges of writing a theology of worship (19). He gives respect to the work of Andrew E. Hill, and most adamantly confesses that the work of David Peterson's Engaging with God is the "volume that most urgently calls for thoughtful evaluation" (23).
Sympathetic to and borrowing from much of Peterson's biblical theology of worship, Carson then goes on to finally defining worship, and the rest of the chapter is a full explanation his definition. His attempt at a definition is a long paragraph whose opening sentence is the precursor for its expansion: "Worship is the proper response of all moral, sentient beings to God, ascribing all honor and worth to their Creator-God precisely because he is worthy, delightfully so" (26). Carson's citing of Edmund Clowney's list of corporate worship elements from the New Testament shows that he advocates for certain distinctive elements in corporate worship, though there is no biblical mandate for any particular ordering of these elements (48-52). The author concludes his chapter with some practical implications(58-63): the importance of avoiding misconceptions and hindrances of worship, authenticity for the sake of evangelism, the fact that we cannot incorporate all worship elements into one corporate gathering, and the danger of denominational hindrances to faithful worship.
Chapter 2, "Following in Cranmer's Footsteps," Mark Ashton (vicar of the Round Church at St. Andrew the Great in England) provides an overview of the Church of England's effort to remain biblical in all of its corporate worship gatherings, and yet faithful to the tradition that has been handed down through Archbishop Thomas Cranmer's Book of Common Prayer. While this central liturgy book of the Anglicanism has kept the church biblical since the mid-sixteenth century, Ashton confesses that there is no longer just one common Prayer Book in the Anglican Church. "There is an abundance of new liturgy, but no doctrinal consensus at its heart. This has created an identity crisis for Anglicanism" (66). In showing that Cranmer's Book of Common Prayer achieved a rare combination of being biblical, accessible and balanced (70-75), the author consequently calls for a renewal of such legacy and for the church to take responsibility to bring the Bible back to the center of corporate worship. Employing the standard that flowed from Cranmer's work, Ashton exhorts readers to examine if their worship services to see if it they are biblical, accessible, and balanced (80-88). He follows this analysis by looking at various aspects of Anglican worship services (88-103): variety of services, service structure, music, prayers, drama and testimony, leading the service, notices, size of congregation, length of service, and church building, furnishings, clothing, movement, as well as the church year. Ashton then concludes with a brief overview of particular services in Anglicanism, and the need to retain faithful worship in all of them (104-107).
Chapter 3, "Free Church Worship: The Challenge of Freedom," R. Kent Hughes (Senior Pastor Emeritus of College Church in Wheaton, Illinois) shows the reader how he came to his Reformed convictions without any denominational ties. He argues for worship that is more than just Sunday - "day-in-day-out living for Christ, the knees and heart perpetually bent in devotion and service" (140) - and how a life of worship enables Christians to worship freely and authentically in the gathered setting. After providing a brief look at the seven distinctives of worship in the Free Church tradition (preaching, Scripture, prayer, singing, sacraments, simplicity, and vestments; 142-46), Ashton then argues for six distinctive aspects of Christian worship that would foster mutual edification: worship is God-centered, Christ-centered, Word-centered, is consecration, is wholehearted, and is reverent (149-166). The author concludes his chapter with a brief how-to about corporate worship music, advocating six important factors: music serves preaching, develops maturity, is everyone's responsibility, that musical selection is important, that musicians must be prepared, and that the congregation is the chief instrument (166-172).
Chapter 4, "Reformed Worship in the Global City," by Timothy J. Keller (Pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City) takes a detailed look at the worship wars that are plaguing much of evangelicalism today. Keller provides definitions of the two main sides at war, "Contemporary Worship" (194) and "Historic Worship" (195), and then posits that "we forge our corporate best when we consult all three--the Bible, the cultural context of our community, and the historic tradition of our church" (197). This three-pronged approach to worship provides the foundation for Keller's overview of worship in the Reformed tradition, favoring John Calvin's theology and liturgy of worship over and against the large variety of Reformed worship perspectives (199-208). The further author traces Reformed worship to its historical roots: simplicity as its voice, transcendence as its goal, and gospel reenactment as its order (208-217). Keller's three tests of Reformed corporate worship (doxological evangelism, community building, and character of service; 217-221) aim at determining if a corporate worship gathering is well-balanced in being both contemporary and Reformed (221). He also deals with the attitude and heart of those leading corporate worship (223), weekly preparation and planning that is involved (226), and the significance of having a guideline for choosing music for worship services (236).
Critical Evaluation
Engaging With God is a unique book on Christian worship in that it presents a well-organized analysis of how three different church traditions have sought to put the principles of a biblical worship theology into practice. Each of the three extensive chapters that follows Carson's chapter on worship theology include appendices that give the reader a behind-the-scenes look at how the author's church has planned their corporate worship services, as well as additional articles that are incorporated within the corporate worship gathering. This allows the reader to not only see theology in practice, but it gives worship leaders and music ministers examples of biblically faithful worship liturgies to incorporate into their own church setting.
For example, Keller includes liturgies within his chapter that his church has used in the past, ones for classical and contemporary worship services, ones that are more Calvinian in manner and ones that are less; his appendices include a full worship service outline (240-248) and prayers his church has used for leading those not taking the Lord's Supper (249). Hughes' appendices should also be very helpful to readers, as they not only include his Free Church's liturgy and worship service outlines from morning and evening services, but also detailed commentary for each, and three helpful articles on the wonders of worship (189), reading the Word (190-191), and the danger of equating music to worship (192). Mark Ashton's appendices similarly provide extensive commentary to the worship service outlines that he includes (109-135), but from the Anglican church he oversees.
While these appendices are the muscles that allow this book to stand out from amongst the plethora of books on worship available today, it would have been more helpful to see a wider range of church traditions represented, like churches from the Baptist tradition, the flourishing Reformed Charismatic family of churches from Sovereign Grace Ministries, or the third-wave Pentecostal Hillsong Church from Australia. Such may extend the length of the book to be too long for one volume, but it would be greatly beneficial to see Carson's theology of worship at work in other diverse church traditions.
Of a minor note, Mark Ashton's chapter employed some archaic vocabulary that may be unknown to non-Anglican or lay readers, and British idioms that would be unfamiliar to an American audience. For example: hobby-horses (84), interlopers (86), emendation (91), vetted (94), vestry (96). It would have been beneficial to see those terms edited out or explained, especially Anglican Church terms like "collects" and "notices" which are termed differently in North America.
Conclusion
In spite of these minor faux pas, Worship by the Book is both convicting and uplifting. It is a book that will convict senior pastors, music ministers, and worship leaders alike to evaluate and re-examine their corporate worship services for their biblical faithfulness, evangelistic effectiveness and mutually edifying abilities. By providing a theological framework of worship and practical examples of churches that worship by the Book, it uplifts the reader to find hope in and through corporate worship gatherings that center around the Word that became flesh, Jesus Christ. Churches in need of worship recovery, as well as those simply looking to refresh their service liturgies, will find plenty of biblical insight here to sustain them into the twenty-first century.
 Good as an exposure to the ways of worship in the church. January 26, 2007
I appreciate the comparison and contrast found within this book of the various worhip styles and the philosophy behind each one. Such exposure only makes it obvious where our commonalities lie, and what is at the heart of true worship. Each contributor does a fine job in this regard, but such an approach has its drawbacks. The temptation to become syncretic is always here with us as we search for a way to worship- we might succomb to pick and choose what appeals to us, rather than what would please God. We often do this without any realization of the "why" of what is being done, and thus lose our way, so to speak. These authors are deeply steeped in their traditions, and are less likely to fall into such a trap, but those who are reading such brief, though well written overviews, suffer from a lack of background that is important for such wanderings.
Learn How To Worship By The Book April 23, 2005
11 out of 12 found this review helpful
Too often, when Christians discuss worship, they go little further than arguments about styles of music. The "worship wars" that have plagued the modern church are a prime example of this. Many churches have fallen apart and many Christians have been deeply hurt over styles of music. Churches that have sought to be progressive and contemporary have often done away with hymns, throwing away hundreds of years of Christian tradition in the process. Other churches have refused to sing any song written in modern times, indicating an irrational bias towards days gone by. In the process worship has come to be nearly synonymous with music. Church services are often structured around a time of worship, led by a worship pastor, and this is followed by a time of apparently non-worshipful teaching led by a teaching pastor.
These worship wars are a terrible distraction, for as believers who have access to the New Testament we know that worship extends far beyond music. Worship is to encompass all of life rather than only select parts. Worship by the Book is an attempt by four men, D.A Carson, Mark Ashton, Kent Hughes and Timothy Keller, to unravel the meaning of worship as well as to suggest ways that corporate worship, done as the church gathers together, can be most meaningful and most faithful to Scripture.
The book begins with an essay by Carson entitled "Worship Under the Word" in which he builds a framework around which each of the other authors will write. The heart of the essay is a lengthy definition of worship and a twelve-point examination of this definition. It is an unusually long and detailed definition of worship, yet one that for precisely those reasons is exceedingly useful.
Following Carson's introduction, each of the three co-authors is given one chapter to provide insight about worship within their tradition. The first of these is Mark Ashton, who is vicar of the Round Church at St. Andrew the Great in Cambridge, England. His essay is entitled "Following in Cramner's Footsteps" and he proposes that the Anglican Church recover the principles Cramner used to draft the Book of Common Prayer. He suggests each aspect of a worship service needs to meet three criteria: is it biblical, is it accessible and is it balanced? Despite coming from a tradition that seems far removed from mainline evangelicalism, I suspect the bulk of believers with agree with most of what he writes, at least until the final paragraphs where he writes about infant baptism and presumptive regeneration. I was a little bit concerned about a vague, underlying spirit of pragmatism that seemed to lie under the surface of some of what he wrote. Within the sample services, for example, is an outline of a guest service in which they have dumbed-down their Bible translation, opting for the Good News Bible in place of the New International Version. Despite this, there was much within his essay that was of practical value.
The second essay was written by Kent Hughes, pastor of the College Church in Wheaton, Illinois. At the heart of Hughes' essay, "Free Church Worship," were his six distinctives of Christian worship: it is God-centered, Christ-centered, Word-centered, consecration, whole-hearted and reverent. I especially appreciated his emphasis on reverence, as this is sorely-lacking in many contemporary churches. He closed with some useful thoughts on music in corporate worship.
The final essay was written by Timothy Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church (PCA) in New York City. Keller is seen as a trend-setter within the Presbyterian Church of America, so I looked forward to his essay which was entitled "Reformed Worship in the Global City." Keller contrasted and compared contemporary worship and historical worship and proposed a middle-ground, but not one as simple as an even distribution of elements from each. His essay was built around an examination and defense of the Reformed worship tradition. He examined its variety, sources, balance, core, traits and tests. I particularly enjoyed his explanation of the service structure at their church and the cycles of praise, renewal and commitment.
While it was generally a strong essay, it seemed to come apart a little at the end. The author wrote about the importance of including unbelieving musicians in the worship team as a way to evangelize them, arguing that God's common grace given to musicians brings as much glory to Him as do believers using their talents in His service. I much preferred Kent Hughes' take on this same issue. In the previous chapter he wrote "Musicians must see themselves as fellow laborers in the Word and must lead with understanding and an engaged heart. Those who minister in worship services must be healthy Christians who have confessed their sins and by God's grace are living their lives consistently with the music they lead. The sobering fact is that over time the congregation tends to become like those who lead." I was also a bit disappointed by the content of the bulletin inserts of Redeemer Church that were included within this essay as they seemed to favorably quote Mother Teresa, writing that the most important need of the poor is to be wanted.
Despite a few small missteps, I found this book fascinating and convicting. I would encourage any pastor or worship leader to buy this book and to read it through at least a couple of times. It will provide valuable insight into planning worship services that will lead believers into a time of worship that goes far beyond the music. Worship like these men describe is becoming increasingly rare. I hope this volume can help many churches recover worship that is done by the Book.
Sane, sensible advice November 26, 2003
This book is worth buying for the insightful introductory article by Don Carson. He argues that there is a place for corporate worship and that church is more than sitting in a holy building and having my own little quiet time with God, or only meeting for teaching or encouraging others. In his theology of worship, he guards against some of the extremes we find in evangelical churches today. The reflection on David Peterson's "Engaging with God" is stimulating. Some have used Peterson's book to argue that in the New Testament meetings were not for the purpose of worshipping God. Carson points out that though the book shows that worship in the New Testament is meant to be a whole of life thing, and not just something Christians do on Sundays, Peterson still "wants to talk about ... corporate worship in the regular 'services' of the church."
The main sections of the book are written from a variety of perspectives, from formal to fairly free, from liturgical to extemporary.Interestingly, the article by the minister from the more liturgical background, Mark Ashton, argues from his knowledge of Cranmer [the creator of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer] that churches should have more flexibility and freedom. And the articles by those from a less structured eccesiology argue for the use of some liturgy! And Carson suggests we should be using the best of the ways of worship from our brothers and sisters around the world, without becoming self-consciously Multicultural for the sake of it. Highly recommended.
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