Worship Books

Gathered Before God: Worship-Centered Church Renewal
Jane Rogers Vann (Westminster/John Knox, 2004)

What is the central purpose of the church today? How can churches experience renewal through worship? In Gathered before God, Jane Rogers Vann answers these important questions by studying ten vibrant small, medium, and large churches. Her findings, she argues, show that worship is the most important thing churches do and is vital to the renewal of congregational life. Vann explores how these congregations changed into worship-centered churches and how their experiences can help other churches do the same. Gathered before God is an earnest call for us all to reclaim worship as a central act of our life together as Christians that expresses clearly what the church believes about God, itself, and the world.

Living the Sabbath: Discovering the Rhythms of Rest and Delight
Norman Wirzba (Brazos Press, 2006)

Our traditional understanding of Sabbath observance is resting from our otherwise harried lives one day a week. Norman Wirzba leads us deeper into the heart of Sabbath with a holistic and rewarding interpretation of what true Sabbath-keeping can mean in our lives today. Wirzba teaches that Sabbath is ultimately about delight in the goodness that God has made—in everything we do, every day of the week. He then shows how this understanding of Sabbath teaching has the potential to elevate all our activities so that they bring honor to God and delight to the world. With practical examples, Wirzba unpacks what that means for our work, our homes, our economy, our schools, our treatment of creation, and our churches. 

Receiving the Day: Christian Practices for Opening the Gift of Time. 
Dorothy C. Bass. (Jossey-Bass, 2001)

Dorothy Bass invites readers into a way of living in time that is alert to both contemporary pressures and rooted ancient wisdom. She asks hard questions about how our injurious attitude toward time has distorted our relationships with our innermost selves, with other people, with the natural world, and with God. Receiving the Day offers a language of attention, poetry, and celebration. Bass encourages us to reevaluate our understanding of the temporal and thereby to participate fully in the Christian practice of knowing time as God’s gift. Embraced in this way, time need not be wrestled with each day. Instead, time becomes the habitation of blessing.

Sabbath
Dan Allender (Thomas Nelson, 2009)

“The Sabbath is far more than a diversion; it is meant to be an encounter with God’s delight,” writes Dan Allender. He presents a rounded and robust overview of this day of delight. There are three core premises explored on these pages: The Sabbath is not merely a good idea; it is one of the Ten Commandments. Jesus did not abrogate, cancel or annul the idea of the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a day of delight for humankind, animals, and the earth; it is not merely a pious day and it is not fundamentally a break, a day off, or a twenty-four hour vacation. In the last three chapters, Allender offers ways to act out the Sabbath in ritual and symbols in order to sample peace, abundance, and joy; to open the heart to meditation and prayer as a part of silence; and to honor justice by celebrating repentance and delight in its fruit—freedom.

Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal, and Delight in Our Busy Lives
Wayne Muller (Bantam Books, 2000)

“Sabbath time can be a revolutionary challenge to the violence of overwork, mindless accumulation, and the endless multiplication of desires, responsibilities, and accomplishments. Sabbath is a way of being in time where we remember who we are, remember what we know, and taste the gifts of spirit and eternity,” writes ordained minister, therapist, and best-selling author Wayne Muller. He challenges us to take a Sabbath day of rest, to set aside a Sabbath afternoon for silence, and to create Sabbath moments in our hectic weekday schedules. He is calling for a time of stillness and repose, a time for rejoicing in the goodness and holiness of life, and a time to surrender to the mystery of not-knowing. At the end of chapters on rest, rhythm, time, happiness, wisdom, and consecration, Muller includes dozens of Sabbath exercises such as taking a guilt-free nap, blessing your children, keeping a Sabbath box, creating a family altar, and thinning or letting go of possessions.

The Sacred Meal (The Ancient Christian Practices Series)
Nora Gallagher (Thomas Nelson, 2009)

The sacred meal that is part of our faith does more than connect us to the holy, it connects us to each other. "I think Jesus wanted his disciples and everyone who came after him to remember what they had together. What they made together. What it meant to be together. How the things he did could not have been done without them." Nora Gallagher explores the beauty and mystery of this most fascinating of topics. Whether exploring the history of Christian communion, taking us inside the workings of a soup kitchen, or sharing times of joy and sadness with friends, she reminds us what it means to partake of, and be part of, the body of Christ.

Worship for the Whole People of God: Vital Worship for the 21st Century
Ruth C. Duck (Westminster/John Knox, 2013)

Ruth Duck provides theological foundations for worship and explores the variety of ways Christians have adapted worship to various cultures to help them live faithfully and to communicate the Gospel to others. The author celebrates the many languages and cultural settings in which the Gospel has been, and is, preached, sung, and prayed. The goal of this volume is to support good pastoral and congregational reflection on what worship is and does. Duck discusses many different forms of worship from several cultures and offers advice on how to read a congregation and define its culture in order to plan culturally appropriate worship. Although the book does not offer prescriptive formulas or advise a single pattern of worship, it includes many practical suggestions for preparing and leading worship, including diverse ministries of music, movement, and visual arts that are becoming more popular today. From worship's theological underpinnings, the book turns to worship leadership, forms of prayer, preaching, the sacraments, ordination, and various liturgies.

Worship Matters: A Study for Congregations
Jane Rogers Vann (Westminster/John Knox, 2011)

Sunday worship is the central act of the Christian faith, yet few people truly understand what is happening during the service, and why, and how. Based on numerous visits with congregations of many denominations, Jane Rogers Vann examines how we can eliminate the barrier between the preacher and the people in the pew and offers practical advice directed not just toward church leaders but to worship committees and church members - all who are yearning to be fully engaged in worship. 

Worship with Gladness: Understanding Worship from the Heart
Joyce Ann Zimmerman (Eerdmans, 2014)

In this invitingly written, deeply joyful book, Joyce Ann Zimmerman makes Scripture her foundation as she explores the meaning and purpose of authentic Christian worship today. Intended for Christian communities across the denominational spectrum, Worship with Gladness will appeal to a wide audience of pastors, worship leaders, college students, and lay readers. Zimmerman discusses such subjects as worship and liturgy, the common elements of worship that carry across denominational boundaries, what Scripture tells us about participating in worship, and how authentic worship expresses itself in daily living. Throughout the book Zimmerman encourages readers not only to better understand worship but to better understand - and rejoice in - the One we worship. Each section of the book concludes with thoughtful prompts that will encourage readers to reflect on and apply what Zimmerman discusses. And at every turn she encourages all who worship God to come with open and truly thankful hearts.

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Approaches & Practices Resources

Book, Bath, Table, and Time: Christian Worship as Source & Resource for Youth Ministry
Fred Edie (Pilgrim Press, 2007)

Book, Bath, Table, and Time gives leaders ideas for and suggestions on how to practice the liturgical holy things of the ordo - the ancient church's life "ordered" around its liturgical holy things: bath (Baptism); book (Scriptures); table (Eucharist); calendar (the prayerful patterning of time) - in order to provide the church with a faithful ecology of life that is capable of forming Christian youth who experience God's presence, identify God rightly, and take up their baptismal vocations before God and for the world. Fred Edie offers practical ideas that ground youth ministry in a playfully orthodox ecclesiology which holds liturgy and worship at its center, yet takes into account and is sensitive to the characteristics of the younger generation so as to successfully engage them.

The Church of All Ages: Generations Worshiping Together 
Howard Vanderwell, editor (Alban Institute, 2008) 

Many congregations today experience collisions between parents who want to spend time with their children and age-segregated church programming, as well as between the children worshiping in their pews and the increasing number of seniors in the same pew. Among the questions these congregations struggle to address are these: Should we try to hold the generations together when we worship? Is it even possible? Led by pastor and resource developer Howard Vanderwell, nine writers—pastors, teachers, worship planners, and others serving in specialized ministries—offer their reflections on issues congregational leaders need to address as they design their worship ministry. In addition, numerous sidebars illustrate the diversity of practices in the church today. The thread that connects these varied contributions is the belief there is no greater privilege for Christians than worshiping God, and there is no better way to do that than as an intergenerational community in which all are important and all encourage and nurture the faith of the others.

Incorporating Children in Worship: Mark of the Kingdom
Michelle A. Clifton-Soderstrom (Casade Books, 2014)

Incorporating children in worship is a powerful and overlooked mark of God's kingdom. This book argues that children's full participation in worship signifies not only a vibrant, faithful communion but also offers a critical window into the Spirit's work of linking the church to Christ. Children have a vocation in worship. They embody the theological virtues in distinct ways that enrich the worship of the whole church. Moreover, incorporating children reflects the difference in unity that is God's triune life. Receiving children in their difference moves the worshipping body toward the telos of worship--glorification of God and sanctification of humanity--and habituates the worshipping body to incorporate other, often more threatening, kinds of difference.

Parenting in the Pew: Guiding Your Children into the Joy of Worship
Robbie Castleman (IVP Books, 2013 revised edition)

Robbie Castleman believes that Sunday morning isn't a success if she has only managed to keep the kids quiet. And she knows there's more to church for kids than trying out their new coloring books. Children are at church for the same reason as their parents: for the privilege of worshiping God. Worship is "the most important thing you can ever train your child to do." So she shows how to help children (from toddlers to teenagers) enter into worship. In this revised and updated edition Castleman two new appendices that provide new perspectives on children's sermon and intergenerational community. She also provides a study guide for personal reflection or group discussion. 

Sabbath in the Suburbs: A Family's Experiment with Holy Time
MaryAnn McKibben Dana (Chalice Press, 2012)

"Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." Yeah, right. Sabbath-keeping seems quaint in our 24/7, twenty-first century world. Life often feels impossibly full, what with work, to-do lists, kid activities, chores, and errands. And laundry… always and forever laundry. But the Sabbath isn't just one of the ten commandments; it is a delight that can transform the other six days of the week. Join one family's quest to take Sabbath to heart and change their frenetic way of living by keeping a Sabbath day each week for one year. With lively and compelling prose, MaryAnn McKibben Dana documents their experiment with holy time as a guide for families of all shapes and sizes. Tips are included in each chapter to help make your own Sabbath experiment successful.