Reformed Worship - Resources for Planning and Leading Worship

Seasonal Liturgy Idea Was Helptul

We have used this magazine for some years now, and the blocks of services, e.g., Lent & Easter, or Advent, have been used extensively.

Not having a pastor of our own has made this manual invaluable to us. We are able to plan blocks of services two months ahead. By providing our guest ministers with the basic services and themes well in advance, we have not had a sermon plunked in a service without each relating to the other. The cooperation from our guest ministers has been marvelous.

by Don Hustad. Carol Stream, IL: Hope Publishing Co., 1993. 595 pp., $29.95.

No matter where we worship, we are faced today with the changing nature of worship. Hustad traces the history of music and worship, marking the many times in the life of the church that music and worship have undergone significant, and often painful, renewal. The context given by Hustad helps us to better understand the changing dynamics of worship today.

Paul B. Brown. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1992.176 pp., $12.00.

James E White. Nashville: Abingdon, 1993.192 pp., $14.95.

Nashville, TN: United Methodist Publishing House, 1992; 754 pp., $24.95.

This new book begins by affirming that although the Anglican, Evangelical United Brethren, and Methodist heritages all are evident in United Methodist worship, services find their unity through "the basic pattern of worship: Entrance, Proclamation & Response, Thanksgiving & Communion, and Sending Forth" (pp. 13-15).

Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1993; 1107 pp., $30.00.

Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1993; 427 pp., $22.99.

This volume is Lindajo McKim's handbook to The Presbyterian Hymnal [a.k.a., Hymns, Psalms, and Spiritual Songs] (1990). As editor of the hymnal, McKim had ready access to a variety of sources as she prepared this Companion. She presents mostly the historical background of the texts and music found in the hymnal, though she also offers brief exegeti-cal or interpretive comments on the texts and sometimes a descriptive phrase on the tune or harmonization.

Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1593; 940 pp., $39.95.

Carlton R. Young, primary author of this Companion also served as editor of The United Methodist Hymnal (1989) and previously as editor of The Methodist Hymnal (1966) and coedited its handbook, Companion to the Hymnal (1970) with Fred Gealy and Austin Lovelace.

Louisville, KY: Westminster/ John Knox Press, 1993. 432 pp., $30.00.

A new psalter for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). For many, psalm singing and the Scottish heritage are already synonymous. To be sure, the Presbyterian Hymnal (1991) contains many metrical psalms in a style similar to those found in the Psalter Hymnal. But what of the psalm texts in their original prose, in unmetered flow?

Horton Davies. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1993. 274 pages, $18.99 (paperback).