Book: The Great Worship Awakening: Singing a New Song in the Postmodern Church

Joyce Borger

Robb Redman. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2002. 272 pp. $19.95 www.josseybass.com

Robb Redman, a Presbyterian pastor who has been a consulting editor for Worship Leader magazine and has also worked for Maranatha! Music, provides a balanced perspective within the contemporary worship context that is worth listening to. The book will be useful to those who wish to understand the historical, cultural, and sociological background to various (and sometimes conflicting) approaches to worship. Redman begins with a background look at four underlying currents: the seeker service, the praise and worship movement, the contemporary music industry, and the liturgical renewal movement. He then considers how our multiethnic communities, global awareness, generational differences, and postmodern context have influenced our worship practices, and concludes with some practical suggestions for worship renewal.

Rev. Joyce Borger is a program manager at the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship for the area of practical worship planning and leading, which includes co-managing ReformedWorship.org, as well as serving as a content editor and resource creator for the website. Joyce is keen to listen to the questions being asked by churches and then identify, learn from, and amplify wise and gifted voices who can speak to them, as well as create platforms for gifts and learning to be shared. She has worked in the area of worship for over 20 years and has served as editor of several musical collections, including Psalms for All Seasons, and Lift Up Your Hearts: Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs (Faith Alive Christian Resources, 2011, 2013). She has taught worship courses at Kuyper College and is an ordained minister.