Books: Recovering Mother Kirk & With Reverance and Awe

Joyce Borger

Recovering Mother Kirk: The Case for Liturgy in the Reformed Tradition. D. G. Hart. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2003. 264 pp. $24.99. ISBN 0801026156. www.bakerbooks.com

With Reverence and Awe: Returning to the Basics of Reformed Worship. D. G. Hart and John R. Muether. Phillipsburg, N. J.: P&R Publishing Company, 2002. 208 pp. $12.99. ISBN 0875521797. www.prpbooks.com

Recovering Mother Kirk by D. G. Hart and With Reverence and Awe, coauthored by Hart and John R. Muether, are written from within the Orthodox Presbyterian context and serve to balance the worship conversation with their “hyper-regulative principle perspective,” where only what is commanded in Scripture is permitted in worship. Some of the correctives suggested along with their critique of the present worship scene are not supported by compelling arguments. Still, they offer a clear reminder that our worship conversations must always be rooted in Scripture.

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.