A review of three books on worship – 1999
1. Worshipping GOD
Author : R.T.Kendall
Pub. : Hodder and Stoughton, 1989
Size : 26 chapters, 224 pages
2. Worship
Author : Graham Kendrick
Pub. : Kingsway Publications, 1984
Size : 15 chapters, 213 pages
3. Worship His Majesty
Author : Jack W. Hayford
Pub. : Word Publishing, 1987
Size : 14 chapters, 224 pages (plus appendices)
Many books have been written in recent years on the topic of worship. These are three which I could thoroughly recommend.
Graham Kendrick is a British song writer whose works many will know: for instance, “Shine, Jesus, Shine”, “Jesus, Stand among us” and “Make way”. He writes in an easy to read style and presents a wealth of personal experience in leading congregational worship.
Jack Hayford is an American minister, most well known for his song “Majesty”. (Did you know that “Majesty” is part of a 17 song musicale, or that it was inspired by a visit to England during the silver anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s coronation?) His writing style is polished and artistic and each chapter is prefaced by one of Hayford’s songs.
R.T.Kendall is an American-turned-British minister. He is firmly committed to election, the centrality of preaching and all those good Reformed principles. This book is densely packed with information and somewhat more academic than the others.
All three authors have a very broad concept of what constitutes worship. “Worship”, says Kendrick, “is God’s enjoyment of us and our enjoyment of him.”
They would all agree with Kendall’s opening paragraph “We are called, by the way we live and in all we do, to worship God.” However, Kendall pushes this broad perspective throughout the book by including chapters on preaching, prayer, tithing and fasting, whereas Kendrick (and Hayford to a lesser extent) concentrates on worship within church services.
Kendall does a good job of emphasising both the spiritual and intellectual aspects of worship. His chapter on worship during hardship (an exposition of Habakkuk’s “though the fig tree does not blossom” passage) was especially powerful.
Hayford’s was the book which gave me most to think about. He calls for a Reformation of our understanding of worship which needs to be as big as the first Reformation. Such a change requires some new interpretations of Scripture and Hayford leads the way by showing the centrality of worship in Creation, Abraham, the Exodus, Samuel, David, the Lord’s Supper and the Revelation to John. I was most challenged by his claim that Communion is an ideal time for evangelism and that the Lord’s Table should be open for anyone who seeks God, not just those who have found him.
In Kendrick, I found the most helpful passage to be his suggestions on the personal discipline needed if we are to get the most out of a worship service. Without such disciplines we too readily fall into the trap of evaluating the leaders’ performance: “‘roast preacher’ is a staple Sunday diet all over the world”.
Overall, I’d say Kendall’s book takes the most academic approach; Kendrick’s is the easiest to read; but Hayford’s is the most insightful.