The Worship Sourcebook

Rating:
Summary: What are you waiting for? Buy it now
Review: I have only had this book in my possession for a short time and already it has repaid my initial investment with interest. While obviously designed with the worship needs of Reformed and Presbyterian Churches firmly in mind, this book has the capacity to enrich the thinking of worship leaders in a whole variety of Christian traditions. The sheer wealth of the riches on offer has got to be seen to be believed. This title now has an honourable place next to my copy of the Book of Common Worship [PCUSA] and Common Order [Church of Scotland]. The availability of a CD Rom in conjunction with this volume is worth the purchase price in itself. The only shortcoming in this volume is that there are no suggested service outlines for weddings, funerals and other occasional pastoral events. But this is a purely personal opininon and maybe the publishers have ideas about this for the future. An excellent resource altogether and well deserving of its 5 star status.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Resource for Presbyterian Worship Planners
Review: One-line review: Buy this book if you plan worship in a Reformed or Presbyterian Church! Do it now!
This book is not primarily a book of worship services like the Presbyterian Book of Common Worship. Rather, it assumes that a worship planner in one of the Presbyterian and Reformed denominations is seeking resources to supplement materials that may be already available in denominational service books. And this book provides that: among many other selections there are 70 calls to worship and opening responses, 71 prayers of confession, 29 prayers of the people, and an equally vast number of resources for the liturgical year.
There is a valuable introduction on the practice and planning of Christian worship. Other features that make this book useful for worship planners include a large number of resources labeled "mindful of children," a sensible copyright policy, and a CD-ROM that facilitates using the contents in preparing materials for use in worship.
This book has its origin in a small Reformed denomination, the Christian Reformed Church, but it is historically and theologically rooted, alert to issues in preparing contemporary worship, and reflective of the broad mainstream of Presbyterian and Reformed worship practice. The style throughout is both classical and contemporary, avoiding both historicism and trendiness as though either was an virtue in itself.
I am frankly amazed that this resource is available it its price, and I am happy to recommend this to anyone involved in planning Sunday worship for any church in the Presbyterian and Reformed worship tradition!