Bibliography
Batastini, R. (2002, March). Songs from the community of Taize. Retrieved May 13, 2022, from https://www.reformedworship.org/article/march-2002/songs-community-taize
- This is an article to talk about the specific community of Taize. I had no idea the significance of this community but they actually have a lot of incredible beliefs and goals. Their goal is to paint a clear and vivid picture of Heaven by inviting Christians, doesn't matter the denomination, race, age, just that you love Jesus, to worship and write songs. Songs in different languages with easy, simple choruses for everyone to know by heart and sing worshipfully. Really good and short read!
Beuchner, Frederick “The Gospel as Fairy Tale.” The Christian Imagination: The Practice of Faith in Literature and Writing, edited by Leland Ryken, Revised & Expanded ed., WaterBrook Press, 2002, pp. 319–334.
- In their writing, Beuchner emphasizes the importance and value of reading the Bible like a fairytale. He goes on to explain how we need to use our imagination when reading the Bible because we will never be able to logically understand all of the miracles and wonders of Scripture. This really inspired to be to see worship in a new perspective and possibly worship in a different way as a result of doing so.
Bevere, J. (2017). Killing Kryptonite: Destroy what steals your strength. Palmer Lake, CO: Messenger International.
- A very convicting book that is written as a devotional but truly challenges what you worship. The purpose of the book is to dig deeper into your sin struggles and habits and figure out how God frees you from those things. This devotional helped me be aware of my natural sin habits and how to address them so I can lead in the Church better.
Bonhoeffer, D. (2015). The Cost of Discipleship. London: SCM Press.
- This book by Bonhoeffer highlights key components of the faith that often get overlooked because they go against our human desires. It challenges the reader to evaluate their lives; how they are truly living by Christ's example or simply going through the motions. Definitely a formative book for who I am.
Chapell, B. (2017). Christ-centered worship: Letting the gospel shape our practice. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.
- In this book, Chapel explains different kinds of historical liturgies, however the section I focused on was the portion on the Didache. The Didache is the oldest known liturgy practiced by the early church in Rome. The church of Acts, who met purely to be of one accord, worship, learn, pray, and then go out into the community and serve, preach, or give. It is a really good model of the Church's simple yet intentional beginnings.
Cherry, C. M. (2010). The Worship Architect: a blueprint for designing culturally relevant and biblically faithful services. Grand Rapids, Mich: BakerAcademic.
- While I have not read much of this book yet, it is part of my Worship Arts class curriculum. From what I have read, Cherry addresses the practicalities and necessities of worship in the Church. I am looking forward to learning more from Cherry, and I will update this citation once I that happens.
Colvin, J. (2008). Talent is Overrated. Penguin Books.
- This book is more about creating habits and the importance of developing skill in your artistic craft. I did not read all of this book, but from what I did read I felt challenged. First, I don't consider myself much of a musician, but I am. Secondly, I often just want to ride off of my natural musical talents in worship rather than skill. But what I took from this book was that as a worship leader God calls us to give him our best and I in order to do that I really need to be intentional with refining my skill.
Duhigg, C. (2014). Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business. Random House Trade Paperbacks. (Original work published 2012)
- This book offers a very practical and logical reasoning for the habits that we form, what we prioritize, and why. This is different than most of my other sources because it is not directly about worship or Christian in a literary sense, but the concepts are applicable to the life of a worshipper. Like some of my other sources, this research challenges the reader to evaluate their goals and maybe change how they go about their days with the natural habits they have created.
Foley, E. (2016). From Age to Age: How Christians Have Celebrated the Eucharist. United States: Liturgical Press.
- Much like other resources, this book addresses this history of worship, but in specific relation to how Church music evolved. Through chanting, psalters, and hymns, there have been intentional progression and set-backs in Church music.
Galli, M. (2008). Beyond smells & bells: the wonder and power of Christian liturgy (2016 Fifth Printing). Brewster, Mass: Paraclete Press.
- The ideas that Galli presents in this book are meant to expand the contemporary worship leader's perspective on liturgies. To appreciate the beauty, truth, and richness within them. This book challenged me to look outside the "liturgy" of worship I'm used to.
Getty, K., & Getty, K. (2017). Sing!: How worship transforms your life, family, and church. Nashville, TN: B & H publishing group.
- In this book written by the Gettys, I primarily focused on track two, or chapter two. In that section, they offer ten practical steps for worship leaders specifically to lead well. I would recommend this book to anyone who is considering worship leading at a church or who currently is leading because they help you with practical tangible steps but also steps to get your heart right before God and the congregation.
Jethani, S. (2013). Futureville: Discover Your Purpose For Today By Reimagining Tomorrow. Nelson Books, an imprint of Thomas Nelson.
- This book is not necessarily about worship, but about how we are to live the Christian life. Jethani focuses on how our perception of the future dictates how we live in the present. Whatever we are looking forward to describes our passion and motivation. This book has helped me consider how I'm living my life as a Christian, why I am acting the ways that I do based on what I believe, and helps me understand the other worldview Chrsitians might have when it comes to the future.
Keller, Timothy. The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith. Penguin Books, 2016.
- In this book, Keller goes through the story of the prodigal son and looks at it from many different angles. What was most enlightening about this book is how Keller desires the different ways people can run away from God. He convicted me when he described how the older son who stayed with the Father actually ran further than the younger son. This has helped my faith be strengthen and also has helped me give wisdom to others around me who feel like they're running in the wrong direction.
Keller, Timothy. The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism. Penguin Books, 2018.
- Keller uses this book to go through several questions that we ask relating to God. Christian or not there are questions we have about God's character and how he's displayed in the world. This book maybe did not directly affect my worship leading but it helped solidify my faith and helped my find answers to a lot of my doubts. It has also helped me when relating to other people's questions about GOd.
Kelman, A. Y. (2018). Shout to the Lord: Making Worship Music in Evangelical America. New York, NY: NYU Press.
- This is a great resource to think about the intentionality in the practical necessities of worship leading. Things like the difference between planning, rehearsal, practicing your instrument, and then actually playing during the service. How all those things relate to each other as worship. How some can seem easier to see as worship than others, but all should be counted as worship.
Harbin, M. A. (2005). The Promise and the Blessing: A Historical Survey of the Old and New Testaments. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
- While this is more of a historical textbook for the Bible, I found it really enlightening to read and apply to worship leading. It highlights and explains the story of Jesus from a historical and very intentional perspective, which gives more reason to worship. It explains what worship was like in the Old Testament, with all the sacrifices, offerings, and festivals, and also in the New Testament with the early Church. It is more of an academic read, but still a great resource!
Hawn, C. M. (2003). One bread, one body: exploring cultural diversity in worship. Bethesda, MD: Alban Institute.
- I only read a portion of this book, about a chapter or two, but it is filled with challenging and relevant perspectives on diversity in the Church. Whether that is through worship or through leadership, Hawn describes the different methods churches use, if any, to reflect the holistic Body of Christ. I found myself reflecting more on minorities in race and generation within churches and how to address this.
Holliday, M. (2001). Silent worship and Quaker values: An introduction. Philadelphia, PA: Friends General Conference.
- This reading, even though I did not read all of the book, is a great introduction to Quaker worship and what that looks like. If you're like me, you don't know anything about modern day Quakers, but this book really brought that into perspective. Learning about how others, who believe in the same God and same basic theology, worship and exist as a body.
Labberton, M. (2013). Dangerous Act of Worship: Living God's call to justice. Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press.
- This is a book that has really challenged me to think of worship as more than just a song, but a life of service and devotion. We used this book in my worship arts class to learn about the seriousness and purposes of worship. Labberton highlighted the parts of worship that we need to be cautious of and what to strive for. I really used a lot of his book as an avenue to reflect on my past worship experiences.
Lamport, M. A., Forrest, B. K., & Whaley, V. M. (2019). Hymns and Hymnody: Historical and Theological Introductions. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books.
- This is a resource that tells of the history and autobiographies of hymnists. However, in this reading, I focused on the life and work of Fanny Crosby. How she became such a big influence in the church through her hundreds of hymns. This is a great resource to simply gain more knowledge and context for the hymns that we sing during a service.
L'Engle, Madeleine. Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art. Convergent Books, 2016.
- L'Engle, who is a children's author, writes Walking on Water to address how arts are used in the world and how we as Christians can use art. While some of her claims I do not always agree with, we use this book in my Performing Arts class and the discussions have been really eye-opening. I got to listen to different perspectives of art through L'Engle and my classmates who were also reading her thoughts.
Lewis, C. S. (2012). The Great Divorce (Lewis Signature Book). Harpercollins.
- I love this novel! This fictional story really highlights the values we carry as people and shows how our desires can keep us from completely walking with God. He addresses the deep and hidden ways we are keeping ourselves from crossing into heaven. This novel was really helpful for me to see the ways our hearts can be holding on to something so tightly that we refuse to be open to God. Lewis explains these concepts in profound and creative ways.
Lewis, C. S. (2013). The Screwtape letters: and Screwtape proposes a toast. New York: HarperOne, An Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
- Similarly to The Great Divorce, this is a fiction work from Lewis. This novel is a series of letters from a demon character he created all addressed to the demon's nephew. The letters are advice from Screwtape to his nephew on how to best tempt his human patient and keep him distracted from following God. In a very general sense, this novel helped me understand how spiritual warfare can be played out, and simply just being more aware of how demons work. Obviously, this novel is not Scripture, but Less does have a lot of wisdom which I believe to be true on how the spiritual realm interacts with our human reality.
Packer, J. I. Knowing God. InterVarsity Press, 1993.
- This book discusses exactly what the title says, knowing God. How to know God as an omnipotent, Almighty, Most High God, but also as a personal, relational, humble God. I think this has really shaped how I worship because this book has expanded my way of thinking about God. I quickly realized the side of God I knew the most and which sides of God I didn't acknowledge as much. Then I began to intentionally sing and write songs about the characteristics of God I wanted to know more.
Peterson, A. (2019). Adorning The Dark: Thoughts on Community, Calling, and The Mystery of Making. B&H Publishing.
- I only read a chapter or two from this book by Andrew Peterson, but in these chapters he told the story of his journey as a musician and worshiper. He wanted to produce his music to encourage others, but did not want to alter the style of the music to be more appealing to more people. His story really encouraged me as a musician to think about how we present worship through music and how much we should adjust the music to the likings of the majority.
Peterson, P., & Hertenstein, J. (1996). More like the Master: A Christian Musician's Reader. Cornerstone Press Chicago.
- This is an interesting resource because, unlike much of what I have read for class, this book talks about CCM music. The authors spend time talking about the strengths and weakness of CCM music today. However, most of the topics discussed were focusing on the dangers and downsides. Either way, it was still a good read and gave lots to reflect on since most churches today are heavily influenced by CCM.
Pierson, M. (2010). The Art of Curating Worship: Reshaping the Role of Worship Leader. Minneapolis, MN: Sparkhouse Press.
- Pierson, a pastor in New Zealand, writes about the responsibility of worship leaders to lead with more creativity and engagement with the senses. He talks about the idea of "curating" different atmospheres of worship. Whether that is worship through art, something tangible, or through music, Pierson is encouraging and challenging worship leaders to think beyond the normal 3 songs set list.
Piper, John. Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ. Crossway Books, 2004.
- John Piper writes about how we get see and cherish Jesus through Scripture. He focuses on Jesus as Truth and getting to know Jesus as a person in order to know what Truth is. This has really helped my love Jesus's character more and understand how the Incarnation was a gift of God's grace revealing Truth to us.
Reeves, M. (2012). Delighting in the Trinity: An Introduction to the Christian Faith. Ivp Academic.
- The book by Reeves is a research and explanation of God's character as the Triune God. This book I did not use directly for my Worship Arts class but the truths in this book carry over. It has helped me deepen and broaden my idea of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and how worship is applied to a God who is one but has three persons. This book has also helped me grasp how God's love is accomplished and carried out in and through the Trinity.
Riddle, Jeremy. The Reset: Returning to the Heart of Worship and a Life of Undivided Devotion. Wholehearted Publishing, 2020.
- While I have not finished the book yet, this is a book that has been recommended to me by several of the worship leaders at the church I've been attending lately. So far, I've learned about how worship lately has been commercialized and been shallow, but there needs to be a reset. A reset in our hearts towards old ways of worship as well as the new. I am looking forward to finishing this book soon!
Ryden, E. E. (1959). The Story of Christian Hymnody. Rock Island, IL: Augustana Press.
- These readings I have done from this book are simply history and autobiographies of hymn writers. The people I read about from this book were Isaac Watts and John Wesley. He described the importance of their influence in the hymns we know and still sing today. Not knowing much about hymns, this resource is a great way to gain a deeper appreciation for hymns and hymnwriters.
Smith, J. K. (2016). You Are What You Love: The spiritual power of habit. Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, a division of Baker Publishing Group.
- Smith uses this book to directly call us out on what our hearts are truly worshipping. Training to be a worship leader, this book really challenged me to think about the true intentions of my heart and what I really am worshipping. It's got me to look intentionally at my life and how I go about my life.
Smith, J. K. (2011). Desiring the kingdom: Worship, worldview, and cultural formation. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.
- A lot like Smith's other writing, You Are What You Love, this book talks about how worship affects every aspect of our lives. How worship is a part of our living, working, and praise. It is a good resource to use in being intentional about worship outside of a Sunday morning church service.
Webber, R. E. (2004). Ancient-future time: Forming spirituality through the Christian year. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.
- This book has a lot within it. The main points of this book is to explain this history and biblical explanations for why we worship the way we do. This is a great resource to fall back to when I have any possible question about the reason for worship. It generally covers its importance and impact in the Church really well.
Webber, R. E. (1994). Twenty centuries of Christian worship. Nashville, TN: Star Song Pub. Group.
- Webber's title for this book accurately describe it's content. He explains the different forms of worship there have been in the Church throughout the years. Whether that is in the early church, the Catholic Church, reformed Church, or even the modern Church. He explains the good of the worship but also its potential short-comings. There is a lot of clear truth and advice in this book, a great resource!
Westermeyer, P. (1998). Te Deum: the church and music: a textbook, a reference, a history, an essay. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.
- From what I read, this book very much felt like a history book. Talking about the history of worship throughout the centuries. Not simply just explaining what happened throughout Church history but why worship was done in certain ways. Why there was chanting, why there were hymns, why there were instruments, and so on.
Witvliet, J. D. (2007). The Biblical Psalms in Christian Worship: A Brief Introduction and Guide to Resources. Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans.
- While I only read part one of this book, I found it really eye-opening. It is all about how Psalms were sung in Church and all of the benefits of doing so. Witvliet also stressed the importance of Pslams in worship and how they can be used more frequently in the Church today. I found this reading inspiring and it encouraged me to go further into a study of the Psalms.
Dyrness, William A. (2009). A Primer on Christian Worship: Where We’ve Been, Where We Are, Where We Can Go. Grand Rapids, Mich: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co.
- In his book, Dyrness addresses not only the history of church worship and theology, but also how that affects our present. He gives insight on why certain practices and sacraments are rich in theology and form what we believe. This is a good book for worship leaders and head pastors to read about the importance of worship in our theology.
Taylor, W. David O. (2023). A Body of Praise: Understanding the Role of Our Physical Bodies in Worship. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, a division of Baker Publishing Group.
- This book felt uniquely profound to me. It offered perspective and content that is not often considered or explained. He offers a holistic perspective on worship and how our bodies are a really important aspect of worship. Our theology of worship is formed in more than just our minds or hearts but also in our bodies. I would highly recommend this book to any church leader to expand our perspectives of worship and theology practices.
Taylor, W. David O. (2019). Glimpses of the New Creation: Worship and the Formative Power of the Arts. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
- This a book that does a great job of touching all the main things we discussed in our Theology of Worship class. I would say that, out of the other books we read this semester, this one overlaps the most and the other books are richer in content. But, if you want an overview look and one that presents thoughts about formational worship theology, then I would recommend this book.
Van Dyk, Leanne. (2011). A More Profound Alleluia: Theology and Worship in Harmony. Grand Rapids, Mich: W.B. Eerdmans.
- I think the most valuable aspect of this book is that it is a collection of articles or chapters from other authors and scholars. Hearing many voices talk about the same things, agreeing with what worship is, is a refreshing experience. You hear their perspectives of different aspects of worship theology and why they have dedicated their lives to studying those things.
Comer, John Mark. (2024). Practicing the Way: Be with Jesus, Become like him, Do as he did. Colorado Springs, CO: WaterBrook.
- This book is a classic John Mark Comer read. In this book, he focuses on what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. What it means to follow in his ways and live to be like Christ. I think this is a valuable book for church leaders to read because it refreshes our souls to remember that we are disciples too, under the easy and light yoke of Christ.
Comer, John Mark. (2019). Ruthless Elimination of Hurry. Colorado Springs, CO: WaterBrook.
- It feels dramatic to say that this book changed my life, but it at least changed how I think throughout my day. I didn't know how much this book would hit home and offer a renewal of my mind and soul. I think this book is great for any follower of Christ to read, but especially those who are church leaders. Something to read for your own personal development that will overflow into your ministry.