Response to The Art of Curating Worship

I just recently finished reading The Art of Curating Worship by Mark Pierson for a class. In his book, Pierson gives his advice, beliefs, and explanations for how worship is put together in a church setting. He emphasizes the beauty and importance of different forms of worship like visual art, silence, varying music, videos. Pierson also addresses different contexts of worship. Worship that is alternative, contemporary, slow, or open-ended. However, his main point about curating worship is making sure you make a space of worship that is participatory in the congregation.

I found that Pierson had a lot to say in this fairly short book. Lots about fundamental beliefs about worship, but also practical applications about worship on a Sunday morning. I think one of the things I found interesting about Pierson's writing was how he talked about seemily simply, or even unrelated, parts of the service. From discussing stations in worship (finding ways to make worship more imersive), to even the importance of announcements in church and the kind of emphasis that should have, he found it all important enough to write about. I never considered how much thought does and should go into every aspect of worship.

Honestly, I think what I will take away the most from this book and the conversations around it from class is that there are differences in beliefs about worship, and there are good and bad ways to communicate them. While I found a lot of value in much of what Pierson had to say, I also did not completely agree with all of his ideas simply because of how he communicated them. As worship leaders and as ministry workers we have to learn how to communicate Truth with love, grace, and kindness. There are times of reproof and correcting, but all should be done in love. I am not saying that Pierson never wrote with love and care for his reader, but he would, at times, write with a judgmental or blunt tone. I want to be able to share beliefs and experiences about worship with love always. So while my primary takeaway from this book may not be the content, but more the delivery. All that to say, I would recommend this book to aspiring worship leaders because of the content, but especially because of the emphasis on delivery of worship concepts.