Customer Reviews

Emerging Worship: Creating Worship Gatherings for New Generations

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book helps us understand why emerging generations are disappearing and disconnecting from our churches and some practical ideas of what to do about it. It gives very practical and detailed examples of worship services from different churches around the country, so it isn't just one model or one specific approach.

However, this book also totally challenges us to rethink what we even are supposed to do when we gather together as a church. It asks the questions about why do we preach the way we preach? Why do we use so much music lately and feel like a rock concert? Why do our church buildings feel like theaters instead of sacred spaces? The refreshing thing about this book is that it challenges us NOT to go more shallow or become seeker-sensitive to engage the hearts of emerging generations in their expressions of worship. But instead, says we should go all the more deeper in our teaching, use more Scripture, and be more unapologetically intense about our worship. It shares how to move beyond just preaching and singing to also be making our worship gatherings more interactive and participatory through ancient practices, painting art based on Scripture, creating prayer stations etc. So, if you are looking for a book about worship that is a lot different than any other book I have read about worship - and have your mind tweaked to rethink things about the church, then this is a book you will want to read.

Many people are praising this book for its challenging message. I don't disagree with the message.

I was disappointed in this book because it the poor quality of writing inhibits clarity and good argument. Also, because the author believes every gathering must fit its unique context (I agree!), he tries to avoid making specific recommendations. The result is just jumbled ideas and vague quasi-suggestions. If you are looking for a book that will teach you how to start an emerging worship gathering, this is not going to be very helpful.

The best part of the book is where Kimball profiles several different emerging worship gatherings (at the back), and it would have been a better book to start with these, then draw observations about things they have in common. (And it would have been better if such observations were written by a better writer.)

More specifically about the writing, Kimball's problems start with a poor vocabulary. A good vocabulary results in an economy of words and a precision in meaning; a poor one yields vague, shallow wordiness.

For example, he writes on page 172: "Historically, church ministry functions in a certain way and there was a specific approach to looking at the church leadership structure. But Graceland [an alternative/emerging worship gathering] started going against the norms of consistency and church uniformity!" Lots of words, little clarity: it's clumsy and vague.

I found Kimball's avoidance of specific suggestions or guidance for creating emerging worship gatherings annoying. Either he is unable to find common threads in emerging worship gatherings, or he is deliberately obfuscating. I wish he would show a little more faith in his readers, and tell us how each gathering he profiles was envisioned and created. Most of us are bright enough to realize that our situation is unique, and we must be careful in applying the lessons from other gatherings. But more specifics would have made this a much more helpful resource.

I read a lot of books on the emerging church and postmodernism and all the Sweet,McLaren things which are great - but i think this is a rare type of book which actually walks through some ideas of what to do about it in my church. There is a lot of talking and guessing about culture today, but if you want to actually learn some ideas of what to do in your church to engage emerging generations, than this is a wonderful book to do so.

We have tried a lot of things, but i wish i had this book before we began trying them. I also love that it gives examples from all around the country, so we can see what is happening in a variety of churches and not just in an isolated church or one person's experience.

The detailed chapters of how to get started are exactly what we need, so i highly highly recommend this for anyone thinking of starting something new or changing what you are doing. If you are actually in ministry and serious about doing something and not just talking about it, then this book is great for you.

Probably most people are buying this book because they are recognizing that emerging generations are disappearing from our churches and not connecting with most of our worship gatherings.

But, you better be warned... it it doesn't just tell us to play hip pop worship songs as the answer, but forces us to rethink what we are doing in worship gatherings entirely. Maybe the problem and reason we are losing so many younger people from our churches, isn't just about music style - but it is about reapproaching worship gatherings and questioning all we have done and why we do it. It is a book that doesn't just give theory either, and like "The Emerging Church" book also did, gives very practical and different examples of what worship gatherings are like that are attracting emerging generations. Not a model, but a bunch of different ways churches are doing things.

Another warning --- some senior pastors may feel uncomfortable reading this book! It challenges some of our thinking of what leadership in worship gatherings is like and also challenges the concept of video churches too for emerging generations.

I provide guitar music for a small Emergent Worship gathering (i.e. startup church). I am relatively new to the Emergent Church movement so I wanted something to help me understand its nature, especially as it relates to worship planning and music making. My pastor, who was also reading this book at the time, recommended it to me. I am glad he did.

Kimball helped me understand that Emerging Worship is about a lifestyle of seeking to honor God. While it is not hostile towards the traditional church model, it does seek to differentiate itself. The differentiation is not just a marketing ploy as some might initially suspect. Rather, Kimball explains the consistency of Emerging Worship as God centered, Christ honoring and biblically based. My initial concerns about theological compromise have been put to rest. I am now persuaded that a proper Emergent church is actually more concerned about majoring on the majors of biblical living than most churches.

Practices and music handed down through centuries of church tradition are not casually discarded, but are prayerfully reviewed for relevance in today's culture. Music can be rearranged without losing its initial meaning. The order of a meeting can be adjusted, perhaps radically. We don't need to have a superstar entertain us like clockwork each week to worship God. New songs can be written, it's okay; this is all biblical as long as it worships Him in Spirit and in Truth. Most of our long held modernistic traditions are not as sacred as we think. Many do not appear in the Bible in any form. The world is leaving modernism behind; so must we.

Our generation is called to be missionaries to postmodern people. Much like missionaries in foreign lands, we too must have some understanding of the philosophies and passions of those around us, especially post baby-boomers who think significantly different than previous generations. Understanding what's important to them is not an endorsement of all of it nor is it any compromise of the Gospel. Just as with church traditions, every element of post-modernity should be subjected to the light of God's Word and discernment from His Spirit so we can be salt and light for all people.

What all this means in practice is that Emerging Worship meetings may take various forms and include non-traditional elements such as improvised art, individual prayer and meditation stations, and especially moving the focus away from specific individuals (i.e. the church as a performance mindset). The church is not a drive-through meant to serve the customers who come by on Sunday. The church is the people comprising the servant body of Christ and the worship gathering is however they corporately meet to express their love toward God. Innovative ideas are encouraged as long as they do not violate any precept of Scripture. In fact, this approach is more in keeping with ancient church practices than most church services today. Read all of Acts 15, how does verse 28 apply today?

The book is structured so the first half explains the need for Emerging Worship in lay terms while still doing a respectable job of handling some theological or at least ministerial questions. This first half is not just theoretical. I really like how Kimball's heart (humility and love) for others comes through again and again. In fact most of it deals with very practical questions like knowing how and what effect an Emerging Worship gathering might have in your community of believers (local church). Steps to start the gathering, the importance of prayer, and critical questions are explored.

The second half of the book is unique because it describes the structure of several thriving Emergent churches down to the order of a typical (and some not-so-typical) meeting for worship. The types of groups covered vary widely from house churches, to Emergent gatherings integrated into larger traditional churches and stand alone Emergent gatherings. This section is interesting to read for a while, but is probably better suited as a reference for an actual implementation. The first half of the book is really the meat I was looking for, though I found some good ideas in the second section (having musicians seated to the side or back of a room so they don't compete for the focus on Jesus, for example).

I like the book and recommend it if you have any interest (positive or negative) in the Emerging Church movement. Emerging Worship, as Kimball explains it, is Christ honoring and I am thrilled to be in an early stage of what will probably become the dominant church gathering model in the decades to come.

May God bless you in whatever form of worship you have to truly honor Him who is worthy of all praise.

I just finished reading both The Emerging Church and this book and this book really was as practical as the first one in this series. I loved that the whole first part of the book was building a theology of worship based from the Bible to lay a foundation for what we are even doing with worship services.

The second part of the book was examples from several different churches, not just one, who are focusing on emerging generations. This was helpful to see differences from various emerging churches and how they are designing worship services. I liked that this book is not just one examples but several.

There are layouts of what the various worship services look like in these different emerging churches which is also what makes this book so practical and helpful.

Something I also appreciated was the warning of not creating new consumers of worship, but to stress that worship is a lifestyle. Also that we need to be watching how much focus and money we spend on a worship service in balance with what else we do in our churches and spending money on the poor and needy. I don't think I have ever read a book on worship that challenges to do this.

The title of this book is about "worship", but it takes you way beyond just the normal worship type of things in most worship books. This book makes you think how the one and a half hour worship service fits within the life of the church which is what makes this book unique. But it also gives plenty of examples and advice, without stating a formula, for designing worship gatherings for emerging generations. Most churches are seeing emerging generations disappearing from their church, so this books gives hope and also is a great follow up to Kimball's first book, The Emerging Church.

If you are a church leader and want to reach the upcoming generation, please read this book. I was quite rigid in my seeker church mentality until I read what Dan Kimball had to say.

This book, as the title indicates, focuses on worship. If you want a broader look at how & why churches need to adapt, you might prefer to read Dan's other book: The Emerging Church.

Where are all the 18-to-35-year-olds? Thy're not in the mainline churches. They're also not in the conservative evangelical churches! Kimball himself comes from that "camp," and I have significant issues with Kimball's theology (particularly his understanding of salvation). However, Kimball points to a disturbing trend.

"I've had numerous conversations with younger people who told me they left their church to be a disciple of Jesus in a way that makes sense to them," he writes on page xii. "They aren't abandoning their faith. Many choose to form small faith communities and meet in homes among friends. They are waiting for the larger, more organized church to change. This is no cop-out, either. Virtually every young adult I have talked to sincerely tried to bring change to their church and brought suggestions to their church leadership before leaving their church. Most volunteered to start something new. But the suggestions fell on deaf ears with a predetermined view of what emerging generations should be like in relation to 'church.' The closed minds in their church leadership eventually made them choose to leave." I'm struck by those sentences because I myself know people who have done precisely what Kimball describes; I know young adults who have tried to change the institutional church, faced a wall virtually made of bricks, gotten discouraged, and left the institution to find a new (and to them, more authentic) way to be faithful to Jesus Christ.

Kimball offers several models for how to reach this generation. These models are based upon a basic assumption: we need to get away from the idea that the fundamental building block in the church is the weekend worship service, and we need to embrace the idea that the fundamental building block in the church is the church's mission of making disciples.

Wait -- what? You mean the Sunday morning worship service isn't the bedrock of the faith community? Yes, that's precisely what Kimball is saying. Chapter 3 -- "Why This Is a Dangerous Book to Read" -- is, for me, the highlight of the book. Kimball wisely points out that if you are not able to shake yourself loose of some basic assumptions about what it means to "be church," you may find this book deeply troubling. It's no small thing to encourage people to accept the idea that everything they've always thought about "church" might not quite be what Jesus had in mind!

i loved dan's other book, "the emerging church", but i was disappointed with this one. i think that it probably would have been more helpful before we began our emerging ministry at our church. it gives a lot of thought to why do it, and different models of what's being done. i would definately reccommend it if you thinking about beginning a new ministry or church, but if it's already going, stick with his first book