WHOLE LIFE WORSHIP:
Empowering disciples for the frontline
By Sam and Sara Hargreaves
IVP. 191 pages. £9.99
ISBN 978 1 783 595 112
Whole Life Worship comes from the stable of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity, where Sam Hargreaves teaches. He, and his wife Sara, have years of experience helping local churches in the whole area of worship.
The book is easy to read, full of personal testimonies and real-life church example. It is full of enthusiasm and energy. It is clear that the Hargreaves have a real passion for Christians to engage with God!
The early chapters encourage us to have a ‘balanced’ view of worship. It is what we do with our whole lives and is what we do when we gather. Worship is to be three dimensional; upwardly we worship God together, inwardly the church is community, and outwardly we have a mission to the world. The rest of the first part of the book is given to what we do when we gather, with helpful chapters on what we sing together.
What we do together
The second half of the book is packed with ideas and illustrations of how a local church can better think about the various aspects of what we do when we gather together. There are good chapters on praise, Bible reading, corporate prayer, confession of sin, giving testimony, the offering, the Lord’s supper, response and sending people out. I have some quibbles about the rigour of Bible handling in these chapters, but overall found them stimulating.
My biggest quibble, however, was whether the undergirding biblical theology was strong enough. I would have liked to explore what the Bible as a whole says about worship, rather than picking out some topics within it. For example, I thought the book was weak in thinking about church being a gathering around the Lord to hear his Word. I was struck how little started with the exposition of the Word and the things that flow from that. But worth reading, especially by those who plan Sunday gatherings.
