Christ-Centered Worship: Letting the Gospel Shape Our Practice

“So many books about worship unfortunately assume that the structure or pattern of worship is not important, failing to realize that some pattern is inevitable and that no pattern is neutral. This book is a wonderful exception. It radiates with gratitude for the gospel of Jesus. It promotes both confessional orthodoxy and vital piety. But it also probes how well-grounded patterns and structures can become wellsprings for faithful, sustainable, and vibrant worship renewal.”

“Christ-Centered Worship is a biblically informed, historically rooted, practical guide to the public worship of God. Bryan Chapell first builds an architecture for worship that is structured by the story of the gospel. He then provides a treasury of resources that can refresh the worship of any congregation and encourage greater unity across the evangelical church. The result is a book that seems destined to become one of the best resources available for improving the practice of Christian worship.”

“Here we have a solid, comprehensive, well-focused resource for the doxological and devotional shaping of Reformed church worship in today's North America. Thank you, Dr. Chapell.”

“However tempted I am to indulge in a few critical reflections, in this case it is far more important that I tell you that this is an astonishingly helpful and useful book. It is theologically rich, especially when it comes to showing, in detail, how the nature of the gospel ought to shape our public services. Yet this is far more than an essay arguing for a theological corrective. It includes many historical summaries, many lists in the needed categories (call to worship examples, responsive or antiphonal calls, musical examples, and so forth). Toward the end Chapell includes examples of entire corporate worship services. No one will agree with everything he has written here, but only the most ignorant could not profit enormously from this thoughtful and stimulating book.”

“Christ-Centered Worship calls people to go beyond 'contemporary worship' without being polemical in spirit. It takes historic worship traditions very seriously but uses the gospel itself as the way to critique and design orders of worship. It is full, balanced, and extremely practical. This will now be the first book I give people—or turn to myself—on the practice of understanding, planning, and leading in corporate worship.”