Jones, Cheslyn; Wainwright, Geoffrey; Yarnold, Edward, S.J. and Bradshaw, Paul, eds. The Study of Liturgy (rev. ed.) (Oxford University Press, 1992).

This is a revised and updated version of The Study of Liturgy. The bibliographies have been updated, new chapters added, others completely re-written. The book has maintained its ecumenical character among the authors, who include fifteen Anglicans, six Roman Catholics, three Methodists and one Orthodox.

Bradshaw, Paul, ed. The New Westminster Dictionary of Liturgy and Worship (SCM Press, 2002).

This is a valuable reference guide which can be used as a tool for research, as a resource for worship and teaching, or simply for one's own interest. This is a collection of wisdom and expertise from today's foremost liturgists and scholars. Easy to use, it also contains an up-to-date bibliography for further reading and research.

Jensen, Robin M. The Substance of Things Seen: Art, Faith, and the Christian Community (Eerdmans, 2004).

In a pragmatic way Jensen looks at "the arts as a way of expressing, exploring, forming, and challenging faith" [author's preface]. Six essays "open the conversation" on art and spiritual formation, visual exegesis, idol or icon, moving beyond decorative and didactic, distinction of place and space, and a conversation on taste and religious value.

Other publications include: Understanding Early Christian Art (Routledge, 2000); Face to Face: Portraits of the Divine in Early Christianity (Fortress Press, 2004)

Parry, Robin. Worshipping Trinity: Coming Back to the Heart of Worship (Paternoster Press, 2005).

If worship is God-centered and God is the Trinity then worship should be Trinity -centered. This book explores the meaning and implications of that simple claim. This is a valuable resource for church leaders, worship leaders and songwriters as well as those who are interested in theology. Robin Parry takes a look at why the Trinity matters and addresses questions such as: How should we worship the Father, Son and Holy Spirit? How can we write and select songs that foster and awareness of the Trinity? What is the relationship between theology and worship?

Plantinga, Cornelius Jr. and Rozeboom, Sue A. Discerning the Spirits: A Guide to Thinking About Christian Worship (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2003).

"Present day worship practices have stimulated a good deal of argument among Christians, and rightly so. On the whole, worship deserves a good argument, since worship stands right at the intersection of the church and the world, or of 'Christ and culture'. In worship, as in all else, Christians want to know how to celebrate the gospel in such a way as to show its attraction, but also in a way that it's still the gospel that gets celebrated, and not some cheaper grace of our own."       p. 4

Senn, Frank C. New Creation: A Liturgical Worldview (Augsburg Fortress, 2000).

"As a ritual system, liturgy expresses nothing less than a worldview. A worldview is a complex system of interpretations of experiences and orderings of relationships that provides a cohesive way of understanding reality and operates within particular cultural boundaries. The Christian gospel of death and resurrection of Christ engenders a way of viewing reality; therefore, only the image of a 'new creation' is adequate to express the Christian worldview."       p. xi-xii   

An erudite and earnest work which addresses practical issues of worship in a largely secular world.

Van Dyk, Leanne, ed. A More Profound Alleluia: Theology and Worship in Harmony (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2005).

Each chapter in this book pairs an element of the worship service with related Christian teachings, demonstrating how the great doctrines of the faith find their natural expression in the drama of worship and how the liturgy in turns finds its corollary in doctrine. The interrelation of theology and worship is illustrated with anecdotes from congregational life, resources drawn from church history, and themes from novels and films. Each chapter also includes two hymn texts that exemplify doctrine communicated through song.

Adams, William Seth. Shaped by Images (Church Hymnal Corporation, 1995).

"Adams reflects about the role of the presider as one who presides, keeps rituals, handles and embodies symbols, hosts, remembers, offers, speaks, and celebrates. Each reflection is set in the context of the primacy of the baptized life of the Christian community."       The Rev. Clayton L. Morris, Ph.D., back sleeve of book

Best, Harold M. Unceasing Worship: Biblical Perspectives on Worship and the Arts (InterVarsity Press, 2003).

"The burden of this book develops the concept of continuous outpouring as the rubric for our worship. As God continually outpours within his triune self, and as we are created in his image, it follows that we too are continuous outpourers, incurably so. The trouble with our outpouring is that it is fallen. It needs redeeming, else we spend our outpouring on false gods appearing to us in any numbers of guises. Salvation is the only way our continuous outpouring - our continuous worship - is set right and urged into the fullness of Christ"       p. 10

Best addresses popular misunderstandings about the use of music and offers correctives toward a more biblically consistent practice of artistic action in worship.

Brueggemann, Walter. Inscribing the Text (Augsburg Fortress, 2003).

"This volume contains the most recent collection of Walter Brueggemann's sermons and prayer. That would be notable in itself: another dazzling set of words from a man whose sheer energy and creativity make us wonder f he is climbing Sinai every morning, for dictation."       From the foreword, by Anna Carter Florence

Caemmerer, Jr., Richard R. Visual Art in the Life of the Church: Encouraging Creative Worship and Witness in the Congregation (Augsburg Press, 1983).

Out of print but worth searching for. Black and white drawings illustrate content that is practical and theologically significant. Caemmerer looks at church history, church liturgy, and the church mission to encourage congregational participation in worship through the use of the arts.

Childers, Jana. Performing the Word, Preaching as Theatre (Abingdon Press, 1998).

"The poet-theologian Amos Wilder says that going to church should be like 'approaching an open volcano where the world is molten and hearts are stiffened. The altar is like a third rail that spatters sparks; the sanctuary is like the chamber next to an atomic oven, there are invisible rays and you leave your watch outside.' Presumable, preaching should be something like this too - or at least should participate in the process."

This book de-stigmatizes the performance-based approach to preaching and shows how the experience, skills and modi operandi of actors and their performance arts may be applied to preaching

Chinn, Nancy. Spaces for Spirit: Adorning the Church (Liturgical Training Publications, 1989).

"As metaphor, art in the place of worship, at the service of the community, can be used to evoke, to help the soul dance between mood and idea, between experience and prayerful reflection on that experience. Here art can work like stage design, like a ritual mask worn by the architecture. Its meaning lies somewhere between its coded information (the idea behind the thing) and its use in the liturgy (how it is experienced)."       p. 5

Gagne, Ronald; Kane, Thomas and VerEcke, Robert. Introducing Dance in Christian Worship (The Pastoral Press, 1984).

"This book fills a long felt gap in development of understanding between church people, liturgists and artists regarding the place of dance in worship. The authors delineate dance as a feature of religious life from the earliest origins in Judaism through subsequent centuries to the present. From deep personal experience, they discuss what dance has meant to their unique ministries, opening new dimensions of dialogue between liturgical dancers and those concerned with maintaining traditions of the church and its liturgical ritual"       p. 11

Green, Joel B. and Pasquarello, Michael III, eds. Narrative Reading, Narrative Preaching (Baker Academic, 2003).

"This book offers no apologetic for narrative reading and preaching of the New Testament. Rather, given the widespread and diverse deployments of this term during the past several decades, we hope this volume will extend the conversation by offering examples of narrative performance in biblical interpretation and proclamation. our purpose, then, is to provide examples of reading and preaching that will contribute to the overcoming of such established divisions as theory and practice, text and sermon, academy and church, past and present."       p. 9

Irvine, Christopher and Dawtry, Anne. Art and Worship (Liturgical Press, 2002).

".while theology clearly does influence art .one must also ask the question as to whether art, as Hans Urs von Balthasar argues, can also influence theology.

It is [this] interdisciplinary approach which perhaps above all gives hope that the dialogue between artists and the Church has once more arisen like a phoenix from the ashes as a new dialogical community, a reflection of our life in Trinity, in which conversation, undistorted communication, and communal judgment can both inform and transform our lives in the world."       p. 1, 15

Kieckhefer, Richard. Theology in Stone: Church Architecture from Byzantium to Berkeley (Oxford University Press, 2004).

"For individuals and for communities, liturgy is a means of integration. Liturgical formulas and the environments provided for them can seem to present a jumble of unrelated images and notions. .Liturgy and liturgical space are effective to the extent that they give scope for experiencing and expressing the connections."       p. 137-138

Long, Thomas G. Preaching and the Literary Forms of the Bible (Fortress Press, 1989)

In this book, Long argues that the literary form and dynamics of biblical texts can and should make a difference in the kinds of sermons created from these texts, not only because of what the texts say but because of how they say it. He presents a methodology for taking the literary characteristics of biblical texts into account in the text-to-sermon process and then applies that methodology in separate chapters on preaching on psalms, proverbs, narratives, parables, and epistles.

Lowry, Eugene L. The Homiletical Plot: The Sermon as Narrative Art Form (expanded ed.) (Westminster John Knox Press, 2001).

Lowry suggests that the sermon follow a narrative form that moves from beginning to end, as in the plot of a story. This book is an excellent teaching resource and learning tool for all preachers from introductory students to seasoned clergy.

Schmidt, Clayton J. Too Deep for Words: A Theology of Liturgical Expression (Westminster John Knox Press, 2002).

"How can preachers craft their language in such a way as to give authentic and meaningful expression to the Word of God in the context of the congregation? How can the words of worship leaders draw people into the activity of worshipping together and make the presence of Christ known to them? How can the words of public prayer be crafted in such a way as to unite the assembly's hearts, draw worshipers into conversation with their Creator, and express the deeply felt needs, wants and praises of the people? How to do these things well is the topic of this book."       Introduction, p. xi

A theological and practical look at how to integrate the arts into worship.

Schwarz, Rudolf (translated by Cynthia Harris). The Church Incarnate: The Sacred Function of Christian Architecture (Henry Regnery Company, 1958).

"We cannot continue on from where the last cathedrals left off. Instead we must enter into the simple things at the source of the Christian life. We must begin anew and our new beginning must be genuine. The small congregation is given us today, the 'coming together of two or three,' the communion of the table, and certainly for us the Lord is in the midst of [them].

Even when a new church is to be built, the simple ordering which we have just described remains. To us this is the great, simple, elemental form."       p. 35-36

Sovik, E.A. Architecture for Worship (Augsburg, 1973).

With the eye to the practical, the economical, and the functional in design, Sovik outlines the purposes for church buildings today and sets down guidelines which define a good environment for worship.

Walton, Janet R. Art and Worship: A Vital Connection (Liturgical Press, 1991).

"The liturgy is not an isolated event which can be separated from [such] concerns. Its celebration must connect with all the areas that related to human reality. Ways in which to express these concerns require courage, honesty, sensitivity and imagination. The arts are a resource for this task."       p. 46

Witvliet, John D. "Toward a Liturgical Aesthetic: An Interdisciplinary Review of Aesthetic Theory" (Liturgy Digest, November, 1995).

"Liturgical arts include every artistic media and genre that are employed in the celebration of Christian worship. Liturgical art is a category that is related to, but certainly is not identical to "sacred art" or "religious art." .Liturgical art, thus, is properly all of the arts used in liturgy as they are employed in liturgy.

. liturgical art at its best embodies the purposes of liturgy itself, and is meant to carry out, to perform, to enact, to make real the shared actions of the gathered ecclesial community. Good liturgical art, in brief, excels in the criteria of its own genre and is fitting to the actions of the liturgy.

.Liturgical art proclaims God's word, and envisions God's kingdom. Liturgical art is prophetic. . Liturgical art is an offering to God. It is prayer to God. It offers prayer itself and invites others to join in that offering. Liturgical art is priestly. . Liturgical art remembers and narrates the story of God's actions with humanity. Liturgical art is anamnetic . . Liturgical art evokes eschatological hope. . Liturgical art projects a world; it fashions a world-view. . Liturgical art is communal."       p. 78-83

White, James F. and White, Susan J. Church Architecture: Building and Renovating for Christian Worship (OSL Publications, 1998).

"Architecture is the organization of space, and church architecture is the organization of space for worship. Thus we always begin a discussion of church architecture with questions about the intended function of this space: What do we do here?  

The relation of architecture to worship is a complex one. Church architecture reflects both the way Christians worship and the way the building shapes worship - or, not uncommonly, misshapes it."       p. 1

In its second printing, this book has been a standard work in the area of church architecture. The authors discuss six distinct spaces: gathering space, movement space, congregational space, choir space, altar-table space, baptismal font and pulpit space, to look at how space functions as an essential agent in forming the worship life of the congregation.
 

Begbie, Jeremy, ed. Beholding the Glory: Incarnation Through the Arts (Baker Academic, 2001).

Beholding the Glory is an anthology of eight essays on the engagement between theology, different art forms, and the significance of the incarnation. Contributors include: Trevor Hart (arts), Malcolm Guite (literature), Andrew Rumsey (poetry), Sara B. Savage (dance), Jim Forest (icons), Lynn Aldrich (sculpture), Graham Cray (popular music), and Jeremy Begbie (music). Each essay has an introductory paragraph by Jeremy Begbie, notes, and a bibliography for further reading.  Other publications include: Voicing Creation's Praise: Toward a Theology of the Arts (2003, a look at Paul Tillich, the Neo-Calvinist tradition, and a new way forward for a Christian perspective on the arts).

Brown, Frank Burch. Good Taste, Bad Taste, and Christian Taste: Aesthetics in Religious Life (Oxford, 2000).

Brown brings together history, theology and philosophy to address the question (and disputes) over taste and judgment of quality, which have long been a part of the relationship between the arts and religion. His analysis draws particular attention to developing a discriminating theological aesthetic. Other publications include: Religious Aesthetics: A Theological Study of Making and Meaning (Princeton, 1989)

Brand, Hilary and Chaplin, Adrienne. Art & Soul: Signposts for Christians in the Arts (Piquant, 2001).

"What the Scriptures give us is not a theology of the arts, but a biblical framework within which the arts, like all other human activity, can be evaluated and understood."       p. 39

This is an excellent resource for artists attempting to integrate their faith and their art. Art and Soul takes an honest look at the struggles artists encounter inside and outside of the church community. It deals with the complex issues involved, recognizing that many cope by compartmentalizing these areas of their life or abandoning one altogether.

De Gruchy, John W. Christianity, Art and Transformation: Theological Aesthetics in the Struggle for Justice (Cambridge University Press, 2001).

Christianity, Art and Transformation explores the historical and contemporary relationship between the arts and Christianity with reference to the transformation of society. Several major themes are discussed, among them the power of images, the relationship between aesthetics and ethics, the nature of beauty and its redemptive capacity, aesthetic existence and Christian discipleship, and the role of art in the public square and in the life of the church. The book is a contribution to the study of theological aesthetics today from both an ecumenical and Reformed perspective, global in its scope yet rooted in the author's South African context.       From the back cover

Dyrness, William, A. Visual Faith: Art, Theology and Worship in Dialogue (Baker, 2001).

"It is remarkable that the church and the experience of beauty and loveliness appear to be estranged and that the role of the church has been supplanted by art galleries (or theaters). The experience of worship - prayer, praise, and participation in the sacraments - provides for believers the opportunity of responding to the gracious presence of God with the whole of their beings. It is an embodied experience.."       p. 13-16

Other publications include: Reformed Theology and Visual Culture: The Protestant Imagination from Calvin to Edwards (University of Cambridge, 2004)

Dupre, Judith. Churches (Harper Collins, 2001).

An introductory interview with architect Mario Botto opens Churches. Structures from The Patheon in Italy, Beta Ghiorghis in Ethiopia, St. Basil's Cathedral in Russia, Thorncrown Chapel in the U.S., to Santa Maria in Portugal, and many places in between, are presented to the reader. Included on each are photos, architectural drawings, quotes by viewers or artisans, and informative descriptions. A prayer bar with scripture texts runs across the top of each page. 

McEntyre, Marilyn. Drawn to the Light (Eerdmans, 2003).

"The world of these [Rembrandt] paintings is as paradoxical as the mysterious assurance "the kingdom of God is among you" - or as the "already but not yet" language with which theologians teach us to think about our living in this "time between the times," citizens both of this world and of the kingdom. The light that shines in Rembrandt's dark world is a hint and a promise of something heavenly that is already actual here in the midst of murky and inglorious surroundings."       p. 10-11

Milbank, John; Ward, Graham and Wyschogrod, Edith. Theological Perspectives of God and Beauty (Trinity Press International, 2003).

In this volume, three of today's leading theologians debate the place of art in theology and the role of theology in aesthetics.

Rookmaaker, Hans. Modern Art and the Death of a Culture (Crossway Books, 1994).

"We cannot make art apart from the time in which we live. We must know what is going on, and understand our environment if we want to understand anything of relevance to our times. We must also know the spirit of the times in order to know where it is wrong and should be challenged and fought. We can never just follow the past: the battle and means of creativity were theirs, for their own situation. And God, in placing us in another period, has given us our own calling: to be 'salting salt' today, to hunger and thirst for righteousness in the here and now."       p. 245

Ryken, Leland, ed. Dictionary of Biblical Imagery: An encyclopedic exploration of the images, symbols, motifs, metaphors, figures of speech and literary patterns of the Bible (IVP, 1998).

This reference book is essential for the shelves of every pastor, artist, worship committee member. It is packed with information and scriptural references to give you a broader, more vivid picture, and a deeper understanding of the imagery of the Bible. 

Sayers, Dorothy L. "Towards a Christian Aesthetic," Christian Letters to a Post-Christian World, ed. Roderick Jellema (Eerdmans, 1969).

"When we read the poem, or see the play or picture or hear the music, it is as though a light were turned on inside us. We say: 'Ah! I recognize that! That is something which I obscurely felt to be going on in and about me, but I didn't know what it was and couldn't express it. But now that the artist has made its image - imaged it forth - for me, I can possess and take hold of it and make it my own, and turn it into a source of knowledge and strength.' This is the communication of the image in power ..

But, frankly, is that the sort of thing the average citizen gets, or expects to get, when he goes to the theatre or reads a book? No, it is not. . What he looks for is not this creative and Christian kind of art at all. He does not expect or desire to be upset by sudden revelations about himself and the universe."       p. 81-82

Seerveld, Calvin. Bearing Fresh Olive Leaves: Alternative Steps in Understanding Art (Piquant, 2000).

"Redemptive art is a modest, fragile, but vital, ongoing historical service which Christ's body is called upon to give away in society. By 'redemptive art' I do not mean capital- A 'Art that will save you,' or 'Art that will lift you up for the grand mountain-top experiences of faith.' By 'redemptive artistry' I mean something much closer to what the dove did for Noah in the ark. . a token . Maybe we could consider artistry by the redeemed for their neighbor as simply giving a metaphoric promise of life and hope. firmly aware of the brokenness within which we live.

To offer redemptive, artistic, nuanced insight is one of the most joyful callings an adopted child of God in Jesus Christ can assume in the modern world: bearing fresh olive leaves."       p. 112, 115

Seerveld, Calvin. Rainbows for the Fallen World (Tuppence Press, 1980).

"God did not have to make rainbows. God could have said it black on white, 'I will keep covenant with the earth,' just as God wrote in stone the Ten Words. And why, do you think, did Christ teach men and women in parables? Couldn't he have been more straightforward, so there wouldn't be any misunderstandings? But it pleased God to tell the story of the Good Samaritan and it pleased God to make rainbows in the sky."       p. 8

Wagner, Ann. Adversaries of Dance: From the Puritans to the Present (University of Illinois Press, 1997).

  ". most Americans have practically no objective knowledge about the history and status of dance in our culture. Compared with the study of music, for example, dance has been little researched and studied. Many people have inherited biases against dancing. Uninformed and unexamined attitudes can evoke strong behaviors that serve to perpetuate ancient antagonisms. It is my hope that this book will help to dispel some of the myth and untruth surrounding the valuing of dance by providing new insights and information and by stimulating further research."       Introduction, p. xiii      

Wolfe, Gregory. Sacred Passion: The Art of William Schickel (University of Notre Dame Press, 1998).

This is an excellent, wonderfully inspiring example of a contemporary artist working in the Midwest who has mastered the weaving together of all elements of the worship environment into an integrated whole.

Wolterstorff, Nicholas. Art in Action: Toward a Christian Aesthetic (Eerdmans, 1980).

"Art plays and is meant to play an enormous diversity of roles in human life. Works of art are instruments by which we perform such diverse actions as praising our great men and expressing our grief, evoking emotion and communicating knowledge. Works of art are objects of such actions as contemplation for the sake of delight. .Works of art cannot be understood without understanding their role in action, and, more specifically, their role in a wide diversity of actions."       p. 4-5