Recommended Reading [Part 6]

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

These are books that have challenged and encouraged me over the past year. I hope you’ll find some that can be useful to you as well:

Beholding - Strahan Coleman

We lead out of who we are. One of the things I appreciated about this book was how it encourages becoming - growing in our experience of God. We become what we behold.

The Secret Place of Thunder - John Starke

John is a great writer, and I have found his writing on prayer particularly helpful. But the tagline alone is worth the cost of the book: ‘Trading our need to be noticed for a hidden life with Christ.’ Whether we stand on large platforms in front of many people, or in the corner at the front of a small room - we are all easily tempted to trade hiddenness for being noticed.

Honest Worship - Manuel Luz

Manuel articulated some of the things I have wrestled with the past several years: How to have deep formation in our gatherings with creativity and musical excellence—the intersection of ancient practice with modern context. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed and appreciated this book.

A Church Called Tov - Scot McKnight, Laura Barringer

We are either working toward beauty, goodness, and truth, or we are drifting toward the opposite. Whether you are on staff at a church, serving as a volunteer, or attending as a member, each of us can - and should - work toward creating a culture of goodness within our churches. This book will likely become perennial reading for me.

Recommended Reading [Part Five]

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Reading does not just form our minds and grow our knowledge, but it has the ability to stir our affections, and fuel worship in our lives. These few books have done both of those things for me:

God On Mute - Pete Greig

Does anyone feel like they are hitting a home run in their prayer life? I have read several of Greig’s books over the past few years, and I love how deeply he understands and values prayer, and how accessible he makes the invitation to believers to engage with God. Side note, I use the Lectio365 prayer app daily! It has been so helpful in the way I speak, and shape times of corporate prayer.

Be Thou My Vision - Jonathan Gibson

This was the book I gifted my team for Christmas in 2022. Devotional rhythms that are tied not to devotional writing, but liturgical rhythms are a beautiful way of being able to shape the whole of lives around the story of God.

Engaging God - David G. Peterson

This is not light reading. But I think that this book will help you as you consider creating a philosophy of worship.

Living the Christian Year - Bobby Gross

I love the Church calendar. I have found it incredibly helpful, and moving in my own life, as well as my approach to leading and serving in my local church. I have observed that most people either have no familiarity with the church calendar, or grew up around the church calendar, but do not have a clear grasp on its beauty and intentionality. I appreciate the descriptions of the seasons and the readings that are included in this book.

Recommended Reading [Part 4]

Recommended Reading [Part 1] | Recommended Reading [Part 2] | Recommended Reading [Part 3]

Reading allows you to learn and grow from other people, in other contexts, while still being planted in your own. If you’re looking for some books to finish out your Summer reading schedule, take a look at these:

The Worship Pastor - Zac M Hicks

Many books focus on the musical aspect of leading - great! Many books focus on the theological aspect of leading - great! But this was the first book I had read that focused primarily on the pastoral and shepherding aspects of what it is to be a worship leader.

Ever Ancient, Ever New - Winfield Bevins

Reinventing a wheel week to week and generation to generation is exhausting. We have much to learn from the ancient and global Church. I am continually learning how to incorporate ancient practices and liturgical rhythms in a way that is meaningful and makes sense in a modern context. If this is something you’d like to explore, this is a great resource.

Delighting In The Trinity - Michael Reeves

This book is beautiful. More than building knowledge and skill in our craft, and understanding of leading worship, we must fuel our affections for Christ. This is a book I will return to again and again.

Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down - Marva J. Dawn

This book is well-highlighted and noted on my shelf. Dawn’s ability to accurately see and articulate the time, and learn how to engage, lead and serve is something that will serve to equip those at any time.

Recommended Reading [Part 3]

Reading has been a formative practice of my worship leading. I like writing these Recommended Reading posts for those who don’t love reading and may feel overwhelmed with the number of books available. You can take a look at my first Recommended Reading post here, and the second post here.

Transforming Worship - Rory Noland

For the last six years, I have been working to create connections between the ancient practices of the Church and our regular time of gathered worship as the local Church. I love that Rory gives a clear, and conscious history of the Ancient Church and its practices, and how bringing these practices into our modern context can be transformative for followers of Jesus.

Corporate Worship: How The Church Gathers As God’s People - Matt Merker

As worship leaders when we think about Corporate Worship, we often are immediately drawn toward the elements of song, and music it includes. What I appreciated about this book is how Matt painted a bigger picture of what is happening when we gather as the people of God, why it matters, and how we are invited to lead.

The Reset: Returning to the Heart of Worship and a Life of Undivided Devotion - Jeremy Riddle

I downloaded this book on Audible out of curiosity. I was moved by how deeply Jeremy implores worship leaders to treasure the Giver over the gift. As I listened to him read the words, he was often near tears as he walked us through Scripture, through the beauty and glory of God, and how commercial and marketable corporate sung worship has become in the last several decades.

Gentle and Lowly - Dane Ortlund

I hope you have seen lots of people posting about this book. Personally, I cried my way through it. To lead worship well, we do not just need practical resources and guides about the mechanics of our roles (although they are helpful), we need our hearts and affections stirred toward the heart of Christ. This book does this beautifully.

Recommended Reading [Part 2]

So many books, not enough time… at least it can seem that way to me. With innumerable resources when it comes to leading worship, it can be hard to know where to start. This is a continuation of some of my favorite resources.

Beyond Smells and Bells - Mark Galli

Rather than reinvent the wheel, I always want to learn from those who have gone before us - the Church global, and historic, and primarily, the Church biblically. What I appreciate about Mark’s book is that it helps frame our story within the larger story of the Church historically. How have these ancient practices formed who we are and why we are. One of my favorite quotes:

“For people who find themselves storyless, or with a story that has no larger meaning than the self, the liturgy is a salvation. It shows that we do not have to abandon hope; we don’t have to fabricate a new myth to force meaning onto the world. We can participate in the very story of God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—who has created and redeemed us, who has gathered us to himself already in a Great Feast, and who promises, in the last act, to gather all things on heaven and earth to himself, so that we may feast together for eternity.”  pg 18-19 

True Worshipers - Bob Kauflin

Bob is a consistent voice in the world of corporate sung worship. His book ‘Worship Matters’ is always one of the first books I recommend to people. This book ‘True Worshipers’ is less about the mechanics of leading sung worship, and more about worship in general. It is also incredibly accessible, for people brand new to thinking or participating in the world of sung corporate worship, and would be a great resource to read with an entire team - sound, tech, musicians, vocalists, etc. One of my favorite quotes:

‘Every church or individual Christian who claims to be Spirit-led must be Word-fed.  If we want to know more of the Spirit’s power in our lives, we would be wise to fill ourselves with riches of His word.’ pg 45

In Jesus Name - Henri Nouwen

One of my favorite worship leaders called this book a ‘must-read.’ There are helpful things that we can learn from mainstream leadership books, and now it seems many mega-church pastors are releasing leadership books and podcasts at every turn. There can be helpful things to learn, but perhaps most discouraging to me - particularly when it comes to leadership resources written by followers of Jesus - is how little dependence upon the Holy Spirit they require. As followers of Jesus, our leadership looks like our Servant Leader more than it looks like any of the high-capacity models of our day. This is why I love Nouwen’s book - it shows what serving in the Name of Jesus could, and should look like. One of my favorite quotes:

“It is not enough for the priests and ministers of the future to be moral people, well trained, eager to help their fellow humans, and able to respond creatively to the burning issues of their time.  All of that is very valuable and important, but it is not the heart of Christian leadership.  The central question is, Are the leaders of the future truly men and women of God, people with an ardent desire to dwell in God’s presence, to listen to God’s voice, to look at God’s beauty, to touch God’s incarnate Word, and to taste fully God’s infinite goodness?” pg 43

Christ Centered Worship - Bryan Chapell

This book has been quoted in almost every book on worship I have read. It has both informed the way I understand the corporate gathering, the historical gathering of God’s people, and what we are trying to accomplish weekly and longterm for followers of Jesus who gather to worship. A few people on staff where I serve meet weekly to ‘evaluate’ the previous weekend service. The criteria we use to evaluate our weekend service I learned from this book. One of my favorite quotes (and the guideposts we use as we reflect on our gatherings) is:

“Church leaders designed their order of worship to communicate the truths of Scripture, touch the hearts of worshipers with the implications of those truths, and then equip believers to live faithfully in the world as witnesses to those truths.” pg 21