Deep Church

A slight over claim, but this book by Philip Greenslade has to be one of the best books on worship I have ever read.

It’s sat on my desk for a few days, and I must admit I found the title uninspiring. But Philip is the most wonderful writer, and this book is part of the Deep Church series for Paternoster, so I cracked it open early this morning.

The premise of the book is an exploration of worship that is open to the surprising moves of the Spirit, and at the same time ordered by the liturgical outline of the gospel narrative. That hooked me immediately, given my church location that has held onto it’s charismatic worship, and explored the recovery of the church calendar to retell, practice and live our the gospel narrative/story.

This book is no ‘how to worship’ book, and is no expose of modern worship, but a friendly critique, that opens the doors into something deeper and more profound, that I think so many of us have been looking for. I’m going to ask our worship team to read it, and explore it together for our church community.