Abstract
This book grew from years of reading grant proposals submitted to the Institute for Liturgical Ministry in Dayton, Ohio. Zimmerman served on the Institute’s grant-awarding board that funded projects for individual congregations to help them improve their worship. As part of the proposal, the applicant had to describe worship in their own community. This book is Zimmerman’s attempt to answer the question of what is worship. Although she is a Catholic, the book is not written from a confessional point of view, but attempts to be faithful to Christianity in general and takes Scripture as its basis rather than any particular ecclesial profession of faith.
Fruitful Sunday worship requires thought and planning. Zimmerman hopes to help clergy and worship committees prepare for liturgy, by guiding their discussion and helping them to channel their creativity. But, above all this book is aimed at getting those involved in worship to think about and reflect upon what they are doing. Although ‘worship is much easier to celebrate than to describe’ (p. 11), Zimmerman does a good job of describing the common core of Christian worship shared across confessional lines. Her work can also be of interest both to members of denominations that have official liturgical texts (such as the Roman Missal or the Book of Common Prayer) and to those that come from denominations that have freer forms of worship that are not tied to official liturgical texts.
The first chapter asks whether Christian worship today is withering or greening? Have the challenges of modern society, such as the pervasive lack of time that makes it increasingly difficult to dedicate Sunday to the Lord and not use it catching up on chores, made Sunday worship almost impossible? On the other hand we are living at a time of ecumenical convergence and huge advances have been made in worship over the last half-century. Do these positive developments outweigh the current challenges? These questions will have to be answered b the individual readers. This chapter also poses a question as to the difference between worship and liturgy (the chart contrasting them on page 22 is particularly helpful). While liturgy is more formal and is usually performed in churches, worship, while more spontaneous, is not limited to the liturgical celebrations.
Chapter two moves on to the biblical foundations for worship. Relying particularly on the Psalms and the Book of Revelation, Zimmerman outlines six biblical elements that occur in authentic worship: invocation, complaint, plea for help, remembering God’s deeds, praise of God and thanksgiving, and resolve to be faithful. These are paralleled in the formal liturgy by the greeting and opening prayer, confession, intercession, proclamation of God’s word, litany of praise or a great thanksgiving, dismissal to live as disciples (p. 72). Chapter three reflects on the Christian nature of worship. Worship is not undertaken by individuals, but by the assembly of the baptized, who by virtue of their baptism have undertaken ‘an ongoing commitment to living worshipful lives’ (p. 84). In this chapter, Zimmerman’s Catholicism is most visible as it proposes the liturgical vision of Sacrosanctum Concilium as involving ‘full, conscious and active participation.’ Given that this document is foundational for 20th-century liturgical renewal, be it Catholic, Protestant or Orthodox, it is a useful reflection for readers from all denominations.
The last chapter deals with the place of the worshipping Christian in the world. After the liturgy, Christians are sent out into the world, where ‘we become the instruments—the mediators, the “priests”—who speak Jesus’ words, do his deeds, love with his kind of love’ (p. 116). This leads to some challenges: we must always strive to worship in a deeper, more spiritual way; we must also attempt to improve the mechanics and the style of our own worshipping community. In an age of widespread religious ignorance, even among practising Christians, we must educate our people and also break out from Sunday morning, so that our worship is not simply a weekly activity, but something that permeates our daily lives. In this case our worship must do justice, bringing the consequences of our worship of Christ out into our world and society in social justice and action. Finally this worship must impel us to share our experience with others and, by evangelization and mission, encourage others to join us in the liturgical assembly.
I cannot see much scope for this book in general academic courses (although it might be useful in an introductory course with students from a number of different liturgical traditions), but it is a good book for personal reflection. Its main benefit is that it encourages one to think and wrestle with the consequences of Christian worship. It is also a refreshing invitation to engage in theology ‘from the heart’ (as the subtitle says). It could help engage liturgy planning groups or a more ambitious parish council. It is also marked at a very reasonable price point that would facilitate the purchase of a number of copies for a group.