Abstract
“What, really, is worship?” This is the question that Joyce Ann Zimmerman sets out to answer in her book, Worship with Gladness. Zimmerman is clear from the outset that she has no conversion agenda. This is a book that deliberately de-emphasizes the worship differences that separate one denomination or communion from another. Instead, Zimmerman seeks to find common ground for an understanding of worship that is both challenging and affirming for all Christians.
Zimmerman is uniquely suited to this task. She is a Catholic theologian, director of the Institute for Liturgical Ministry in Dayton, Ohio, and the founding editor of that institution's journal, Liturgical Ministry. She is also a long-standing member of the Vital Worship Grants Program, administered by the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship. In short, Zimmerman is a Roman Catholic with a deep understanding of Protestant worship, and an academic scholar with a clear love for congregations and practitioners. Her pastoral and ecumenical sensibilities are among the book's great strengths.
The book begins by acknowledging the challenges that face modern Christian worship. For many, Sundays are a time for working, shopping, or participating in sporting events. Others are disheartened by the “worship wars” that have been raging in churches for several decades. Instead of getting bogged down in questions of “how,” Zimmerman helpfully directs the reader's attention to the “what” and the “why” of worship. She roots her discussion in Scripture, paying particular attention to the psalms, the injunction to worship God “in spirit and truth” in John 4:24, and heavenly worship as described in the book of Revelation.
Throughout the book, Zimmerman repeatedly stresses that worship is more than words, and more than an obligatory weekly service. Rather, worship is a bi-directional activity, wherein we lift our hearts to God, and God graciously reaches out to be encountered. Baptism is the door into a way of worshipping that must continually grow. This growth occurs through full, conscious, and active participation in worship—participation that ultimately thrusts us beyond the four walls of the church to live what we have celebrated.
Worship with Gladness is accessible without being simplistic and scholarly without being pedantic. Zimmerman defines terms and concepts that may be confusing to non-specialists, and each chapter includes several “Reflecting Pauses” that are intended to help readers stop and assess how the discussion speaks to their own understanding and practice of worship. Ideally, this is a book to be read in community: with an adult church class, for instance, or as a supplementary text for a seminary class on worship. Zimmerman's tone is consistently irenic, and readers of all confessional stripes will welcome the wisdom and challenge of her words. Ultimately, Zimmerman's hope is not to nail down a single definition of worship, but rather to open up its multiplicity of meanings. In the end, worship is not a concept to be defined with a neat package of words. It is a living encounter with the triune God, which fills our hearts to overflowing with gratitude and praise.