Review: Historical Foundations of Worship

Historical Foundations of Worship by Melanie C. Ross
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is primarily a collection of 18 academic essays/chapters grouped into 5 parts and written by a different expert focusing on a specific element of christian worship (for most traditions, this means an examination of how the liturgy or worship service evolved) with a significant portion of the book (37%) given over to citations. This was an especially timely read for me as I had just finished my Liturgy and the Sacraments class and had just started my Canon Law class … so this fit right into what I was already learning about. The format of each chapter opened with a bit of context before digging into the subject at hand, then ending with a section on “Practical Implications for Worship” (sort of a where are we now review) and suggested Further Reading … which is great because the biggest complaint that I had was that I always wanted to explore the topic more after finishing the chapter. 

Part one of the book looks at what all of the main line christian denominations have in common: baptism, communion/eucharist and celebrations (aka liturgical time). Then in part two, we get a survey of what we think the early church looked like (as well as acknowledging that there is still a lot that we just don’t know). In the next three parts, we get a look at Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholicism and several flavors of Protestant churches. Sadly, the tradition I grew up in (the Stone/Campbell Restoration movement) doesn’t get much press here, but that is okay, because it actually pulls a lot from the traditions that are covered; namely Lutheran, Calvinist/Reform, Anglican/Episcopal, Methodists, Anabaptist, Baptists, Evangelicals and Pentecostals. That last one was perhaps the weakest of the essays (or I just didn’t get it … which is also possible). Still, this book is an easy to read primer on a wide variety of christian societies that would be useful to any academic or lay person interested in ecumenical outreach (which I am).

Introduction

Part 1 - Common Roots of Worship

- 1 Baptism

- 2 Eucharist

- 3 Liturgical Time

Part 2 - Early Christian Worship

- 4 Worship in the Early Church

- 5 Worship in Late Antiquity

Part 3 - Eastern Orthodox Worship

- 6 History of Orthodox Worship

- 7 Icons and Eucharistic Theology

Part 4 - Roman Catholic Worship

- 8 Medieval Catholic Worship

- 9 Reformation in the Catholic Church

- 10 Vatican II and the Liturgical Renewal Movement

Part 5 - Protestant Worship

- 11 Lutheran Practices of Worship

- 12 Calvinist and Reformed Practices of Worship

- 13 Anglican and Episcopal Practices of Worship

- 14 Methodist and Wesleyan Practices of Worship

- 15 Anabaptist and Mennonite Practices of Worship

- 16 Baptist Practices of Worship

- 17 Evangelical Practices of Worship

- 18 Pentecostal and Charismatic Practices of Worship

I was given this free advance review copy (ARC) ebook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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