The Next Worship

January 11, 2016
With empathy, conviction, encouragement and humor, Van Opstral (The Mission of Worship), pastor at Chicago's Grace and Peace Community, uses banquet metaphors to share insights gleaned from years working with worship leaders and leading multi-ethnic worship. She asks, "What is the future of worship in our changing church?" and explores the desire for and resistance to diverse worship, addressing misleading assumptions such as "âIf we just have good worship, people from different backgrounds will come." An intriguing scriptural analysis of the Gospel of Luke's "Great Banquet" parable informs her underlying premise: "Leading worship in a multiethnic world requires extending hospitality in ways the church historically has not done." While most familiar with "evangelical free churches or nondenominational churches," Van Opstral's thought-provoking guidance and questions will help worship leaders from many traditions contemplate these issues and "embrace the discomfort." Multiple appendices offer practical tools for understanding worship from different cultural perspectives. This valuable resource makes an important contribution to conversations about contemporary worship and tomorrow's church.