Greg Scheer - Essential Worship: A Handbook for Leaders

It takes a village to raise a book. My village included:

• The wise folks who gave me feedback on the manuscript: David Bailey, Jordan Clegg, Maria Cornou, Laura de Jong, Scott De Young, Eric Mathis, Neal Plantinga, Ron Rienstra, Samuel Tandei, Howie Vanderwell, and Michael Weller.
• The good people of Richmond, where I began this book on a too short but very sweet sabbatical: East End Fellowship, David Bailey and his Arrabon community, the Urban Doxology interns, and Danny and Mary Kay Avula, who opened their home to me.
• My fellow staff at the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, whose sharp minds are surpassed only by their open hearts, especially John Witvliet, who took a chance on me.
• The staff, musicians, artists, and congregation of Church of the Servant, especially Maria Poppen, who somehow keeps everything running smoothly even when Im writing a book. You have provided a gracious church home in which I could develop as a worship director and as a worshiper.
• The many mentors, teachers, and fellow worship leaders who have been a part of my journey, especially Michael Hawn, who has been all three. I am always grateful for the gifts youve been in my life.
• My Three Muskabeers, Todd Kapitula, Matt Plescher, and Scott Yonkers, who have done their best to keep me on the straight and narrow.

This book began to take shape on trips to Indonesia, Uganda, and Ukraine, where Ive taught and learned from a wide variety of brothers and sisters in Christ. The common denominator in all of these situations was that local musicians and pastors were lacking adequate training materials. Topics I assumed would be a review turned out to be a revelation for leaders who were patching together their worship philosophy from whatever they came across on YouTube or saw in other local churches. Closer to home, a friend who worked in a prison congregation asked if I could recommend a book on worship that would provide a simple overview of worship and worship leading. There are lots of great resources but nothing that laid out all the basics in one book.

What is missing is a primer on worship. Whether were in Peru, Peoria, or prison, we all need to learn the fundamentals. It took me over twenty years of leading, reading, and teaching to slowly piece together my worship theology and practice. I hope I can save you some time by putting it all into one book.

As a starting point, this book is biblical . All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work (2 Tim. 3:1617). Scripture is the foundation upon which we build. (Ill be using the NRSV translation throughout, unless otherwise noted.)

Second, you will quickly notice that this book gives special consideration to historical worship forms . This is not some strange nostalgia for the good old days, but instead a conviction that we need to allow the cloud of witnesses (Heb. 12:1) to speak into our modern context. The longer a worship practice has been a part of Christian worship (psalm singing, for example), the more likely we should continue its practice today. This doesnt mean we shouldnt look to the future or try new things; it simply means that each new generation doesnt need to reinvent the wheel.

Third, this book is for worship directors. I use the term worship director throughout to denote someone who is responsible for worship decisions, planning, and leading leaders. Many musicians will read it, of course, but this book is written for anyone who is involved in a churchs worship leadership, from pastors honing nonpreaching worship skills, to worship committees providing direction, to dancers who want to learn more about the context in which they contribute their choreography.

Finally, this book is personal . I wish I could tell you that the Holy Spirit dictated these chapters directly into my laptop or that this book defines, once and for all, the right way to worship. But instead you will find my best attempt at boiling down everything Ive learned from the Bible, the church of yesterday and today, and the fellowship of worshipers throughout the planet. Some of this will be my own story, but I hope it will also be our story. I have tried to discern the unity underlying a variety of worship traditions, allowing readers to apply the ideas to their own cultural or denominational context.