Mark Pierson’s book is subtitled “reshaping the role of the worship leader.” Based on years of experience in ministry, including founding new churches and supporting artists, he proposes an approach to worship that is democratic, interactive, and based on the principle of “curation” – arranging items and experiences in a meaningful way, to create worship.

Given the way this book has been received, as revolutionary and groundbreaking, I was surprised by how familiar and traditional much of it seemed.  I suspect that’s because I’m Anglican, while Pierson’s audience is much more on the Baptist/Methodist side – much of what he suggests draws on ancient liturgical practices that Anglicans have never really discarded. But he does reframe them in a new and thoughtful way, and suggest useful guidelines for incorporating this particular type of worship planning into your community, whatever their style would be.

There is very little that is explicitly about children (and what is there is disappointing – he once suggests a separate “children’s station” during worship, with “colouring in, etc.”, rather than thinking about how a children’s element could be added to all the stations).  However, it’s easy to see how his principles could be applied to worship that includes children, given how rich, interactive, and multi-sensory his approach is. He also regularly reminds readers that the theology needs to come first – this is something that’s easy to forget in children’s ministry, as we latch on to a great new idea or activity without necessarily thinking first about what it says or why we’re using it (yup, guilty as charged!).

What Evangelicals might like: The focus on reaching out, being missional, engaging with public spaces, and trying bold new forms of worship.

What Traditionalists might like: The affirmation of the importance of ancient forms of liturgy, with inspirational thoughts on how to adapt them to modern times without losing their soul.