Worship Architect, The Paperback – March 1, 2010

Normally I don't like to review books, but this one has earned a special spot on my shelf. I'm quite surprised how well this book laid out some good information on laying out a worship service.

This book has provided me with a lot of wonderful tools to analyze what I have done in my pastoral ministry. it has challenge me to think deeper on how to plan a worship that is Honorable for God, and 3, to plan a worship that will be appealing and engaging for all groups.The only thing that leaves me a little bit of bad flavour, is that the same author who makes some clear suggestions on how to do exegesis on the text to be true to the scriptures, can be conformed to say that we keep Sunday because the first Christians did. When the Bible offers from Genesis to Revelations clear resources on what day is the true day of the Lord. (Sola scriptura) There were also a few changes done to Bible doctrines that were wrong, Ie. Praying to saints, immortality of the soul, spiritualism, etc. and this is why the reformers came sent by God to bring those broken truths back into place.

I have been a worshipper, a musician & ministry planner. Constance Cherry writes how God is to be worshipped, & our human responsibility to create environments which will help others to meet with God. Both encouraging & challenging, I hope to remember the essentials and stay creative & pure in my desire to see others worship.

Reading this with a friend of mine that has to read it for class and I can't say that I'm impressed. At first glance, I thought, 'Oh no! I hate reading textbooks!' Once I started reading it, it wasn't so bad. It does have a textbook feel, but while the chapters aren't as long. There were parts that made me so angry that I wanted to quit reading the book and some parts that I agreed with and enjoyed. The part that I disliked the most was the constant suggestion that corporate worship is the best (and only) way to worship. I find this completely false. I am spoken to more in my private worship time with God than when I attend weekly church services. I gave it 3 stars mainly because the amount of information the chapters offered, while valuable, was tedious to read through. Also, I think the book would have been better separated into two or three separate books. I hate to say it, but quite frankly, I was happy when I finished the book.

She raises some good points. There is a lot of backup information that basically reiterates what the Bible says about worship, and I felt these sections could have easily been abridged as they felt more like filler than useful additions. Overall it seems it took a lot of writing to say only a few things. Her biases in worship definitely seep into her writing, but I would expect most books with similar goals to be written in similar ways. Overall I would recommend pastors and music directors at least skim through or focus on select chapters to help improve the worship experience at their church.

This book combines Biblical, historical and practical principles to lead the reader in designing worship. It goes beyond teaching styles into the how to format the worship to be able to reach the majority of the congregation. The only reasin I don't give it a perfect score is that I believe the author could have said as much in fewer words: a lot of arguments are repeated from one chapter to the next. (In all fairness, this very well could have been intentional, to drive the point.)

This book is a fantastic read for any pastor or worship leader desiring to make their services more biblical and meaningful. Cherry enhances our understanding of worship, provides a sound structure for planning and considering the elements of worship and gives tons of practical ideas. The beauty of this publication is that it is not limited in style, but instead cuts through a lot of the surface discussions and worship trends to get to the heart of of matters. I wish I had read this book years ago!

Excellent book and very informative! I originally had checked it out from the library, but as I read it, I decided I needed it as a resource in my books. The author does a good job of explaining what and how to worship as well as why we need to worship. She explains how worship has evolved over the centuries, and she makes suggestions how worship leaders can improve worship in their churches. Very detailed. A must have for all worship leaders.

Bravo, Cherry had written a practicalm thought provoking book that should challenge leaders and pastors to move away from program based worship to God-exalting worship.

Cherry gives us a comprehensive view of what is designing and implementing the Biblical worship is all about. The book makes us to rethink what we are doing with our Sunday services.