 |
| |  |
| |  |
| |  |
| |  |
| |  |
| |  |
| |  |
| |  |
||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Editorial:
Life begins at forty Comment:
Leadership on the move From
the director: The discipleship factor Four
things for leaders to do at the end of the world Pastoring
people in prophetic living Being
a servant leader Interview
with Maria Garvey: Oil and water Nurturing
the next generation The
Word made flesh - East Belfast The
Word made flesh - North Belfast The
Word made flesh - Derry The
Word made flesh - Enniskillen The
Word made flesh - Poleglass Resisting
temptation Review:
And now let's move into a time of nonesense Review:
Christianity for Dummies |
|
|
|
|
|
Reviewed
by Claire Martin
|
||||
|
I have to say at the outset that I was rather nervous reviewing a book about modern worship songs. This is not because I am a proponent of these songs and felt they were about to get a lambasting, but because I am actually quite a fan of the more 'archaic' hymns which were also about to suffer. Another anxiety I had was giving even more time to an issue that seems to be too high up the church’s agenda already. So, rather sceptically, and determined not to be swayed in my opinions, I started to read the book. As is indicated by its title, the book aims to address the problem of the 'nonsense' that is found in many modern worship songs. It is solely concerned with commenting on the lyrics of the songs. In order to parody this it begins with a mock letter from a worship songwriter/leader writing to the publisher of 'Songs of Dwellingness Ministries' to promote a new worship song. This is followed by a closer look at the issues the mock song has highlighted, a summary of these issues and further questions for reflection. Each chapter, dealing with a different topic, follows the same pattern. At the outset Nick Page clarifies that his purpose is not to criticize particular songs or songwriters: 'I don’t want this book to tear down but to build up. Things, as the saying goes, could be better. That’s all this book is about.' (p4) Page’s overall style is light-hearted with plenty of jokey asides. Something about that bothered me. Perhaps it was that in a book that addresses the importance of words, I found its sometimes flippant style inappropriate for the subject matter. But then again, perhaps it is a clever technique he uses to mimic the nonsense of the songs we sing without a second thought. And a second thought is very much what Nick Page wants songwriters and singers to have. Despite this slight jarring of styles the content was actually very sensible and I found little to fault with the areas of worship songs he talked about, (although I would still challenge a few of his ideas). He deals succinctly with topics such as the history of worship music, why worship matters and the importance of technique. I wanted the book to deal with more than just song lyrics. He does not address or comment on the composition of music for modern songs – that I would have been very interested in. In fact, Nick Page claims, 'musically, everything in the garden is rosy.' (p22) I’m not so sure. Is music not also an area that warrants a little more attention or is that for another book? So my fears were mostly unfounded. A brief and easy read, this book takes a lightweight, but sensible look at worship. A good starting point for more in-depth study! |
||||
REVIEW:
 |
|
