The Worship Quote of the Week for (01/06/2004):

Effective Liturgy Today’s WORSHIP QUOTE is another from a new worship text by Harold Best—not quick reading, but very provocative and highly recommended. EFFECTIVE LITURGY The effectiveness of a liturgy lies in its humility, in the absence of self-proclamation—“I am the liturgy, notice me.” The Word of God is the gathering point for all the content and all the action. If there is a high point or seasonal emphasis in a liturgy, this is to be subject to the scriptural wholeness within which all actions and emphases take place. IN Christ means IN the Word made flesh, and this means that the centrality of Christ guarantees the centrality of the Word, even as we sing or pray or preach or celebrate the Eucharist. It is because of this centrality that all liturgies, whether traditionally framed, denominationally created or “experimental,” will stand or fall in direct proportion to the centrality of the Word of God. —Harold M. Best, UNCEASING WORSHIP: BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVES ON WORSHIP AND THE ARTS. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2003, p. 73. ISBN 0-8308-3229-7 May God’s richest blessings be yours, Chip Stam Director, Institute for Christian Worship School of Church Music and Worship Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Louisville, Kentucky carlstam@aol.com www.carlstam.org www.sbts.edu =========================== WORSHIP QUOTE OF THE WEEK: To subscribe, unsubscribe, or view a complete index of worship quotes, please visit http://www.wqotw.org ===========================