Creating Uncommon Worship

This groundbreaking resource will be put to immediate use in churches up and down the country and will transform the way that worship is both conducted and experienced. Liturgy is all too often about words and is led from the front. This imaginative and profoundly theological companion is packed with ideas on how to enrich the liturgy by creating a context of action, movement and symbolic expression involving the whole assembly. A modern 'Priest's Handbook', this will not only instruct and inspire clergy and worship leaders, but will fully engage congregations in creating worship that is nurturing and challenging.

"The term 'groundbreaking' can be applied to this latest book by Richard Giles without any fear of exaggeration. (...)the author's vivid insights into the needs of worship in the post-modern context have much to say about the use and nature of new liturgical spaces." The Universe "This handsomely produced book will appeal to those who read and profited from Richard Gile's previous volume 'Re-pitching the tent'.(...) an easy read and filled with good ideas." -- Geoffrey Kirk New Directions 20041101 "Either there will have been a renaissance broadly along the lines that Giles suggests, or else there will be little liturgical worship left, because so much ground will have been ceded to those who have absolutely no understanding of what a wonderful gift it is: of the freedom that it gives, the grace that it conveys." -- The Revd Edward Dowlerm Church Times "The bibliograhpy is interesting. (...) The two chapters 'Principles' and 'Practice' make it particularly valuable as a tool for those engaging in the renewal of parish worship and the liturgical reordering of their church building." -- Austin Winkley Renew 20050301 "Creating Incommon Worship is the opposite of a counsel of despair. Richard Giles believes that good liturgy can change the world, and that the task of Christians today is to 'out-imagine' the negative forces of terror and the fear of terror that beset Western society." -- Briony Martin Church Times 20041101 "I found this one of the most stimulating and challenging books I have read for ages. If you read one book about liturgy this year, make it this one.(...) I is clear, well produced, with striking colour illustrations, well indexed, with fifteen appendices of suggestions for each part of the service. You could give this to any member of your congregation and they would be stimulated and intrigued, but they might want to change much of what happens in church! (...) Giles has a sense of humour as well as a sense of authority. This is a book to test our prejudices as well as our practice, to return to again and again. Easy to read and very accessible, Giles is passionate that our worship needs to reflect God's passionate concern for us." -- Julian Reindorp Ministry Today 2005 "Here is a book about liturgy and liturgical space, which always expresses the relationship with God. (...)This beautiful and innovative book forces onte to think in new ways about developing worship (...)." -- Philip Tyers Praxis News on Worship "Giles's book is well written. He clearly explains each part of the liturgy and gives helpful advice not only about liurgical reform but also in relation to why certain acts are performed during the Eucharistic liturgy, whether they are words or actions. The book is helpful not only to those seeking liturgical reform but also to those wishing to know more about the liturgy of the Eucharist form a Roman, Anglican or Lutheran perspective. It is a good reference book that can be used in many different ways; although not easy to read from cover to cover, it is a useful resource that can be dipped into." -- Susan Jones Rural theology 2006 "It is an uplifting and engaging 'how to' on the structure, shape, flow and movement of liturgy. With the use of many photographs, both in colour and black-and-white, and a writing style which encompasses both the theory as well as the practicalities of reshaping such a space, it is a book which should be included in every liturgist's bookshelf. Giles's introductory material is very helpful, and includes examples of excellence in liturgy from many different places. Giles's sense of honour and his sense of reality come shining through: This book involves itself not at all in the 'this-is-the-way-it-must-be-done' school but rather in a style which says "This is how we knew we needed to worship; this is how we managed it; here is how you can try it yourself." (...) I think this is a good book, one which deserves to be read, discussed, and enjoyed." -- The Very Reverend Peter W

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