The Art of Curating Worship: Reshaping the Role of Worship Leader

by Mark Pierson, Dan Kimball (Foreword)

The Art of Curating Worship promotes a new vocabulary to help worship curators work out how and why and where worship can best engage their community, inside and outside the church, in transformative encounters with God.

Genres: Nonfiction, Religion

256 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2010

Reviews

[Kelsey · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is about the emergent church movement that utilizes stations and art, in a very post-modern way. This is not inherently bad, but I was very troubled about the extent to which the author’s language suggested a catering to the culture, seeming to trade genuine spiritual growth for an “experience”. Come and go as you please, move about the room as you please, visit whichever station you like, reflect on what these stations mean to you, how they speak to you, how they make you feel, etc. In a nutshell, something for everyone. This may not be across the boards for the emerging church, but the author even used the words “womb-like” to describe how the environment should be. Don’t get me wrong, the church should be a welcoming place in which people feel safe, but I said safe, not comfortable. Our society already exists in a cocoon of comfort and self-indulgence, and the church is no exception. As the church, I believe we too (and sometimes especially) fall prey to consumerism, showing up in our attitudes of “what’s in it for me”, and “what can I get out of this?” The church does not need to be on the societal heels of consumerism. After all, Jesus wasn’t all about comfort… I’m sure constantly having a crowd of followers, hanging out with sinners, and ultimately dying on the cross were anything but comfortable. What makes us think that church should be all about our experiences, anesthetizing us against life and giving us warm fuzzies? I am not suggesting that church be cold, somber, and boring… Far from it, but neither should it be purely experiential, with a focus on what I can get out of it, how it speaks to me, how it makes me feel, etc. As the church, we need to be moving away from self and toward serving God and others. I fear that any movement that seeks to give people a bunch of experiences at the cost of true spiritual growth and discipleship is fostering a “me” mentality. In his book “Beyond the Worship Wars”, Thomas G. Long asserts that when people come to church, they are usually looking for two things: Connection with God, and connection with others. The church is not here to give the world “womb-like” experiences, but to point them to God in life transforming ways and connect us all with each other in discipleship and community. I am in no way saying that the emergent movement and the use of stations aren’t ever transformative; I’m sure they are, and I hope to utilize “stations of the cross” for this year’s Good Friday service at my church. However, in a society that is all about consumerism and experiences, we need to be different, to offer something different. There are plenty of venues the world can go to for consumption, indulgence, and entertainment… The church should not be one of these.

[Jared Totten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like good art, this book made me feel a lot of things. Not all of them were good emotions, but again, I guess that's good art for you. Pierson offers a new approach to worship that "creates space" for people to encounter God. His approach is a vast departure from the music-heavy worship of your standard evangelical service, instead focusing on stations (both traditional and retooled) and interactive artwork.

My biggest concern with Pierson's approach to a worship service is that the preaching of the Word takes a back seat. The big question I wrote in the margins of my book was, "Should the gospel serve the arts or should the arts serve the gospel?" If people are entertained, engaged, and perhaps even "having an encounter with God" but the gospel is not clearly proclaimed, I would consider that a loss. I sense that Pierson would disagree.

[Chris Hubbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Made me think more about the intent of worship and planning for it than any book I’ve read in a while. Good stuff.

[Philip Garside · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mark Pierson offers lots of stimulating, practical ideas for adding art and stations to all sorts of worship services, as a way to help people engage with God.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book states that our current worship practices in the church are not doing what we think they are supposed to be doing and the author proposes a change. The largest change would be in those who lead worship for their churches and communities, that they begin to look at themselves as more of a curator than a leader; a curator takes seriously their role of guiding people through worship and connecting the various elements to one another to create an order or flow. They are "coordinating the participation of others", all to "help their particular communities engage God with heart, soul, mind, and strength during a particular worship event."

There are a lot of challenging things presented in this book that are good to wrestle with. To those who struggle with "new things" however, I feel like this will largely come across as frustrating and "hokey".

I would recommend this book to some who views themselves as creative, who is interested in or responsible for, leading a community in worship, who are interested in the participation of the church over the excellence of the presentation, and who wants to find or be inspired to find new ways to engage the full range of peoples senses to draw them towards God.

[Guy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very thought-provoking set of reflections on how liturgical worship can be rethought in ways that make it more meaningful to people who have no sense of the Christian "church culture" of readings and hymns and liturgy. I found the best part to be the idea of worship "curating"--that is, conscious responsibility of the worship leaders for every aspect of the worshiper's experience from when they enter the worship setting to when they leave. Not just about "getting the words right."

[Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5, maybe 4.
I found this book asked some good questions and provided a good explanation of key vocabulary. overall it was an easy read, but enjoyable. I know that I will probably reference this book from time to time and share it with others as its quite accessible. It provides good food for thought for those who are new to the concept of curating worship and for those who aren't necessarily artists.

[Dave Betts · Rating 2 out of 5]

I agreed with the author's premise that we should constantly be looking at 'worship' (specifically, our public expression) and also that there should be change. However, I found myself concerned by the lack of Biblical reference to support his ideas and overall, disappointed by what felt to me like a unsatisfactory solution to the legitimate problems the author points to.

[Luke · Rating 2 out of 5]

meh.... I wanted to like this book, but found it be extremely base level. additionally I found a subtle lack of true respect for God's word in it. so... meh.