The Sounds of our Offerings: Achieving Excellence in Church Music has just been published by the Alban Institute in cooperation with the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship. The work details a research project involving nine congregations: three Catholic, three Episcopal, and three Presbyterian, located in the Northwest, Southwest, Midwest, and Northeast of the United States.
Read moreCategory: Recently Published Books
Tension between public and private worship
Pray Tell reader Jordan Zarembo reviews Kim Bowes’ work Private worship, public values, and religious change in late antiquity and finds similar tensions in the present-day church and the church of fourth-century Rome.
Read moreAmerican Religion and Church Attendance: Softening? Fudging?
A prominent sociologist, Mark Chaves says “All things considered, Americans’ religious involvement is softening.” His new book American Religion: Contemporary Trends is reviewed by Pray Tell reader Jack Rakosky.
Read moreEvelyn Waugh, Cardinal Heenan and Bitter Trials
Ignatius Press has just published a third (!) edition of A Bitter Trial, correspondence between Evelyn Waugh and Cardinal Heenan in the years from 1962 till Waugh’s death in 1966.
Read moreBook Review: Saints Preserved: An Encyclopedia of Relics by Thomas J. Craughwell
How many heads did Saint John the Baptist have? And whatever happened to the eye of Saint Edward Oldcorne?
Read moreThe Worship Mall
I was first drawn to Bryan Spinks’ book The Worship Mall because I’ve been wrestling with the reality that so many of my friends and family have either left the Catholic Church or stopped attending any religious service. I have been trying to understand their decision.
Read moreBook Review: Worship for Vital Congregations
Christian churches have a vast penumbra of marginal members who remain unaware—or unconvinced—that Sunday worship is a fruitful use of their time. How can it be presented so that it appears in its proper aspect, as a genuine priority in life?
Read moreHymnal Review: Gather, Third Edition
GIA’s Gather 3 – a valiant attempt to be all things to many people.
Read moreBook Review: Liturgical Reflections of a Papal Master of Ceremonies by Guido Marini
A number of notable ceremonial changes have marked papal liturgy since the inauguration of Pope Benedict XVI. Find out why from the Papal Master of Ceremonies.
Read moreA codicil to Simply Fred
I just finished the book (the first time in months I read a book in one day)….
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