Book Recommendations on Corporate Worship from Pastors
March 13, 2025
March 13, 2025
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Col. 3:16).
Is there a singer or musician in your church who is hungry to glorify God as they lead in corporate worship? Or do your members need to be taught that they’re all “part of the choir”?
9Marks asked a couple of pastors who have thought a lot about corporate worship for book recommendations on the subject.
Bob Kauflin is pastor of Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville and director of Sovereign Grace Music.
This book first opened my eyes to worship being more than music. While Peterson could have addressed more from the Old Testament (there’s no chapter on the Psalms), his book powerfully weaves together worship themes in both testaments, especially as they point to Christ and all of life.
Written on a popular reading level, Chapell seeks to persuade us that the gospel should affect not only the songs and sermons of our meetings, but the structures. He explains why liturgy matters and why God redeeming us through Christ is meant to be the glorious theme of every Sunday gathering.
Harold Best helps us see how God intends music to function in our hearts, lives, and worship. While he can take deep philosophical dives at times, his insights into the purpose, use, and role of music in the church are some of the most helpful I’ve ever come across.
Here is a disclaimer—my son encouraged me to put this on the list. This book is an attempt to serve planners, musicians, pastors, and leaders by connecting rich worship theology with practical methodology resulting in theologically driven, God-exalting, gospel-centered, Spirit-empowered gatherings and lives.
A wonderfully written theology of worship from an Old Testament scholar that draws practical implications for our gatherings today.
A collection of and commentary on liturgies from the 16th century, but the three introductory essays are worth the price of the book.
While all of Block’s chapters on the elements of congregational worship are worth reading, his treatments of the Word and music in worship are excellent.
Dr. Boswell is lead pastor of The Trails Church in Celina, Texas and professor of worship ministries at Midwestern Theological Seminary.
Gibson and Earngey have provided an incredible resource for those planning corporate worship. This volume of historic liturgies has much to draw from in our liturgical planning today. The introductory chapters offer a wealth of insight and inspiration.
This book was incredibly formative for me in developing a theological framework for thinking about the subject of worship. The first chapter by Carson is itself worth the price of the book. I used to keep a dozen or so copies in my study and pass them out to other worship leaders who stopped by.
Of all the books on a biblical theology of worship, Peterson’s work is one of the most focused, thoughtful, and helpful. This will provoke your thinking on the ultimate reason the church gathers.
This book has become a foundational work among pastors and worship leaders of our generation in thinking through how the story of the gospel is able to shape the “story” of corporate worship.
Benson is the premier hymnologist of the 20th century. This book details the historical and analytical value of the English hymn, employing some of the warmest language I have had the pleasure of reading.
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For more book recommendations from pastors, professors, and counselors on a variety of topics, click here.
Where did the idea of going to church originate? Some of the typical culprits suggested are Constantine, American business models, old people, or pastors desperately in need of jobs. But whose idea is it, really?
The mediums we choose can shape our worship in subtle ways.
This is the fourth in a series of four articles on the design of a corporate worship gathering.
