For early American Methodists, quarterly meetings were great festivals at the heart of Methodism’s liturgical life. The meetings lasted several days and could attract thousands. In this volume, Lester Ruth offers a revisionist description of worship at the quarterly meetings in early American Methodism (ca. 1772–1825). The author describes the quarterly meeting as the setting in which early Methodism most “dramatized” itself for public view as graced fellowship. He explores each of the liturgical dynamics of this experience, including the distinction between public and private worship, the loud exuberance of American Methodists, the vivid proclamation of God’s Word, the role of the sacraments and of Wesley’s liturgical innovations, the power of fellowship as eschatological manifestation, and the interaction between the personal experience of grace and ecclesial inclusion. Unique in its analysis of the quarterly meetings as a key to understanding Early Methodism's liturgical life, this book redefines methodology for doing early Methodist liturgical historiography. It makes ample use of primary materials, including much unpublished archival material: hymns, letters, dairies, prayers, sermons, homiletical manuals, etc. The book offers a fuller, more accurate portrayal of the life of early American Methodists. It will enable readers to understand how Methodist polity shaped worship rhythms and practices and how Methodist piety affected worship and its interpretation. Readers will gain increased understanding of how ecclesial context affects personal experiences of God's grace.

A Little Heaven Below: Worship at Early Methodist Quarterly Meetings

History

Ruth, Lester

World

Kingswood Books

This book presents primary source material from the writings of early American Methodists (ca. 1770-1820). The primary material includes sermon outlines, journal and diary entries, excerpts from correspondence, hymnody and poetry, theological reflections, and contemporaneous historical descriptions.

Early Methodist Life and Spirituality: A Reader

The Church at Worship is a series of documentary case studies of specific worshiping communities from around the world and throughout Christian history. This inaugural volume, Walking Where Jesus Walked, uses vivid descriptions of Jerusalem, its history, its people, and its worship practices to set the stage for a rich selection of primary church documents, presenting readers with a vibrant snapshot of the church at Jerusalem in the fourth century. Some of the primary materials included here:<ul>
<li>Select art, artifacts, and architectural drawings</li>
<li>Egeria's Diary: A Pilgrim's Observations of Jerusalem at Worship</li>
<li>The lectionary and communion prayer likely used in Jerusalem</li>
<li>The Liturgy of St. James, historically associated with Jerusalem</li>
<li>Excerpts from the sermons of Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem</li>
</ul>

Walking Where Jesus Walked: Worship in Fourth-Century Jerusalem (The Calvin Institute of Christian Worship Liturgical Studies (CICW))

Wm. B. Eerdmans-Lightning Source

The Church at Worship is a series of documentary case studies of specific worshiping communities from around the world and throughout Christian history that can inform and enrich worship practices today. In this third volume, Longing for Jesus, Lester Ruth vividly portrays a prominent African-American holiness church in Jackson, Mississippi, in the early twentieth century. Ruth's rich selection of primary documents presents readers with a vibrant snapshot of this dynamic church and its pastor, Charles Price Jones, caught between factors that threatened the existence of the congregation itself: Jim Crow racism, conflicting visions for the church, appropriate Christian piety, and social aspirations. In the midst of conflicts inside and outside, the church fought to create a space where it could worship Jesus as it saw fit.

Longing for Jesus: Worship at a Black Holiness Church in Mississippi, 1895-1913 (The Church at Worship: Case Studies from Christian History (CAW))

Americas

Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

Think mid-twentieth-century Baptist evangelism, and the figure that comes immediately to mind is likely Billy Graham. But far removed from the glitz and glamor of televised crusades, what did typical Baptist mission field evangelism and worship really look like? In this latest volume in the Church at Worship series, Lester Ruth and Eric L. Mathis draw from a rich selection of primary sources to immerse readers in the worship life of Conservative Baptists in northwest Argentina from 1948 to 1964. Combining historical, theological, and practical perspectives, this book offers a vital educational resource for Christian ministers engaged in or preparing for cross-cultural ministry, introduces readers to a worshiping community that may be unfamiliar to them, and represents a significant contribution to liturgical history.

Leaning on the Word: Worship with Argentine Baptists in the Mid-Twentieth Century (The Church at Worship: Case Studies from Christian History (CAW))

Mathis, Eric

THE CHURCH AT WORSHIP is a series of documentary case studies of specific worshiping communities from around the world and throughout Christian history—case studies that can inform and enrich worship practices today. This Church at Worship volume tells about the Anaheim Vineyard Christian Fellowship and its remarkable influence on the entire Vineyard movement, which contributed to the renewal of worship in thousands of evangelical churches during the 1970s and 1980s. In presenting an in-depth look at founding leader John Wimber and the Anaheim Vineyard's early years, Andy Park, Lester Ruth, and Cindy Rethmeier tell an inspiring story of revival and renewal among people desperately hungering for a deeper knowledge of God. Enhanced with interviews, sermon excerpts, sidebars, timelines, and photos, Worshiping with the Anaheim Vineyard addresses core issues for all Christians desiring to know and worship God more intimately.

Worshiping with the Anaheim Vineyard: The Emergence of Contemporary Worship (The Church at Worship: Case Studies from Christian History (CAW))

Park, Andy

Rethmeier, Cindy

Why do so many evangelicals flock to liturgical traditions today? Robert Webber first explored the question in this thoughtful and engaging classic in 1989; now evangelical scholar and pastor Lester Ruth updates the conversation. Much remains of Webber s beloved original text, including his discussion of Anglicanism s six great gifts: mystery and awe, Christ-centered worship, sacramental reality, historical identity, participation in catholic traditions and holistic spirituality. Ruth adds fresh stories from evangelicals who have followed Webber s footsteps on the Canterbury trail, along with new essays that highlight the diversity of Anglican expressions today."

Evangelicals on the Canterbury Trail: Why Evangelicals Are Attracted to the Liturgical Church - Revised Edition

Webber, Robert E.

Morehouse Publishing

Is there a way to do the prescribed or suggested orders of worship from denominational worship resources--such as the United Methodist Book of Worship, Evangelical Lutheran Book of Worship, the Book of Common Worship of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), or the Book of Common Prayer--in a way that feels legitimately and authentically contemporary?This practical, how-to book will help churches plan and implement passionate and invigorating worship. Step by step, author Lester Ruth and contributors Zachary Barnes, Andrew Eastes, Jonathan Ottaway, Adam Perez, Glenn Stallsmith and Deborah Wong break down the process of re-thinking what the official or recommended order of worship is truly suggesting, so pastors and worship leaders can plan and lead a service of Word and Table that feels genuinely relevant and attuned to the congregation's culture. With this goal, Flow casts a new, but classic, understanding of traditional worship as well as spurs a reconsideration of how contemporary worship can be done by honoring the traditions of denominational congregations.

Flow: The Ancient Way to Do Contemporary Worship

Religion & Spirituality

Christian Books & Bibles

ABINGDON PRESS *

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