"At the Origins of Christian Worship" can deepen readers' understanding of early Christian worship by setting it within the context of the Roman world in which it developed. Hurtado highlights the two central characteristics of earliest Christian worship: its exclusive rejection of the ancient-world gods and its inclusion of Christ with God as the focus of devotion.

Within the broad range of Christianity we find diverse understandings of what makes for “good worship.” The Purpose, Pattern, and Character of Worship develops a typology of Christian worship to provide a method of assessing the decisions of congregations and leaders in forming and changing the orders of their worship. Among contemporary western Protestants, we identify at least six discrete characteristics of worship: -the Revival, -the Sunday School, -the Aesthetic Revival, -the Pentecostal/holiness movement, -the Prayer Meeting, -the twentieth-century Catholic Liturgical Renewal. These patterns define contemporary expression as: -Seeker Worship, -Creative Worship, -Traditional Worship, -Praise Worship, -House Church Worship, -Word and Table Worship. Absent an overall authority for the structure of worship (such as the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer), many Protestant congregations have developed a “conflation of patterns,” which often creates incoherent worship. This book helps leaders define the purpose, character, and pattern of their community’s worship.

No serious study of the historical development of Christian worship can be undertaken today without attention to the social context in which the Christian liturgies were formed. In this study the author surveys three different urban contexts which were crucial for the development of the Byzantine and Roman rites in the early Middle Ages. The stational systems of Jerusalem, Rome and Constantinople are described in detail and compared, reealing major similarities and differences in the worship inspired by these diverse urban milieux. In addition, the author sheds valuable light on the social development and impact of Christianity on Byzantine and Roman culture in the Late Antique and Early Medieval periods.

"A respected scholar of theology and culture, William Dyrness here explores Christian worship in terms of its past, present, and future. He shows where the church has been, theologically and historically speaking, and how that shapes - and needs to shape -where the church will go. Through accessible language, clear examples, and thoughtful questions for reflection and discussion, Dyrness makes an essential conversation about worship available to a wide audience of pastors, worship leaders, and church members." --Book Jacket.

Are you growing in godliness? How would you know? A good place to begin is understanding and imitating the character qualifications the Bible lays out for elders. While elders are meant to exemplify these traits, all Christians are to display them. And, with just one exception, each of them is related to our moral character.