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556 - Christian Worship and Technological Change |
Christian Worship and Technological Change
By Susan J. White
Nashville, Abingdon, 1994. 176 pp. $14.95.
As stunning technological developments continue to swirl around today's church, church leaders are faced with the ongoing problem of how churches should respond to these sometimes bewildering developments. The author of this book, who teaches worship and preaching at Westcott House, Cambridge, professes to be at home with both technology and liturgy and, so, tries to chart a course that makes legitimate connections between the two seemingly incompatible fields. With a brief historical review, she helps us see how the church through the years has had to adapt to various technological changes-and warns us that such adaptations will certainly be a part of the church's future.
The book neither worships nor curses technology; and, so, its conclusions may seem tepid to both the pro- and antitechnology reader. The final chapter, for instance, calls only for a continuing "relationship of mutual critique" or dialogue between the disciplines of liturgy and technology as the way toward a mutually beneficial relationship. A bolder, more operative proposal, beyond dialogue, would have been helpful.
Paul B. Brown
Memphis Theological Seminary
Memphis, TN.