Gathering : a theology and spirituality of worship in free church tradition

This is a work of liturgical theology in which the faith of the Christian community is explored through a study of its worship. The book is significant in doing this from a Free Church perspective. Most ecumenical work on worship has been greatly influenced by those traditions which use written liturgical texts and who give a normative place to the Eucharist. Free Church worship however needs to be studied on its own terms if its ecumenical contribution is to be fully appreciated. Conversely evangelical attention to worship has tended to be pragmatic rather than theological and has not used the insights of liturgical study to understand worship as a key place of spiritual formation or expression. Using a study of Baptist worship, Gathering explores the spitiruality implicit in a worship tradition which to date has received little theological or historical attention.