Called to praise

Donald Hilton

Published by Christian Education 298p. £18.95

Review by Chris Avis

The part-author and compiler of this worship anthology is a retired URC minister and past Moderator of both the Yorkshire Synod and the General Assembly of the URC. Together with Martin Camroux, Donald was co-founder of ‘Free to Believe’ within the URC and this book is his tenth anthology of worship resource material. When I read it, I regretted missing the previous nine. When many of us today feel ‘called to praise’ through experiences more often without than within traditional church services, this rich compilation of worship ingredients can provide plenty of intellectually appetising and refreshing food for thought for all clergy and laity involved in the leading of worship, as well as for individual private reflection. As well as Donald’s own work there are contributions from many other sources, as a brief glance at the comprehensive copyright listings at the back reveals.

There are three main sections further subdivided for easy subject reference. The Christian Year from Advent to Trinity is followed by more general headings of Creation, Mission and Ministry, The Christian Community, and Justice and Peace. The final section offers calls to worship and prayers suitable for any season. Where appropriate, bold type indicates possible congregational participation. Each item is uniquely numbered for speedy future location from a personal list, with a choice of 604!

“Welcome to Church!” Proclaimed with appropriate enthusiasm, what a great start to a service! This call to worship written by Donald (559) continues: “This a happy place – though we never forget that some among us may be sad. This is a time to be serious – though we’re not afraid to laugh. This is where we seek comfort – though we expect sometimes to go home disturbed. This is a human place – though we often sense the presence of God… God has called us here.” Donald has contributed many such service prologues; I was moved especially by this one for Advent (5) which uses the future tense traditionally until the last ten words which confront us with our ever present procrastination: “When Christ comes, darkness will be light, despair will be hope, sadness will be joy, conflict will be peace, and we will be called to work – when Christ comes.”

There’s a lovely meditation from John Bell called ‘Christmas is for the elderly’ (23) where the major roles played by old people in the traditional Christmas story demonstrate that “…God expects people whom the world would deem ‘past it’, to initiate … [W]hen we see the wise men worshipping Jesus and then going home by another way, we see God’s belief and expectation that older folk can change…”

and that doesn’t just apply to retired clergy!

While the beauty and reassuring familiarity of some traditional church prayers can still invoke a spirit of worship, the all-too-familiar intercessory prayers akin to shopping lists for a Divine Supermarket often dishonour the true nature of prayer. I am heartened by the general prayer structure in this volume which breathes a freshness into familiar themes while avoiding much anachronistic theology, such as in this prayer (243) for Good Friday.

“The sufferings of the world are yours, eternal Christ, you bear the sin and shame of humankind as though they were your own… Come now, that we who walk this holy day may sense the purpose of your pain, find hope in every sorrowing memory of your loss, and in your frail mortality, find life.”

The item that continues to move and disturb me most is ‘Silence in the Suburbs’ (491) by Jean Mortimer, a devastating indictment of supposed church inclusiveness and sensitivity which forces me to reassess my own responses to unfamiliar faces in church.

Within this collection there is a stimulating juxtaposition of conservative and liberal inclinations highlighting what is for open Christians the scarifying, compelling tension of ‘living the questions’. For example, within the section on ‘Ascension, Pentecost and Trinity’ there is a predictable preponderance of the Holy Spirit until, suddenly, that is re-visioned by an extract from Anthony Freeman’s book ‘God in Us’, entitled ‘A wholly human spirit?’ Wonderful!

While rather pricey for a paperback, at around 3p per item this is still good value in anyone’s book. If you preach, teach or lead within a church or just love to dip and think, then this is for you. I hope some of this wealth of stimulating, thoughtful material will filter through to the benefit of many more churchgoers when (563) “In the humility of those who know they have sinned, and the confidence of those who know they are loved, we meet to worship the Lord of life.”