Product Description
The Presbyterian Handbook has engaged thousands of Presbyterians and other Christians in their everyday faith with a distinctive blend of historical and theological information, fun-filled facts, and practical tips on being a churchgoing follower of Jesus Christ. Now comes The Presbyterian Handbook for Pastors, which captures all of the essential information any pastor needs to serve and lead in any situation in one volume. Complete with illustrations and bits of humor, this handy resource is ideal for Presbyterian pastors, lay pastors, seminary students, candidates for ministry, and all those seeking the perfect gift for their pastors. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

For once, a book that makes Christianity accessable.
I must read too much W.E.B.Griffin, because like him I feel the best measure of another person's intelligence is the degree to which he agrees with you. That being said, I find the authors of Being Presbyterian in the Bible Belt very intelligent beings indeed. My wife and I recently Joined a Presbyterian church after visiting several times and feeling very at-home. We both come from other Protestant denominations and I for one wanted to know more about the beliefs of the Presbyterian flavor. This book both validated our personal beliefs and our decision to join this denomination. As a life-long Christian and scientist I have spent nearly sixty years being either appalled or downright angry that most Christian denominations expect me to check my God-given intellect at the door of the church, while at the same time dealing with scientists who consider religion irrational for a person seeking logical scientific answers to life's mysteries. As a scientist I very much believe that nothing speaks to the existence of God more than the elegance and orderliness of nature along with the fact that science does not and cannot explain everything. But I cannot and will not surrender to ignorance and outright stupidity for the comfort of Bible-thumping Neanderthals who don't understand the larger words in the texts they have memorized. It seems to me to be in God's nature to be inclusive all the while it is in man's nature to be exclusive. This book reinforces my belief that we are where we are because that's where God wants us to be at that moment, and He speaks to us all (and not just to the self-appointed elect) if we just will listen. "He leadeth me, oh blessed thought...".

Great topic, weak book
Much of what these authors identify as "Presbyterian" would not be recognizable to any of the earlier generations who owned that label. A low view of Biblical authority, a loose cafeteria view of confessions, a man-centered theology -- that used to be called "Unitarian" not Presbyterian!

More or less a waste.

Tolerance With Love. . .
This is a delightful little volume that will remind many of us why we belong to the Presbyterian Church.It has always been more 'comfortable' to belong to a more militaristic style of church, where, regardless of what is stated, the members are expected to fall in line with church doctrine.I believe this freedom, this lack of forcing, has cost the Presbyterian Church many members--those who migrate to fundamentalist churches.The question, then, is whether this has necessarily been a bad thing.Like other reviewers, I particularly liked the chapter on 'whether one is saved' or not.

I believe in the basic inerrancy of the original autographs of the Bible, and certainly believe that a number of modern translations are distorting the word.A parallel Bible will illustrate it.Again, as a Presbyterian, I believe each individual should decide.This book perhaps strays somewhat on the 'liberal' side of that debate for me.

Don't dismiss it out of hand, however.There is valuable information here, regardless of what the Minister reviewer states.Again, our freedom to differ is what does make us special!

Wasted Opportunity
Someone really needs to write a book for Reformed Christians that guides them through the landscape of American Christianity.Sadly this book does not accomplish that task.It raises questions, and answers them with a tepid Christology and a watered-down Bible.

American Christianity is an eclectic mix.We worship the Creator from the Declaration of Independence who gives inalienable rights.We practice the piety of WWJD bracelets echoing the liberal Christianity of Charles Sheldon.We embrace the Jesus of Mel Gibson's "Passion" drawn from pre-Vatican II Roman Catholicism. We accept the dispensationalism of the "Left Behind" books.We follow the moral teachings of Veggie Tales and the psychobabble of Norman Vincent Peale and James Dobson.Our politics draws from both Martin Luther King Jr. and Pat Robertson.The forty days of Lent have been replaced by the forty days of Rick Warren's "The Purpose Driven Life."Finally, set the whole thing to a soundtrack of bubble gum praise choruses and Fanny Crosby hymns.Presbyterians wonder if this theological pop culture is all there is.Many wonder who they are and what makes them distinctive.

As Presbyterians we draw upon the historical ecumenical consensus of the faith found in the Scriptures and outlined in texts such as the Nicene Creed.Instead of engaging the culture of the Bible Belt with this consensus, the authors of this book
propose an alternative.They make a distinction between the Jesus of history and the Jesus of faith. Doesn't Jesus proclaim that he is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6)?The authors attribute it to the anti-Semitism of the early church (pg 72).Then they reinterpret the meaning of the verse.Wherever one finds the way, the truth, and the life, they seem to argue, one finds Jesus (pg 73).

I agree with the authors that the Bible needs to be interpreted.Moreover, I agree that there are some lousy interpretations out there.However, the authors do not engage those who interpret the Bible differently.Rather they merely rail against those who interpret the Bible literally.The authors engage in rhetoric that they themselves find offensive among "neo-evangelicals."For example, they make an argument in favor of "Biblical universalism."They then ask the question, "What then do we make of biblical references to the `fires of hell'?"The response:"We've already noted that literal interpretations of many scriptures are problematic" (pg 39).There is no discussion of the argument on its merits. Rather, those who take the Scriptures seriously concerning hell just don't know how to read the Bible.To make matters worse, the authors then imply that those who accept the traditional notion of hell probably just want to populate it with people they don't like (pg 39).

As a Presbyterian pastor in the Bible Belt, I am constantly encouraging my congregants to move beyond a cultural Christianity to embrace the faith for themselves.Essentially, this book is a hindrance to my efforts.The book is a wasted opportunity.

Great book for new Presbyterians
Great book!I recently switched from Methodist to Presbyterian through re-affirmation.All through my childhood I recall attending a Presbyterian church even though I was Methodist (go figure)...Anyway, there were a lot of questions I had over the years and searched for answers about being a Presbyterian.THIS BOOK IS EXCELLENT!!!It explains everything in great detail and gives scenarios that everyone can relate to.The only slight negative thing I can see in the book is the authors writing style.Perhaps it's me, I don't know... but some of the paragraphs are worded in a way that they run on.You have to re-read a sentence or two again to get what the author is saying. ... Read more

Book Description
Prepared in a style similar to the Survivor's Guide books, The Presbyterian Handbook provides historical and theological information about Presbyterian beliefs alongside fun-filled facts and practical tips on being a churchgoing follower of Jesus Christ. Complete with illustrations, the book presents a wonderful combination of vast truths, complex details, and bits of humor about Presbyterian understanding of the Christian life. This unique and incredibly handy resource is perfect for Presbyterian youth, adults, students, families, and all those interested in learning about much of what encompasses life in the church. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Facts and funny
If you want basic information about Presbyterian theology with a lot of humorous subjects in between, buy this one.We bought copies to give to new members.Learn what to bring for potluck suppers (by region); how to pass the collection plate; what to wear under choir robes in the hot summer plus excellent factual information on who we are as Presbyterians.

A helpful book for Presbyterians.
This is easy-to-read and to understand.A helpful book for those who want to understand Presbyterian beliefs and practices.

Uneven, but full of decent insights
About 200 pocket-sized pages. Unpretentious and casual, but in a self-conscious, studied way. It is openly derivative of the Worst-Case Scenario-style books. But it probably is about ten years too late. The cover is a simple dark blue with an cartoon of John Calvin in glasses. The subheadings are "Church Stuff", "Bible Stuff", "Everyday Stuff." It has the feel of your 60 year old, pleasant but annoying uncle, trying to be cool and funny to the teens at Thanksgiving.

The contributors include Donald McKim. The bibliography is mostly McKim, his old friend ('progressive evangelical,' recently turned homosexual rights advocate) Jack Rogers, and their crowd.

The content -- its tone and quality -- varys wildly from section to section. It feels sewn together from a load of contributors. At times it is very helpful and clear (such as where it explains the levels of Presbyterian church government), at other times extremely goofy, at others incomplete or wrong, at others irrelevent. The only consistent feature is that most sections are concise.

The theological values are basically middle of the road for PCUSA. That means what is defined as "THE Presbyterian" is occasionally unrecognizable to other (non-PCUSA) Presbyterians. But in general it is fairly supportive of the theological heritage and of the Scripture's importance and trustworthiness. My biggest complaint (other than some mild comments questioning the historicity of certain Biblical accounts) is the sometimes overly LOW view of the sacraments.

In any case, MANY, MANY decent tips, comments. I especially like a few of the charts (Bible translations) and lists (esp. Bible ones, like the 12 Apostles summaries, and practical tips for having a regular schedule of Bible reading. etc.).

A few random negative comments, some very picky, I know:
* Dozens of topics big and small (How to pass the plate, what to bring to potlucks) YET ZERO on church discipline.
* No index
* P. 27 Under How to Sing a Praise Song, intentionally 1960s looking illustration bears the caption "Beware of especially passionate worshipers who might raise their hands too quickly." The goofy uncle trying to be funny again.
* Pp. 35-36 -- WAY too brief of an explanation on baptism. The description as it stands does not address re-baptism.
* P. 37 -- Lord's Supper -- states the cup is "usually grape juice." Uggh.Wish they had advocated for wine!
* P. 39 -- States that traditionally Presb. celebrate quarterly or monthly. That may be true, but I wish they had at least mentioned that some have always celebrated weekly, including some of the Reformers.
P. 47-48 on how to stay alert in the service (drink water before, but not too much, etc.). Hard to tell if its trying to be funny.
P. 51 -- What to bring to a church potluck: Cereals: Southeast - cornflakes, Midwest - cornflakes, Northeast - cornflakes, West Coast: TOFU flakes. Desert - Cleveland - fudge brownies w/ fudge frosting; Kansas City - triple fudge w/ fudge sauce and a side of fudge. Los Angeles - TOFU fudge.... Painful. Uncle Floyd at open mike night at the local comedy club.
P. 60 -- The section is entitled History's Six Most Notorious Heretics. But then the choices are a mixture of famous and obscure. How can Hatuey (-1511) be included in the top six? Well, because he is Native American. Similarly, Hypatia of Alexandria (370-415) makes the cut. Why? "Her mistakes were to prefer study to marriage, to know more than the bishop, and to be a female teacher of males." Maybe, but she actually happened to be a powerful and prominent Neo-Platonist pagan too, which had something to do with it. Similarly, Joan of Arc was not declared a heretic for just being a "better army leader than men," was she? Probably more about her political value, or maybe even the bizarre visions.

And here the truly unorthodox (Pelagius) are lumped together with the merely controversial (Luther).

p. 62-63: "How to Avoid Getting Burned at the Stake" section: mocks the concept of heresy.

p. 65: World Religions: list 22 groups, some with less than a million members, but not JWs or Mormons. Makes me think they have incorrectly lumped these two into the 'Xian' category.

p. 68: Family Tree of Xianity is a muddled, misleading mess

p. 69: Xian Denominations -- lumps together all Baptists into one, all Methodists into one, etc., YET Pentecostal/Charismatic AND Assemblies of God each get separate categories. Then the number for Adventist is given as just 100,000! 7th Day Adventists alone are almost a million, never mind the dozens of other Adventist groups. Lots of the numbers on this page are way, way, way off.

p. 70 -- comparative denominations chart: too many problems to list. Rip those pages out.

p. 107ff. "How to choose a spouse" etc.: Oprah-level psychobabble. Trite pop wisdom, with little reference to a Biblical worldview.

p. 189 -- states with indignaion to beware that some Reformation confessions of faith 'prohibited women from baptizing.' This, it explains, was an historic accident of the debates with Roman Catholics. Actually, all of the Reformers did not think women should preach or do any of the roles reserved for ministers. And every side of every debate agreed.

Helpfully ends with blank pages for "Notes & Stuff"

These are mostly negatives. There is lots and lots of good and helpful information in there too. I just don't think it is a reliable tool for the uninformed, nor adds much knowledge or perspective for the more informed.

A whole lot better (though just a tad more difficult) is Sean Michael Lucas' brand new On Being Presbyterian (2006). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Gets to the point.
The title I gave this review says it all.I found this book very pleasurable to read.The question / answer format of this book provides the reader brief but concise information about the Presbyterian Church (USA) beliefs and practices.I would recommend this book to any inquirer or a lifetime PCUSA member who would like a refresher course in their faith.

Good book
I am a Presbyterian Pastor and just used this book for a new member's class.Very well written and concise too.Highly recommended.

Great for an overview
I was interested in learning more about the Presbyterian Church (USA).This book is good for a quick overview on all things, but it does not go into great detail on any subject.Nevertheless, it has proven to be a very useful book.I do recommend it especially for people who do not really know what the Presbyterian Church teaches and are interested. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Great Introduction to Presbyterianism
One of my favorite truisms after my years as a minister is "no one grew up Presbyterian". What I mean by that is that in most of our churches, there are very few people for whom the whole idea of being "Presbyterian" is a new thing.Combine this with the fact that, as I'm also fond of saying, "you don't have to be a Presbyterian to join a PCA church", means that a lot of us don't completely understand or buy in to all that a Presbyterian church believes.Sean Michael Lucas, a church history professor at Covenant Seminary, understands this dynamic.He did not grow up Presbyterian either!And to help teach a new members class at his former church, Lucas began writing what became, On Being Presbyterian.On Lucas' blog page, he describes his goal for the book as follows:

"I meant this book to be a lay-oriented introduction to Presbyterianism. As I wrote, I imagined that I was sitting across the table from someone at a Starbucks, trying to explain Presbyterian beliefs, practices, and stories to them. My hope was that the book would represent "vanilla Presbyterianism" in a winsome and warm way." [...]

The book is helpful in many ways.It is divided, as the subtitle suggests, into three parts, 1.Presbyterian Beliefs, 2. Presbyterian Practices, and 3. Presbyterian Stories.The book deals with many of the common struggles people have with Presbyterian beliefs such as infant baptism, predestination, the Five points of Calvinism and rule by elders.It also does a great job of describing Presbyterian views and practices on worship and church discipline.Each chapter also has helpful study questions at the end, along with suggestions for further reading.Lucas generally writes very clearly and helpfully, as you would expect given his stated goal above:

"What Presbyterians (and other Reformed believers) have always understood is that the Christian life is a way of life that is based on doctrine; or, to put it another way, our practices are based squarely on our beliefs." (pp. 100).

"Any progress that we make in the Christian life is due solely to the sovereign work of God's Spirit, motivated by God's amazing grace and rooted in God's glorious gospel.And the practices of piety that we have considered take our focus away from ourselves and our striving for God and plant us firmly in the Gospel itself." (pp. 110).

One brief caution, I love history-but if you don't share that love, than the third section of the book can be a little tough.He basically covers the history of Presbyterianism and the PCA in three chapters.But history lover or not, the first two sections are worth the price of the book.Wondering about infant baptism?Trying to figure out this predestination thing?Can't figure out what a Session is?Lucas' book will be a great help to you.

A Good Introduction To Presbyterianism
Despite being Baptist, I love and admire Presbyterianism. My parents are Presbyterians and raised me in that environment. Though I may not necessarily believe in them, I am at least sympathetic to many of the tenets of Presbyterianism, such as covenant theology, infant baptism and the Presbyterian system of church government. It was with some interest, then, that I began to read On Being Presbyterian by Sean Michael Lucas. This book, recently published by P&R Publishing, is intended to serve as a primer on all things Presbyterian. Lucas wants to show "how a particular type of identity is formed, as the confluence of beliefs, practices and stories." He seeks to introduce the beliefs, practices and stories that have converged to create Presbyterianism as it exists today.

These three divisions form the structure for the book. In the section dealing with beliefs, Lucas looks at God's sovereignty, the priority of grace, covenant and kingdom, the nature and purpose of the church and the signs and seals of God's grace. When dealing with practices, he examines piety, worship and church government. The final section looks at the genesis of Presbyterianism through the leadership of Calvin and Knox, and then turns to an examination of Presbyterianism in America. The book wraps up with an epilogue entitled "On Becoming Presbyterian" where he suggests what would be expected of a person who wished to adopt this system of beliefs and how a person might set about finding such a church body.

This book often recalled memories from my youth, many of which were very good memories. It helped me realize that in many ways I continue to be Presbyterian at heart, for it was necessity rather than desire that drove us out of these churches (there are far more solid Baptist churches in Canada than Presbyterian ones). While I do love Baptist churches, there is a part of me that will probably always be Presbyterian.

Ultimately, as a Baptist, I suppose that my view of this book only counts for so much. Eventually we'll need to ask other Presbyterians for their views on the book. They are, after all, more qualified to pass judgment on it. So let's look at some of the men who have endorsed this book. Ligon Duncan endorsed it saying it is a "popular introduction to Presbyterianism that I can put in the hands of Bible-believing, gospel-loved Presbyterians and other evangelicals interested in this part of the Christian family." Bryan Chapell, President of Covenant Seminary, says "The people who fill Bible-believing Presbyterian churches increasingly have little Presbyterian background. Lucas provides a terrific resource to get everyone up speed." John Muether of Reformed Theological Seminary says it is "A compelling and coherent account of the distinctive features of Presbyterian identity that draws the vital connection between Reformed faith and practice. Pastors, elders, and Presbyterian laypeople will want to study this book and pass it on to their children."

I enjoyed On Being Presbyterian and would recommend it either to those who are interested in learning about the distinctives of Presbyterianism, or those who are Presbyterian and would like to learn and understand more about their beliefs, practices and history. It is well-written and quite easy to understand and absorb. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Christian Beliefs - from a Reformed perspective
This book is well-written and easily understood. The book was introduced to a men's Bible study group that I am part of and we dedicated our study time to discussing the book, one chapter a week.

The book is really an introduction to Christian Beliefs from a Reformed perspective. Our group found the book helpful and biblical. Where Presbyterians disagree over issues, McKim was faithful to present a breadth of views.

Great overview in plain terms
I attend another faith services with a preference towards Presbyterianism. Since I am relatively new to this faith, I wanted a succinct background of the Presbyterian beliefs. This paperback has that, and it is well written in laymen's terms. There are also in-depth explanations of the church's positions on key issues of the faith. A feature which I especially like is the discussion question list at the end of each chapter. They can be used for group discussion or self-indulgence. At the end of the book there is a list of titles for further detail on any of the aforementioned subject matter. I believe that you will enjoy this book. I do. ... Read more

Book Description
A hilarious, tongue-in-cheek celebration of the foibles of the Frozen Chosen!

This Presby 101 handbook uses an advice format to describe Presbyterians by ostensibly addressing new members of the church. But it is a funny primer and survival manual for ALL members of the denomination! How to Survive Being a Presbyterian gently skewers the history, worship habits, and the endless committee meetings. And it covers clothing, potluck dinners, and yes, sex—as well as raising kids—all from the Presbyterian viewpoint. It's the self-help book with a difference.

You'll want to regale your friends with the little quips of the 300-year-old Percy T. Presby, who declares:

"Presbyterianism is a series of meetings occasionally interrupted by a worship service."

"The national drink of Presbyterian women is decaf coffee."

"Some Presbyterians believe that a jazz band is the Boston Pops."

Customer Reviews (8)

Bland book on an even blander topic
The history of the mainline Protestant denominations in America over the 20th century is a story of homogenization - United Methodist, Presbyterian Church (USA), United Church of Christ, Disciples of Christ, etc. are all pretty much the same content with a different name on the wrapper.Devoid of any theological or eccleasiastical distinctives, they're left with nothing but cultural idiosyncracies that aren't particularly interesting or distinctive (one of Reed's witty observations is that Presbyterian women drink decaf coffee - amazing, isn't it?).If you're wondering about the reasons of the massive drop-off in membership of mainline churches, this should serve as good evidence.

The Joys of Being Presbyterian
If you want a lighthearted look at the joys and idiosyncrasies of being a Presbyterian, this book is for you.Bob Reed takes our "Presbyterian Culture" and talks about it in ways that will have most long time Presbyterians giggling and nodding our heads.

His subtitle of the book is "A Merry Manual Celebrating the Funny Foibles of the Frozen Chosen."If you "take exception" to that nickname, well, so do I; but moving beyond it you will read and reflect upon all sorts of things that make us Presbyterian that do not appear in, say, the Book of Order or the creeds and confessions of our denomination.

The cover has two sidebars that say "Secrets Revealed!" and "Now it can be told!"-All in good fun, Bob Reed tells us the distinctive and sometimes hilarious things that make Presbyterians Presbyterian.From Reed's take on the Presbyterian dress code to "A Presbyterian's Idea of Hell on Earth" there is much that will give you a chance to think about what matters to us, and wonder just why in the world it does!

Author Reed has a vivid imagination and he has invented a little imaginary Presbyterian friend, called Percy T. Presby.Dressed in clothing you might expect to see in Colonial Williamsburg, from the three-corner hat down to the buckles on his shoes, Percy takes us all on a journey of discovery of Presbyterianism.Percy is very much like a Presbyterian version of Ben Franklin's "Poor Richard" (as in Poor Richard's Almanac), with all kinds of short memorable, one-liners.

These pithy quotations would be great discussion starters round the table or in a meeting...Here is an example:"Percy T. Presby's Thoughts About Meetings: `When it is apparent that the vote on an issue will me unanimous, there will usually be one negative vote, because many Presbyterians think unanimity on anything is probably against God's will.'" (page 46).

Whether you are brand new to the wonderful world of the Presbyterian Church or have been a part of it from the cradle roll on, you will find much to ponder and enjoy.Also included is "the Presbyterian National Anthem"-no I will not have our choir sing it for you-but it is also worth a chuckle.

If you find this review helpful you might want to read some of my other reviews, including those on subjects ranging from biography to architecture, as well as religion and fiction

GREAT PRESBYTERIAN HUMOR!
This is one funny book! The author takes on Presbyterians from an "inside the church" angle. It's a warm and gentle spoof of our denomination that imparts some real information about the founders and basic beliefs of our church.

I discovered it from an article in the Tampa paper that talked about its "insightful witticisms." It has that. This is not a serious tome but rather a good and humorous look at everything Presbyterian.

I have given it to my pastor and some church friends. It makes a good gift. I recommend it to all Presbyterians who want a good laugh.

Kay Gordon, Orlando

Committe Jokes OK
I got this book expecting humerous explanations of Presbyterian philosophy.It has a lot of cute jokes, but has very little food for thought in terms of Christian or philisophical content.I reccomend this for the Presbyterian committee member with a sense of humor.It's also a mildly good joke gift for a church leader.I wouldn't particularly reccomend buying it for your Sunday school class, though.

THE WIT AND WISDOM OF PERCY T. PRESBY
A broadly satirical but earnest and warm-hearted look at the peculiarities of Presbyterianism, "How To Survive Being a Presbyterian!" is a delightful little book that will amuse and inform everyone who opens its cover.Author Bob Reed covers a wide range of topics, from the beginning of the Reformed tradition to modern worship practices, including deft (albeit exaggerated) illustrations of typical churchmembers' personalities down to what color car Presbyterians should drive.Reed's text is highlighted by clever observations of the fictional Percy T. Presby, a 300-year old parson with a keen eye and a sharp tongue who has something to say about creation, prayers, confession, women, and just about everything else.A clever and informative book that should please any Presbyterian, or anyone who ever wondered what the Reformed Church is all about.Definitely recommended. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Presbyterian Hymnal CD and Vista Compatibility
This CD is a great way to copy and paste the songs of the Presbyterian Hymnal into Word documents, Powerpoint, etc. We also use it to import hymns into Mediashout for projection. One thing - to get it to work with Vista requires that two files be manually copied - dirdib.drv and macromix.dll into your c:\windows folder. Otherwise, you'll get error messages saying that the files can not be copied because the disk is full. What's happening is that the new Vista security features are preventing the files from being copied.

So where do you get these two files? Install and run the hymnal CD on a Windows XP computer. The files are only available while the program is running. They are removed when the program is closed. So - while the program is running, copy them to a floppy disk, flash drive or whatever and then manually copy them into the c:\windows folder on your Vista computer. You'll need administrator priveleges to do so.

After that, the CD runs as well on a Vista computer as on our XP computer.

Every Presbyterian Church Should Have This.

We understand that the Presbyterian Church is at the start of making a new hymnal (due to debut in 2014) to replace this one.Their theory is that every generation needs a new hymnal and if you look at the preceding hymnals (the blue or green hymnal of 1933, the maroon hymnal of 1955 and the ill-fated Worshipbook of the 70s), you see their point.

Even so, this one gets most things right and will be hard to beat.

The second half of the 20th century experienced what has been called the Hymn Explosion, and many of the best hymns of that time are represented in this book which is still called the "new" hymnal in most Presbyterian churches. There are some works that were hard to introduce to congregations that are now among their most beloved hymns represented: Let Us Talents and Tongues Employ, Here I Am Lord, etc.Fred Pratt Green, Timothy Dudley-Smith, Jane Parker Huber and Hal Hopson are all represented here, as well they ought to be.

There are also some under-utilized gems in it as well, songs like "Come O Spirit" (for Pentecost) and "God Bless Your Church" (for an anniversary) that have also found their way into other denominational hymnals.

All in all it is a great hymnal for expanding the congregations "Favorites" repertoire without being too jarring.

LindaJo McKim and company did yeoman's work in creating it.The layout is according to the liturgical year.The indexes are thorough and easy to use.The print is clear; the size is comfortable to hold while singing.There is a non-denominational version of this hymnal available too, from the publisher, for non-Presbyterian congregations who find it to their liking.

Four Stars, and a Half. (Good Resource, but.......)
This is a great hymnal, that was thoughtfully produced, and obviously had a huge amount of time dedicated to its production. Presbyterians now have a hymnal that goes straight through the liturgical year, from Advent to Pentecost/Whitsunday, and beyond. This hymnal also contains all the Psalms, so essential to tradition Presbyterian/Reformed Worship, set to music.

The redeeming quality of the Psalms offsets the fact that many words were to changed for "inclusiveness".I do not always have a problem with accepting everyone into the church, but when great hymns are changed from their original text I wonder...For example hymn 262 reads "God of the Ages, Whose Almighty Hand", when D.C. Roberts wrote "God of Our Fathers, Whose Almighty Hand" in 1876 as our National Hymn.Little things like this make me wonder how true other less-well known hymns were translated.

Also included are a number of hymns in foreign tongues, such as Native American Languages, and Korean.This are wonderful additions to congregations with large numbers of members who are of different ethnic origins, but I attend an all-white church, not because we do not welcome people of other races but simply because the community in which I live is close to 99% white, and minorities have teir own strong churches locally, therefore these hymns are useless to us, and could have been replaced by some older hymns that are trditional favorites.

All in all, this is a good hymnal and does remain true to God's will, but I much prefer "The Hymnbook" of 1955 or "The Hymnal" of 1933 or "The Trinity Hymnal".These books contain many more common hymns that many of us who were reared in the Presbyterian Church, or any other Protestant denomination, would recognize.

I guess that if we were truly Presbyterian we would only sing Psalms- acapella, but I think hymnwriters, offer everyone a better chance to praise and worship God. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Back Cover Copy
"Honorable, important and essential" are the words this book uses to describe the work of elders. To help laymen and women of the church serve more effectively in this office, The Duties of the Ruling Elder by Paul S. Wright has been revised in conformity with the Book of Order, 1985-1986.

This easy-to-use guide is a valuable resource for current and future elders and for study in churches and seminaries. It covers such basic topics as the Presbyterian and Reformed understanding of how the Christian faith and qualifications of elders and how these are determined, as well as the functions of that office. It discusses the role of elders in the session and in the presbytery and their relationship to pastors and to the whole church. Contemporary examples highlight this book's relevance, while quotations from the Bible and the Constitution of the church make it an excellent study guide.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Not for the lay person
This book is written by a professor of Theology and in my opinion is geared more toward an audience of academicians. It is not an easy read as it is very wordy - to the point of being choppy and lacking flow. I can see it being useful for students of Theology for purposes of research papers as it is filled with a wealth of information. However, this is not a book for the casual reader that is just looking to learn more about the history of the Presbyterian religion. While it provides the information you're probably looking for, it reads like a college text book. This is definitely a book for clergy and the world of academia, NOT for the lay person or casual reader.

Utterly Amazing
This little book is jam-packed with as near a complete history of Presbyterian Heritage as is accesible to the average laity.I was very impressed with the clarity and description, and the charts and photos greatly enhanced my understanding.As a religion student I would highly reccomend this to all my Presbyterian brethern.This is a truly good read.

Excelent Resource
Excelent resource I am useing it for a research paper it great for putting dates in prespective. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An excellent worship resource
I bought this book for a Theology class I took during college, but have used it since as a guide for daily devotions.Its prayers take on a natural rhythm throughout the year, and I feel connected to a larger tradition knowing that others use this same book to guide their own daily worship.For professional worship wonks and lay persons alike, this volume should have a prized position in any library. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Prayer
Anyone wanting to have a structured prayer life I highly recommendBook of Common Prayer.It is a beautiful book andpraying the psalms helps deepen one^s spiritual life.The Lectionary gives you the daily readings of the church.It is an ecumenical book with many beautiful and inspiring prayers.This is a book that will give you much thought for meditation.I highly recommend it. The book is for morning and evening prayer.

Prayer
Anyone wanting to have a structured prayer life I highly recommendBook of Common Prayer.It is a beautiful book andpraying the psalms helps deepen one^s spiritual life.The Lectionary gives you the daily readings of the church.It is an ecumenical book with many beautiful and inspiring prayers.This is a book that will give you much thought for meditation.I highly recommend it. The book is for morning and evening prayer.

Prayer
Anyone wanting to have a structured prayer life I highly recommendBook of Common Prayer.It is a beautiful book andpraying the psalms helps deepen one^s spiritual life.The Lectionary gives you the daily readings of the church.It is an ecumenical book with many beautiful and inspiring prayers.This is a book that will give you much thought for meditation.I highly recommend it. The book is for morning and evening prayer.

It's About Time.
We Presbyterians needed a book which conveys our tradition and guides us in prayer.This book is wonderful!I can see the hand of providence (how Presbyterian of me!).Its major sources are The Book of Common Prayer, TheBook of Common Order, Ecumenical Prayer Books, and "New"material.The book has given order to my prayer life and infused mydevotions with meaning.

The Pastor's book review for monthly church newsletter
I have committed myself to the spiritual discipline of writing meaningful letters to friends; yet, I just could not give up the daily practice of intentional, guided, prayer.In the past five or six months I read adevotional reflection, scripture, and prayers, both written and private.Ithen used these prayers and scripture as a type of mantra to reflect on atheme for the day.After this has concluded I would clear my mind and waitfor God to speak.There is a specific small leather covered book I haveused to recite guided prayers and Scriptures.The Book of Common Worship:Daily Prayer has been an invaluable tool in my discipline of daily prayer. The Book of Common Worship: Daily Prayer has a number of beneficialtools for a daily prayer practice.The book has provided an outline forMorning and Evening Prayer time, with alternative texts for special seasonsand festivals within the church year.The book even provides a section forprayers at mealtime.The book breaks down the Psalms into those shared atCorporate Worship and then ones that can be used in private reflection. Prayer Litanies are provided on a number of subjects of need.The Book ofCommon Worship: Daily Prayer concludes with a helpful listing of the dailylectionary for the church year. I have enjoyed the process oflearning the Psalms in an ongoing spiritual process.I have explained onnumerous occasions the difference between reading Scripture, and usingScripture as a communal discipline of prayer.Reading a psalm and thensaying the same verse over and over until I know it by heart allows me tointernalize the message.Then I allow the passage float between myconscious and unconscious mind in silence.Once in a while a spark ofdivine recognition takes place in the directed silent communion with Godthrough prayer. This book is a stepping off place in your dailyprayer life.I recommend this book for the holidays because of it's a giftof prayer.The leather cover, with gold trim, is elegant while remainingaffordable.How many Christmas gifts have the potential to change lives. If you decide you want the Book of Common Worship: Daily Prayer foryourself or someone else, give the church office a call and Jane can giveyou the number for Cokesbury publishing, so you can order in time forChristmas or find it on the web at www.amazon.com.Let me knowhow this resource influences your daily prayer life. Rev. ScottPaczkowski, First Presbyterian Church, Merrillville, IN ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Congratulations to the Presbyterians
The Presbyterians have assembled, in a substantial, attractive format, music from many streams of Christianity, Catholic and protestant, ancient and modern.The font is large and easy to read, the arrangements accessible without being banal, and the book stays open on the piano.And even better, some good angels protected many texts from the demons of political correctness and exclusive language that have ravaged so many hymnals in the last decade.Some hard-to-find jewels are here (Jerusalem).There's silliness here too, (Earth and All Stars) but it's a good collection. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A notable work on liturgy
Weaver, in producing this work, has contributed a great deal to the existing library of works on liturgy. Though the title indicates that the book is intended for clergy, this book is crucial to the lay leader's and, indeed, the layperson's, understanding of worship and should not be relegated to the dusty shelves of the seminary bookstore. Indeed, all vital and vibrant churches should have at least one copy of Presbyterian Worship in their libraries. Seminarians alone should not have the privilege of enjoying this timely and exciting book.

Hands down, the best book on worship today
This book is a must-have for any preacher's library. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Not Worth Buying
I first read this book because I was told that Jack Rogers was an inspiring writer who broke from his conservative background to forward progressive causes for alternative communities.What I found was that he didn't have much to say.Reading the book of Confessions is intersting enough (or not, depending on who you ask), and it can't and doesn't really need to be made more clear.

Weak in Explaining Presbyterian Doctrine
This book is useful to a good understanding of how a large portion of the clergy in the PCUSA today view the confessional standards of the PCUSA.However, as many of these clergy do not have an understanding, nor do they teach, the doctrines that our pious fathers in the Presbyterian Church once taught from the same pulpit, this book also is very weak as a tool for the Christian who aspires to become an elder or other church officer.

The author has a weak understanding of reformed theology.What he feels to be the essential tenets of the reformed faith are ten tenets listed in the Book of Order (not the Book of Confessions) which he belives summarize the reformed faith.A much better understanding is required of church officers.Church officers must be sound in the faith, and this book lacks the guidance to help church officers.It does not properly give an understanding of reformed faith, and it does not serve as an effective tool to understanding reformed faith and doctrine.

The whole argument of essential tenets has been especially fierce in the last 100 years (more so in the early 1900's).The author of this book comes down on one side of the essential tenet argument.He is biased, and he is biased against subscription.He does not say that he is biased, and therefore will not explain or defend his position.Indeed, the whole issue of subscription is avoided.Thus, an accurate history on the subject of subscription to the Confession is not offered in this book.Presbyterian ministers and elders historically subscribed to the Confession of Faith as their own confession - to be what they believe scripture teaches.This they continued until the 1900's.Also, the use of the word "tenets" is a rather new invention.Our Presbyterian fathers used the word "articles", as the Confession was made up of articles (Each chapter of the confession consists of several articles).The word "tenets", which is now used, does not refer to the articles, but to a set of beliefs.So we now have the "essential tenets" of the reformed faith and confessions.This was not the talk of Presbyterians before.

The author of this book quotes a part of a sentence from the Adopting Act of 1729.He subverts the meaning of the Adopting Act by drawing a wrong conclusion about it based on this one part of a sentence from it.His conclusion is what he wants you to accept without going into an analysis of the Act itself or explaining that there are those that disagree with him.For if it is explained that there is disagreement, then an explanation would be required to establish why he believes as he does.This however takes time and work.So it is avoided.Many clergy in the PCUSA take his side on this point.But you are not getting the whole story from this book.You need more knowledge to understand the issue.Thus the meaning of the ministers that wrote the Adopting Act is not explained, and you will not understand it unless you exert yourself to learn more.This book will not help you.And thus, the whole argument of what is required of those who aspire to be church officers is misreprented by many, including this author.This issue of essential articles was actually decided by the 1729 Synod.And of course, they did not use the word - "tenets".

The author of this book gives his biased argument for his position.However, he does not present the other position.He doesn't even acknowledge that there are those that disagree with him.There are whole denominations that disagree with him on these points, including the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and the Presbyterian Church in America.Seminaries disagree with him, including Reformed Theological Seminary and Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary (viz. disagreement about the issue of subscribing to the confessions and what is essential in reformed faith).There are resources available that present the arguments that are lacking in this book.These other resources can give you a better understanding of Presbyterianism and help you to understand the reformed faith and therefore understand more about our faith in God and what it means to be Christ's disciple.

Again, this book is useful as tool to understand the author's side on the issues he presents.He does not work to establish his position as he does not acknowledge any other position.This book helps you to know how many of the clergy look at the confessions of the church and how arrogant they are about telling you how you should believe.

Presbyterian Creeds by Jack Rogers
Dr. Rogers' classic historical and theological explication of the creeds making up the PC(USA) Book of Confessions is profound, exciting, and enlightening.He shows us how to use the confessions intelligently and wisely to understand who we are as Christians and as Presbyterians and to see how "the church reformed, always being reformed" has grown and deepened in relationship with the living God.This book is illuminates a part of where we come from and who we are. ... Read more

Book Description
Published during the 10th anniversary of the Book of Common Worship (1993), "The Companion to the Book of Common Worship" is a practical guide, answering questions such as "How do I use the Book of Common Worship to its fullest advantage?" and "How can the Book of Common Worship form a congregation into a community that glorifies and enjoys God?" The book presents a variety of possibilities for enacting services in the Book of Common Worship and, thereby, stimulates the imagination of worship planners and leaders in accomplishing their various tasks. In particular, "The Companion" provides background information regarding the services, comments on the rubrics accompanying texts, and suggests some ways to use the texts and, occasionally, abridge or augment them for particular situations. Sections in "The Companion" parallel those in the Book of Common Worship and include Service for the Lord's Day, Liturgical Year, Baptism, Daily Prayer, Marriage, and Music, among others. This book also contains a study guide to the Book of Common Worship. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A sort of autobiography of Presbyterianism
As a nondenominational Christian, I've become interested lately in the actual theology of the Church.I've been reading/searching for general histories and expositions, primarily from a Protestant point of view.Although this book is specifically a Presbyterian publication, beginning basically with the Scottish Reformation, it does a nice job of explaining the historical circumstances/motivation behind each document.The result is a very logical presentation of how Presbtyerian beliefs have gone from A to B over the past 300+ years.

The major theological confessions...in one volume
Regardless of denominational affiliation, this book is a winner!The "Book of Confessions: Study Edition" takes most of the major Reformed theological treatises (and then some) and puts them in one handybook.Although this book was written by PC(USA) (of which I am a member)and therefore contains some of its theological biases in it (femaleordination, "A Brief Statement of Faith," &c.) those in moreconservative Presbyterian denoms (such as the PCA, Cumberland P.C.,Covenanters, et al.) will find this book equally useful.This is a greatresource in truly *knowing* the Presbyterian Christian faith. ... Read more