The Worship of God, by Ralph P. Martin, Eerdmans, $7.95; Worship Old S New, by Robert E. Webber, Zondervan, $12.95; Worship: Rediscovering the Missing Jewel, by Ronald Allen and Gordon Borror, Multnomah, $9.95.

Reviewed by Bruce L. Shelley, professor of church history, Denver Conservative Baptist Seminary, Denver, Colorado

The prelude, skillfully played, wafted from the organ. But no one heard it. Too much chatter. The psalm that followed set the stage for worship, but the mood shifted abruptly. A lay leader made an impromptu appeal for Sunday school teachers and tacked on an immediate request for two or three adults to corral a class of junior boys loose in the parking lot.

A recently returned missionary was next. It was obvious he was doing a great work, but he needed, and took, too long to tell about it. Twenty minutes into the service the congregation sang the opening hymn, which had nothing to do with teaching Sunday school or foreign missions. After the hymn the "order of service" ...