Book 11 of 2011 -- The Spectacle of Worship in a Wired World

I heard Tex speak at a UCCan event in 2002.  I remember being, on the whole, underwhelmed.  What he was saying about worship planning was meaningless in the place where I was then serving.  ANd beyond that, even for what did have value his solution was totally unreasonable and unworkable [as I remember it was along the lines of "blended worship doesn't really exist, traditional worship doesn't work for younger generations, so the only answer is to start a second service"  in a town of 3000 with an average attendance at Sunday worship of 40?].

However, this book was in an area that I have been wanting to look at and so I picked it up.  (well that and over the intervening 9 years I had forgotten my reaction to hearing him speak)

It had some valid points.  But on the whole I did not find it compelling.  At the end of the book he describes what he calls a worship service.  But to be honest I read a description of a production/performance -- not a worship service.

Worship is, and always has, at least partly spectacle.  And there is a need for those of us in the church to explore what role the electronic culture of TV, Rock music, Dance, Social Media etc can play in our public worship.  But Sample seems to go more into embracing it wholeheartedly than I am comfortable with.