Yvonne Morey. South Australia: Open Book Publishers, 2002. 151 pp. Price $16.95

Creative worship ideas for small groups has been written to provide creative ideas for small group leaders to encourage joyful and meaningful worship times. Its aim is to encourage times of worship that are God focused with a strong biblical base, enabling worshippers to experience a “full love relationship with God”. The author suggests that such worship times will inevitably be followed by increased compassion, heart change, obedience to God and service to others.

For over thirty years the author, Yvonne Morey has been in leadership positions in a variety of both church and secular groups and is passionate about encouraging effective group life. She is even more passionate about encouraging group leaders to explore and to develop ideas that lead to joyous and creative worship. All of the ideas suggested in this book have been tried and proven and it comes as a very practical resource to help small-group worship leaders. John Mallison, founder of the Australian Small Group Network, a prolific writer on the role of small groups in Christian community, evangelism, nurture of new disciples, Christian life-style development and pastoral care, provides the following encouraging comments in his foreword:

Yvonne Morey writes out of thirty years experience in leading a variety of secular and church small groups. Over the last ten years she has been more deeply involved in equipping and supporting those who lead groups. I consider her to be one of the most creative small-group facilitators in Australia.

The book has been written in an informal, easy-to-follow style, with a very useful subject index. A ‘worship leader’s checklist’ is included that provides ten important points to remember before you lead your group in worship, such as, “be yourself” and “don’t rush the devotion”. The sixty-four worship guides, arranged in four chapters, cover interesting topics such as “the great ‘I am’s’, “giving thanks'”, “submission”, “bursting with praise”, “fear not”. Other resources to assist in group prayer times are outlined in chapter five. While the ideas presented in this book are imaginative and varied, they are biblically based and provide a balance between worship, fellowship, nurture and service. Each guide presents fresh and inspiring ideas to encourage all who wish to worship God in ‘spirit and in truth’.

While many may feel that worship is synonymous with singing, other forms of worship are presented in this book. The segments include words of introduction to the theme, scripture passages, prayers, reflections and experiences that enhance the worship time. At the end of some segments, further tips for group worship and prayer such as the following, have been included:

Before starting the time of worship it may be helpful to allow a couple of minutes for people to ‘hand over to God’, in prayer or on paper, whatever might distract them from worship.

I am excited at the publication of this book, as I have been personally touched by Yvonne’s creative and inspiring ideas in worship. I have also heard encouraging comments from others who have been exposed to her gentle leadership. Comments such as “that was the most meaningful experience I have had in my christian walk” and “I have never prayed out loud before. it was easy to do so in this setting” speak for themselves. This book is an indispensable resource for every group leader and program coordinator and a ‘must have’ for those involved in small group ministry. I can’t wait to try out some of her ideas!

Ros Raward

Lecturer

School of Information Studies and Tourism

University of Canberra.