Reviewed by Tony Cummings

Subtitled The Worship Movement That Impacted The Nations, this is a long needed history of the modern worship movement from 1961 when renowned American preacher A W Tozer wrote that, when critiquing the Church of the time, "we are missing the genuine and sacred offering of ourselves and our worship to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" and how God raised up, particularly in the British Church, three generations of worship leaders. Written by A&R manager, record producer and bass player Moir, who had first-hand experience of the seismic changes in worship ministry during these decades, the book succinctly charts the history from the early days of New Zealand's Scripture In Song and Britain's Youth Praise, through to Jimmy & Carol Owens' Come Together worship musical and on to the UK worship pioneers like Graham Kendrick, Dave Bilbrough and Noel Richards. All the major figures, Bible weeks and festivals are covered from that point on and considering the vast and multi-faceted stories woven into this 250 plus page book, Les does a masterly job in pulling together so many threads while his insistence that this ongoing movement was inspired and driven by God's Holy Spirit rather than simply young musicians embracing new cultural forms is spot on. An important history which will remind all worshippers where we've come from and give us some hints as to where Jesus Culture, Hillsong, Martin Smith, Bethel Music and the other revivalists are leading us.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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