Let's Talk about Worship
With Baptist Union President (2014-15) Chris Ellis and Baptist Minister Ruth Rice
Welcome to this resource which was produced in 2014 to accompany Chris Ellis during his year as President of our Union.
Chris, one might say, literally wrote the book on Baptist worship. As the co-editor of
Gathering for Worship, the words and liturgies he helped to pull together are used in our churches each week. He is the author of several books on the subject, including
Approaching God, his work honed by many years as a local church minister, Principal of Bristol Baptist College and life in general.
To tap into this vast experience Chris was interviewed by Ruth Rice, a fellow Baptist pastor in Nottingham, for
Baptists Together magazine ahead of his year as President. The resulting conversation explored dimensions of worship (and more), and contained such interesting reflections it has now been converted into this eight-session course suitable for small groups.
Each session features a short (five to ten minutes) video clip of the conversation, accompanied by biblical verses and a series of questions to help delve into some of the points raised in the film.
The questions are deliberately open-ended – there are no right or wrong answers! – and are offered as discussion starters. There may be other points you wish to examine, so there is no need to follow the questions in the order in which they are presented. We simply suggest you begin in prayer, read the scripture, watch the clip, and take it from there, using the questions as a guide but with the freedom to wander. There is also space on the website after each session to offer reflections and feedback, and we would love to hear how you are getting on.
Follow the links below to access each of the sessions, and
download the study group material, including a transcript of the video conversations, from our Resources Library.