Pro's:
This is surely a scholarly work that is designed to make the case for reviving the rich heritage of Reformed worship.
There is a significant amount of supporting resources, so whether or not you find the case persuasive, it isn't for qualitative lack of evidence.
There is also a quality of extensive scholarly support from historical sources of early church history and Reformed polity post-Calvin's Geneva. He discusses John Knox's Scottish Presbyterianism, Zwingli's Zurich, and others who implemented a rich piety within their congregations which carried the rich heritage that is a robust view of worship in the Church.
It addresses the historical wane of lectio continua (the practice of reading Scripture in sequence over a period of time) and the rise of more sensationalistic practices of worship--attempt at pop cultural relevancy, personal interest stories, multi-media presentations, etc.
He extols the value of preaching and exaltations from Scripture and gives examples of well-known figures in Church history who were persuaded by the Spirit through the faithful preaching of the Word.
Cons:
Because of the extensive amount of references, the fact that the footnotes are not at the bottom of the page makes reviewing the sources quite laborious. It's unclear if this formatting choice was the publisher's or author's, but it does detract from the ease of reading and consultation of footnotes.
The other side of the references coin is that, when you have too many, it can make it difficult to discern from the author's voice and the copy/pasting of quotations from other sources. Again, I believe the intention was to support the case that is being made, but if one could lose marks for over-supporting, this volume does lose some points for lack of readability due to the amount of "quotes" and references that are not easy to refer to at the back of the book.
Favorite Section:
Since becoming sympathetic to the Reformed expression of Christianity, I have had a personal passion for the frequency of the Lord's Supper. Having been part of churches that relegated this part of worship to weekday or monthly observance, I felt a palpable absence of this sacrament. Before I even knew what a "means of grace" was, for some reason I knew that the Lord's table was far more vital to my weekly Christian faith than was shown by the church I belonged to. Even when I had joined a Reformed congregation, it wasn't until a year or so later that they had moved to a weekly observance and I was elated by this change. So I certainly feel that Chapter 6 of the section: III. The Strengths of Reformed Worship and Ministry; "It is Bible-filled-II" is worth the price of this book.
This is an academic work and assumes some knowledge of Latin theological terms. Thankfully I have a Latin/Greek terms dictionary, otherwise I would have spent a lot of time on Google looking up the terms. That being said, this is a weighty and academic appeal that assumes at least some background in theology and historical theology.
Overall, this is a strong work despite its organizational quirks (references being in the back of the book, instead of at the foot of the page) and assumptions of lexical knowledge. It's not light and is probably going to be challenging to a layperson who is simply inquiring about what worship looked like in Calvin's church. You will get that--and a lot more. There's a lot to digest, so don't expect a breezy read.
It has some early praise from other theological authors I respect, such as W. Robert Godfrey (Westminster Seminary California) and Derek W. H. Thomas (Reformed Theological Seminary-Atlanta), so I think this deserves careful consideration as a legitimate addition to the works of historical theology. I just think the writing style is a little choppy, which is admittedly a personal preference. I just personally think authors like Michael S Horton and W Robert Godfrey are better written (and oratory) communicators, which makes even the academic more accessible to the layperson. That's a gift that not every author possesses in excess, so I would not let that deter you if this is a topic you are passionate about.
You will certainly be blessed with a deeper understanding of historically Reformed worship, especially if you are a leader in a Reformed church.
So pick this up, noting the qualifications noted above.
