Church at Church

Jean-Jacques von Allmen's work was animated by three key insights: the Church both learns and becomes what it truly is when it gathers to worship; worship tells the story of God's salvation history and invites God's people into it; and by doing so, the church offers the world both a stern warning and a hopeful promise. The Swiss Reformed pastor and professor is among the most admired liturgical theologians of the twentieth century, but his work is largely and lamentably unknown to most worship leaders. In Church at Church, Ron Rienstra provides an introduction to this important thinker. He offers methodological and biographical context and then explores von Allmen's most generative insights concerning the church as it engages in its most foundational activity: worship. Viewed through the lens of the Nicene marks, Rienstra's exploration yields the outlines of a 'liturgical ecclesiology', a way to help the church think more deeply about its identity and to help its leaders shape the worship they prepare and lead today.