Journal of European Baptist Studies, Volume 7, No. 3, 2007

Younger scholars, e.g. PhD students, are encouraged to propose papers. The proposals, which should explain the topic, main arguments and conclusion, should have no more than 500 words. They can be written in German or English. The presentation at the conference can be in Czech, English or German. Proposals must be submitted by 30 June 2007 to [email protected], to whom further questions should be addressed. A small committee will decide which papers they accept and will communicate their decision by email by the end of August 2007. 52 Journal of European Baptist Studies Book Reviews Keith G. Jones and Parush R. Parushev Currents in Baptistic Theology of Worship Today Prague: IBTS, 2007, 180 pp. This is another fine contribution to the series of occasional publications from IBTS which are opening up new areas in the overall field of Baptist identity in the contemporary world. A conference on the theme of worship in Baptist life, which was organised by a team of those involved in Applied Theology at IBTS, led to the production of this volume. It brings together papers by nine authors, all of them involved in church life and ministry as well as in theological reflection. Keith Jones sets the scene in the first essay, which contains a provocative call for ‘abandoning public worship’. Instead of public worship, which has civic overtones, or private worship, only for the elect, Keith Jones argues for ‘porous worship’ - which has, at its core, covenanted believers engaging together, but with others welcome to ‘come and see’. A number of trends and ideas are then unpacked in absorbing detail in the next two chapters by Chris Ellis, now pastor of West Bridgford Baptist Church, Nottingham, England, and formerly Principal of Bristol Baptist College. Chris Ellis, like Keith Jones, has been a significant influence on the renewal of thinking about baptistic worship. As is always the case in publications from IBTS - and this is part of what makes them such a rich resource - Central and Eastern European contributors, as well as those from Western Europe, are well represented. Alexander Kozynko, who was the Rector of the Moscow Baptist Theological Seminary, offers a panoramic biblical vision of ‘Worship in Spirit and Truth’. Ivana Noble from the Czech Republic, who teaches part- time at IBTS in addition to her teaching at the Evangelical Theological Faculty at Charles University, contributes an illuminating study of ecumenical worship, focussing especially on the work of the Russian Orthodox theologian, Alexander Schmemann. Deftly drawing from a wide range of material, Lina Andronoviene, who is Director of the Non- Residential School of the Baptist Union of Lithuania and course leader in Applied Theology at IBTS, probes crucial issues about hymns and songs in Baptist worship. And Meego Remel from Estonia, a pastor and lecturer, reaches back into Anabaptist history in a fascinating analysis o