Robert Webber

Robert Webber, pre-eminent scholar of worship renewal, has entered the throng of angels and righteous dead lifting unceasing praises before the throne of Almighty God, singing,

Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God of hosts.
Heaven and earth are filled with your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.

Dr. Webber has been an inspiration to me since I first picked up the third volume of his Complete Library of Christian Worship as a birthday present for myself back in Terre Haute, Indiana, the late 1990′s. That, and the subsequent books read and conferences attended, changed my life in several positive ways. In fact, I have noted him as one of the top theological influences on my life.

Robert Webber’s work provided a strong remedial education in worship theory and practice, more than making up for all I didn’t get in seminary. (Preaching was a required course, but nothing about planning and/or leading worship!) It renewed and redirected my interest in the historical roots of Christianity. In fact, the testimonies he collected and edited in Evangelicals on the Canterbury Trail almost had me crossing the Thames.

Webber sparked my still-growing love of the Eucharist as the central and most defining element of Christian worship. He spurred me on to try new things in worship (which were actually old things that no Baptist of my acquaintance had ever tried before). In short, he is probably responsible for at least a few of the complaints I got as a pastor because I dared to fiddle around with the order of worship!

Robert Webber has come to the end of what was apparently (and mercifully) a relatively short battle with pancreatic cancer. I’m sorry that he is gone, but comforted to know that for him, all pain and suffering are past.

Here are what some other good folks are saying about Robert Webber.

• Byzantine-Rite Calvinist: Robert E. Webber (1933-2007)
• Claude Mariottini: Dr. Robert Webber – In Memoriam
• iMonk: Robert Webber Is Gone
• IsaiahSix: Dr. Robert Webber, 1933-2007
• JesusCreed: Bob Webber in Memoriam