Published on
February 11, 2021
Violence, Injustice, Trauma, and the Ordinary Practices of Christian Worship in a Social Media Age, a 3-part lecture series with Dr. John Witvliet

Public worship is so much more than an exercise in thinking. It is also about the gestures, postures, and profound emotions that emerge from our covenantal engagement with the triune God. As we face the world's tragedies, how might Christian public worship be a school of discipleship not merely for how we think about them, but also for how we feel about and in them? How might worship purify and sanctify our emotions? Drawing on several generations of theological testimony about African-American spirituals, this lecture will explore what "godly sorrow," "righteous anger," and "cruciform hope" have sounded like across a range of Christian worship music, and then explore how we might deepen our own practices of singing together at the Lord's Table. We'll conclude with reflections on how all of these forms of transfigured engagement with violence, injustice, and trauma require collaboration in Christian community. We need each other—pastors, musicians, and artists; Mennonite, Reformed, and Catholic communities; missiologists, pastoral care givers, and theologians—not so that we will arrive at a neat and tidy formula for our typical Sunday morning services, but rather to cultivate a cruciform imagination out of which those services will be shaped and experienced, and a mutual commitment to serve together as ministers of God's peace.

Watch part 1 and 2 of the lecture series.

Recent Media Resources

Nurturing Children through Intergenerational Worship and Prayer

Congregations, pastors, and parents/caregivers have many opportunities to join together in worship and prayer practices that more intentionally engage children and help them come to know and love God and grow in faith together. Panelists will discuss ways to intentionally create intergenerational community in which people of all ages, including children, are welcomed as full participants whose participation enriches the community and gives praise to God.

June 30, 2024 | 73 min video
Preaching and Peacemaking

What is the role of preaching in situations of deep conflict and division? How can preaching participate in the Christian call to peacemaking? This panel will explore the connections between gospel preaching and peacemaking efforts.

June 30, 2024 | 72 min video