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Meditation by Alexej von Jawlensky (1864-1941)

Psalms Retreats Invite Vulnerability, Build Hope and Trust

When a congregation in Long Beach, California, designed a psalms retreat as part of a worship renewal grant, they had no idea how it would grow and blossom. Engaging with psalms of confession, praise and thanksgiving, lament, and hope and trust has helped hundreds of Christians develop a new language of prayer.

Feature Story Feature Story | September 12, 2023

Rosemary Apol-Hoezee

Rosemary Apol-Hoezee on Dementia and Worship

Chaplains have been using the Evening Star worship manual in memory care facilities for almost twenty years. The second edition incorporates new research on dementia to create a worship model that is even better at engaging people who live with dementia.

Conversation Conversation | September 07, 2023

Rosemary Apol-Hoezee

Rosemary Apol-Hoezee on Dementia and Inclusion

People who’ve served and attended churches faithfully often feel isolated when their cognition declines—and so do their caregivers. Your congregation can take simple steps to become more dementia friendly.

Conversation Conversation | September 07, 2023

Keith McLaughlin Douds

Keith M. Douds on Creating Safe Space for Church Groups

Church retreats, church governance meetings, and church small groups require honesty, vulnerability, and transparency to collectively draw closer to God. Psychologist Keith M. Douds explains how and when to step in with grace and preserve safety so that everyone has a chance to share and be listened to.

Conversation Conversation | September 01, 2023

Bible Quilt by Harriet Powers (1837-1910)

Children and Youth Can Dwell in the Word Too

Dwelling in the Word is a tool for helping people of all ages—even children—to read and reflect on the Bible together. Doing so helps them to see the Bible as an ongoing story in which God invites us to participate in God’s mission for the world.

Feature Story Feature Story | August 18, 2023

word cloud Dwelling in the Word

Nine Tips to Effectively Embed Dwelling in the Word

The communal practice of Dwelling in the Word has great potential for building congregational bonds with God, each other, and neighbors. These nine tips can help your church discern God’s promised and preferred future for you as you wait for Christ to return and make all things new.

Feature Story Feature Story | August 18, 2023

Luke 10 by Maximino Cerezo Barredo

Dwelling in the Word: Simple Practice Leads to Spirit-led Mission

Explore Dwelling in the Word, a communal way of engaging Scripture that helps people encounter God, fellow dwellers, and other neighbors. The change happens over time as people repeatedly listen to and discuss the same passage.

Feature Story Feature Story | August 18, 2023

Kizombo Kalumbula and Artie M. Lindsay

Two Pastors on Leading by Giftedness and Stewarding Diversity

Kizombo Kalumbula and Artie M. Lindsay Sr. helped found a church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, modeled on leading by giftedness. Gradually Tabernacle Community Church realized that their natural diversity was a gift from God meant to be stewarded during “such a time as this” in American culture.

Conversation Conversation | April 11, 2023

Kizombo Kalumbula and Artie M. Lindsay

Kizombo Kalumbula and Artie M. Lindsay Sr. on Work and Worship 

Valuing diversity in worship includes but goes beyond multiethnic considerations. It also means helping people of different ages, abilities, and vocations see themselves as living out their part to usher in God’s shalom. Two pastors offer practical insights for congregations interested in work and worship.

Conversation Conversation | March 27, 2023

LaTonya McIver Penny

LaTonya McIver Penny on Inclusion in Black Churches

The common thread in LaTonya McIver Penny’s pastoral and professional lives has been God’s calling to help faith communities, especially Black churches, become more inclusive. Learn why she sees inclusion as broader than welcoming people with cognitive or physical disabilities.

Conversation Conversation | January 31, 2023

Moses Chung and Christopher Meehan

Two Pastors on God at Work in Ordinary People and Places

Moses Chung and Christopher Meehan cowrote the book "Joining Jesus: Ordinary People at the Edges of the Church." They hope these stories will give people and congregations hope, encouragement, and imagination to see what God is already doing in their neighborhoods.

Conversation Conversation | January 23, 2023

Katie Ritsema-Roelofs

Katie Ritsema-Roelofs on Intentional Work for Intergenerational Worship and Community

In this episode, worship planner and musician Katie Ritsema-Roelofs shares about the importance of thoughtful and intentional ways the whole congregation can join in the formational work of intergenerational, corporate worship.

Audio Audio | Podcast Podcast | December 05, 2022

Kevin Secundino

Kevin Secundino on Knowing You’re Not Alone

Participating in Calvin University’s Ministry Leadership Cohort and doing a summer ministry internship at his church taught one pre-med student a lot about God’s promises. You can apply some of what he learned to your own congregation.

Conversation Conversation | December 05, 2022

Demythologizing Freedom and the Beloved Community: A Practical Theology

This Recording from the African American Religious Autobiographies Seminar, held in July 2022, highlights the psychological and spiritual profiles of key religious anti-racist figures from the 19th and 20th Century, using practical theology and psychohistory.

Video Video | November 09, 2022

Stanley W. Jim

Navajo Burials and Christian Hope

The COVID-19 pandemic has complicated death-related issues in the Navajo Nation. Even so, affirming all that's good about "walking in beauty" gives Navajos on the Jesus Way a bridge to comfort people bound by fearful Navajo taboos about death.

Article Article | December 01, 2021

Marnus and Angelique Havenga

Angelique Havenga and Marnus Havenga on Lament, Community, and Ubuntu in the Dutch Reformed Church of Stellenbosch, South Africa

In this episode, pastor-theologians Angelique and Marnus Havenga share with Maria Cornou about what they are learning about pastoring and serving the community as a whole in the Dutch Reformed Church, located in city-center of Stellenbosch, one of the most unequal towns in the country of South Africa.

Audio Audio | Podcast Podcast | April 05, 2021

Lee Hardy

Faith Communities and Safe Dwelling Places

Philosopher and author Lee Hardy noticed derelict buildings near his church for decades before realizing that faith-based communities have valuable resources to address the affordable housing crisis.

Feature Story Feature Story | March 01, 2021

Lee Hardy

Lee Hardy on Housing, Justice, and Worship

Completing a grant project on faith communities and affordable housing convinced Lee Hardy that justice and worship are internally linked. That’s why he says worship services should include housing justice, and Christians and congregations should advocate to change unjust systems.

Conversation Conversation | March 01, 2021

María Cornou

Teacher-Scholar Panel: Community and Social Justice Themes

2019 Teacher-Scholar Vital Worship Grant recipients talk about their projects and the implications for those projects for gathered worship.

Conversation Conversation | July 08, 2020

Justin Fung and Matthew Watson

Matthew Watson and Justin Fung on Neighborhood Spiritual Histories

Both church planters and established congregations can explore spiritual histories of their church neighborhoods. This helps them better communicate the gospel in the places where God calls them to serve.

Conversation Conversation | April 03, 2020

 

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