Resource Search Results

Writing Hymnkus—Haiku Poetry Set to Music—for Christian Worship

Your congregation can make worship the work of the people when you use their words in worship. The hymnku form—haiku poetry set to music—works for in-person, hybrid, and online worship and can involve many ages.

Article | May 23, 2022

Suzanne L. Vinson on Congregations Creating Liturgical Language

Grace Baptist Church in Richmond, Virginia, often invites members to write words used in worship. They've found that crafting liturgical language, such as calls to worship or stewardship and psalm or song paraphrases, is an easy way to help more people participate in worship and congregational life.

Article | May 23, 2022

Carol Arend on the Art of Accompaniment

Accompanying people on their faith journey is an art that can be learned, according to Pope Francis. When St. Thomas More Catholic Community committed itself to the art of accompaniment, it learned principles that nearly any worship community can apply, Catholic or not.

Conversation | February 14, 2022

Jon Terry and Liuan Huska on Liturgies of Restoration

Au Sable Institute developed its Liturgies of Restoration workbook to help university students in summer field science courses connect Christian worship and creation care. Now small groups and churches are using the workbook to cultivate habits of worship, community, earthkeeping, purposeful stewardship, and hope.

Conversation | January 05, 2022

Brandon Helder on The Gift of the Cross Holy Week Devotional for Children

Brandon Helder's elementary students and his own children responded to tactile Jesse Tree devotionals during Advent, but he couldn't find similar Holy Week resources. To help children and families anticipate Easter, Helder wrote The Gift of the Cross: Celebrating Christ Through Holy Week and designed Resurrection Blocks.

Conversation | December 09, 2021

Ellen Gadberry on Congregations as Communal Visual Choirs

Many worshipers do not see themselves as creative or gifted in the arts. Yet low-risk opportunities to encounter visual art in worship and participate in making liturgical art can strengthen worshipers’ identities as children of the Creator.

Conversation | November 03, 2021

Kate Williams on the Coronavirus and Sacred Music

When COVID-19 forced churches and schools to go virtual, GIA Publications helped church music ministers and music educators adjust. Some digital adaptations are here to stay because they help connect music ministers, worshipers, and music educators.

Conversation | May 11, 2021

Paul Turner on Presiding Artfully at Mass

In his new book, Ars Celebrandi, Paul Turner writes that “a well-prepared and celebrated liturgy is the church’s best response to crisis.” He offers fresh principles for how a priest’s presiding style can help the faithful participate more actively in the Mass.

Conversation | March 18, 2021

Billy Kluttz on Paperless Liturgy and Music

Sometimes not providing written or projected words and notes is the best way to make liturgy truly the work of the people. Paperless liturgy and paperless music can be great tools for including all ages and abilities in worship.

Conversation | January 08, 2020

Intergenerational Worship Model Based on Scripture and Story

Residents of senior living communities often feel cut off from church life. Meanwhile, congregations often feel segregated by age. This participatory intergenerational worship model brings people together around Scripture and life stories.

Feature Story | January 06, 2020

Prayers of a Person, Prayers of the People

2019 Calvin Symposium on Worship | Workshop

Audio | May 08, 2019

Four Learning Practices for Sermon Engagement

Learning practices have rich application for sermon engagement. Here are four easy-to-implement strategies to allow each sermon to be more formative in our daily lives.

Article | February 14, 2018

Short Songs: Deepening Our Participation in Worship

Read this viewing guide to find out how you might benefit from watching a one-hour session by Alison Adam, “Short Songs: Deepening Our Participation in Worship.”

Video | March 07, 2017

Learning to Worship for the Life of the World

For the Life of the World is one of the most influential books ever written on the sacraments.

Audio | February 29, 2016

How Ritual Training Overflows into Expressive Worship

Lay training in both formative and expressive liturgy helps Catholic adults and youth live out their identity in the universal priesthood of all faithful believers. Protestants can learn from this.

Feature Story | February 09, 2016

Dale Sieverding on Cultural Differences in Recruiting Youth

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles launched a summer camp to train young Catholics to lead in local liturgical ministries. They discovered that finding gifted youth requires different approaches in different cultures.

Conversation | February 09, 2016

Baptist Churches in Belarus

Baptists living in what is now Belarus have experienced war, shifting borders, persecution and the breakup of the Soviet Union. Their history gives them a unique perspective on what it means to follow Christ and suffer for him.

Conversation | September 01, 2015

Sing Your Prayers for the Worldwide Church

These resources will help you combine songs and prayers so your whole congregation can pray together for global Christians and international issues.

Article | April 28, 2014

Gerardo Marti on Emerging Churches and Religious Individualism

Gerardo Marti, professor of sociology at Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina, is fascinated by diversity and innovation as aspects of how the world is changing and how that affects churches today.

Conversation | Video | August 08, 2013

Gerardo Marti on Emerging Church Demographics

After writing three books about multicultural worship, Gerardo Marti has applied his research skills to what’s been called the emerging church or emergent Christianity.

Conversation | August 08, 2013