Resource Search Results

Anne Emile Zaki on Preaching and Teaching in Today’s Egypt

After becoming a seminary professor in Egypt in 2013, Anne Zaki discovered two things about preaching that she hadn’t learned in the North American context.

Conversation | June 15, 2018

Martin Tel on Creative Movement and Placement for Church Choirs

How and where a church choir enters, stands, and moves can make a difference in how deeply a congregation engages in singing and other parts of worship.

Conversation | May 17, 2018

Isaac Wardell on Bringing Work into Worship

Daily work, paid and unpaid, consumes our lives, energy, and minds—even when we are in church. Here are ways to plan worship so people see themselves and their work as instruments of God.

Conversation | April 18, 2018

Isaac Wardell on Rethinking Calling and Vocation

Not everyone feels called to their job or experiences it as way to use their gifts to accomplish great things for God. There is a more satisfying way to think about how God calls each of us.

Conversation | April 18, 2018

Kai Ton Chau on Small Church Choirs

Small church choirs can do far more than sing anthems. Despite perceived challenges, small church choirs can successfully help lead and enliven worship.

Conversation | March 29, 2018

Paul S. Ryan and Luke Enders on the Calvin 50 Song Collection

What we sing in worship shapes our vision of who God is and what God cares about. One college chose a list of 50 worship songs to help its students sustain a life of faith.

Conversation | March 22, 2018

Reggie Smith on Churches Called to Become Multicultural

Considering the “Joseph question” and the “Jonah question” can help congregations overcome fear of talking about race, culture, and how God might be calling them to change

Conversation | March 08, 2018

Cameron J. Anderson on How Beauty Reveals God

Some churches think of beauty - apart from nature - as superficial, or a distraction from how God calls us to live. Cameron Anderson makes a case for how beauty and visual arts can help us encounter God more deeply.

Conversation | February 28, 2018

Jaewoo Kim on Making Room for Multicultural Worship

To worship in line with the Lord’s Prayer—on earth as it is in heaven—requires making room in worship for stories, songs, and gifts from many cultures. Doing so depends in part on how churches form their views about refugees and immigrants.

Conversation | February 28, 2018

David Bailey and Erin Rose on White Supremacy

Churches often shy away from conversations about white supremacy or which lives matter. A Presbyterian elder and a worship leader explain how to pastorally move toward effective reconciliation ministry.

Conversation | February 26, 2018

David Bailey and Erin Rose on Charlottesville, Violence, and Preaching

Seeing violence and racism up close is ugly. Two Presbyterians discuss how to help congregations prepare for and respond to divisive events.

Conversation | February 26, 2018

Methodist Pastor-Musicians on Gaps in Worship Music

Teaching an intensive songwriting class in a North Carolina prison for women made Susannah Long and Michael Conner reflect on gaps in what churches sing about.

Conversation | February 14, 2018

Warren Kinghorn on Mental Illness and Our Deepest Identity

We hear a lot about using person-first language. Yet it is still common to label people with their mental health diagnosis. Christians and churches can offer another way to describe our common human identity.

Conversation | February 06, 2018

Warren Kinghorn on Mental Health and Christian Worship

It is far more common to hear about physical ailments than mental ones in congregational prayers and worship. Psychiatrist Warren Kinghorn explains why mental health issues and people with mental illness should be acknowledged in Christian worship.

Conversation | February 06, 2018

Mark Mulder on Debunking “the Culture of Poverty”

It is important for financially stable churches and Christians to build relationships with those in poverty. But the reason may be different than what you might assume.

Conversation | December 14, 2017

Stephanie Smith on Raising Lay Leaders from the Margins

Those who experience homelessness, poverty, physical or mental illness, or addiction understand things that more privileged people may never know. Raising up peer chaplains from within this group can lead to renewal in both outdoor and building-based Christian communities.

Conversation | December 05, 2017

Calvin Institute of Christian Worship