Resource Search Results

Tim Shapiro on How Your Congregation Learns

Many congregations suspect they need to change but don’t know how. Tim Shapiro’s book describes eight steps that healthy congregations can take to learn together. These learning journey stages have parallels to elements of Christian worship.

Conversation | November 12, 2019

The Lord's Supper Liturgy

Lord's Supper liturgy that includes children asking questions.

Resource Guide | October 08, 2019

Four Ways to Mentor Worship Leaders

Four church leaders describe how they train and mentor worship leaders in their contexts. They try to identify gifts and to make room for everyone no matter their immigration status, age, or gender.

Feature Story | August 16, 2019

Derek Elmi-Buursma on Communion and Context

Whether you call it Communion, Eucharist, the Lord’s Supper, or something else, you may wonder how to connect this sacrament with real life. Learn how one small urban congregation creates eucharistic liturgies for living in a broken world.

Conversation | June 04, 2019

Round Three: Ordination Best Practices for Priests, Ministers, Elders, and Deacons

For our final round of ordination resources, we consulted five experts from five more traditions. Their best practices will help you understand the significance of ordaining people as bishops, priests, ministers, elders, and deacons.

Feature Story | March 14, 2019

Worship that Cares for People Pastorally

You may think of pastoral care mainly as personal visits to someone’s hospital room or home. But Howard Vanderwell wrote that the entire worship service has “powerful potential for caring for worshipers’ needs.” His book Caring Worship: Helping Worship Leaders Provide Pastoral Care through the Liturgy explains how.

Feature Story | February 13, 2019

John McClure on How Liturgical Practices Can Shape Conversations in a Pluralistic World

Christian liturgical practices—confession, intercession, and preaching—contain wisdom that can bring compassion and consensus to public conversations around contentious moral issues.

Conversation | December 04, 2018

Kevin Adams on Framing Words for Missional Worship

Worship can change lives when people understand what they are doing and why. Carefully chosen words help frame classic worship elements so gathered congregants are sent out to embody God’s grace, mercy, and peace.

Conversation | July 25, 2018

Kevin Adams on the Mission at the Heart of Classic Worship

An ancient pattern at the heart of classic Christian worship helps welcome and orient people into life in the body of Christ.

Conversation | July 25, 2018

Round Two: Ordination Best Practices for Ministers, Elders, and Deacons

Our first roundup of ordination resources was so popular that we have now consulted five more experts from five more denominations. Their best practices will help you dig beneath the surface when you ordain or install ministers, elders, and deacons.

Feature Story | November 21, 2017

Faith Formation and Worship: A Worship Historian's View from the "End of the World"

Worship is a formative practice: through active engagement in liturgy, Christians are formed in a particular understanding of God, of others, and of themselves, and of what it means to live a Christian life in this world.

Video | June 30, 2017

Medieval Spirituality and Liturgy as a Source for Contemporary Worship

An annotated research guide from the field of history, exploring the relevance of medieval spirituality and liturgy for current worship practices.

Resource Guide | June 26, 2017

Philosophy and/of Worship

An annotated research guide from the field of philosophy, focusing on the 'liturgical turn' in Christian philosophy of religion.

Resource Guide | March 14, 2017

Designing Worship from the Bottom Up: Practical Ethnographic Tools for Worship Leaders

The “Faith and Work” movement has become popular in many churches in North America in recent years. Many have sought to bridge the gap between Sunday worship and Monday work by showing how Christian liturgy and theology affect how we approach our weekday work. But our weekday work also affects how we inhabit Sunday worship in profound ways, and those who lead and craft liturgies do well to be attentive to this reality.

Video | March 07, 2017

Why Youth Need to Be Leading Worship Regularly NOW

When congregations empower teenagers to use their gifts in meaningful ways over time, teens are more likely to imagine themselves as faithful disciples and devoted worshipers for decades to come. Two summer programs in worship, theology, and the arts inspire teens and mentors.

Feature Story | February 09, 2017

Ordination Best Practices for Ministers, Elders and Deacons

Because so many people search our website for ordination resources, we consulted five experts from five denominations. Their best practices will help you dig beneath the surface when you ordain or install ministers, elders and deacons.

Feature Story | February 07, 2017

A Roundtable on Connecting Sunday’s Worship to Monday’s Work

Six pastors and scholars share ideas to help congregations authentically practice God’s vision of shalom in worship and at work.

Conversation | August 23, 2016

The Interplay of Liturgy and Catechism in the Ministry of Martin Luther and John Calvin

Some examples from the Lutheran and Reformed traditions

Article | May 05, 2016

What You Can Learn from Visiting Churches

College and seminary professors offer church observation guides for their students. You can use their insights to learn more when you visit other churches. This process can also help you understand how people experience liturgical practices in your own congregation.

Feature Story | April 13, 2016

Best Resources for Teaching Worship

Seven college and seminary professors list their top short reads for teaching worship and say which resources would be most helpful for church worship and liturgy committees.