Recovering the “Lost Art of Lament” in Worship
Worship that is faithful to the whole Bible must include lament. A worship renewal grant on making lament a normal part of worship brought together eight churches in metro Birmingham, Alabama. It yielded ideas and practices that can be adapted to any church tradition and context.
Karen Campbell on Considering Lament: Psalms of Protest, Pain and Hope
Technically, the Troubles in Northern Ireland ended in 1998. But just as trauma didn’t end after the passage of the US Civil Rights Act or the work of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, pain still lingers in Northern Ireland. Karen and David Campbell composed a new set of lament songs to help Christians voice protest, pain, and hope during worship.
Experiencing God’s Presence Within Our Work
Mission Chattanooga, an Anglican church in Tennessee, did a grant project that helped workers narrate their experiences in prayers and liturgy. Gathering with people from their vocational fields helped them tune their hearts to experience God in the workplace. You can use and adapt their curriculum to your context.
Customizable Template for a Vocational Commissioning Service
Most of us spend more time at work than in corporate worship services. Imagine how meaningful it might be to attend a worship service that blesses your vocational field! It would commission you to renew before God and one another your commitment to serve and love neighbors through your work.
Kathryn Roelofs on Leading Worship for Workers
God cares about workers. But even though work takes up so much of our lives, most church services rarely talk about it. Leading Worship for Workers gives practical ideas to help churches connect Sunday worship to the everyday work lives of their people.
HyeRan Kim-Cragg and Mona Tokarek LaFosse on Trauma-Informed Worship
Christians often talk about being one body in Christ, but migrants often struggle to feel that oneness in the Spirit. Some international doctoral students, all migrants to Canada, created liturgies that help recognize and heal trauma.
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.
Janette H. Ok on Giving and Receiving Sermon Feedback
Whether you’re an average worshiper or a seasoned pastor, you’ve probably wondered, “Why is the preacher saying this or doing that?” But would you ever dare ask the preacher? Creating a culture of giving and receiving sermon feedback benefits both preachers and congregations.
Janette H. Ok on Shared Pulpits
Hearing more than one voice in the pulpit opens congregations to hearing God in new ways. Welcoming homiletical diversity takes a burden off the main pastor and trains churches to create a culture of hospitality.
Stephen Vesolich on the Songs of Ascent
Studying, reciting, singing, and praying the Songs of Ascent from the book of Psalms helped Centerpoint Community Church make its worship and spiritual formation more intergenerational. It also gave people a shared language for bringing all their emotions to God. The church created a website to make all of its Songs of Ascent resources freely available.
Models of Rural Pastoral Ministry
Rural populations are declining in many parts of the US and Canada. This change has pushed many denominations and congregations to find new ways to provide preachers and pastors for rural churches.
Terry M. Wildman on Psalms and Proverbs, First Nation Version
Indigenous cultures are storytelling cultures. So were the cultures of ancient Israel and its neighbors—the cultures Jesus lived among. First Nations Version (FNV) projects translate the Bible through the intertribal lens of Indigenous people in North America. The latest project, FNV Psalms and Proverbs, remains faithful to the Old Testament’s Hebrew poetry and wisdom literature while offering new ways to help readers place themselves in God’s story.