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.
Christiane Bräutigam on Why Bach Still Matters
Christiane Bräutigam leads music in a church founded in 1702 by refugees in a city famous for its Bach heritage. She explains why J.S. Bach’s music and example are relevant for churches today.
Josiah Chung: Passing on Faith to New Generations
Many immigrant churches struggle to retain the next generation, especially because of language barriers and cultural differences. Pastor Josiah Chung is finding solutions that apply across cultures to many kinds of churches.
Benjamín Alicea-Lugo on Praise y Adoración Bilingual Hymnal
Praise y Adoración is a new private-market bilingual hymnal and worship resource by Benjamín Alicea-Lugo and Irma Cuevas Alicea. It has 950 song texts in English and Spanish and comes in three editions.
Victoria Emily Jones on Gazing as a Spiritual Practice
Though she is passionate about Christian art, especially visual art, Victoria Emily Jones knows that congregations are full of “non-art” people. Her blog aims to help people of faith interpret, enjoy and use art in worship and private devotions.
Kiran Young Wimberly on the Celtic Psalms Project
When she moved to Northern Ireland, Kiran Young Wimberly was surprised to discover how few Presbyterians there knew the Irish and Scottish melodies she’d grown to love in the U.S. Her Celtic Psalms project is helping Protestants and Catholics reconnect with their shared heritage.
Singing in Spanish and English: Reflections of Musicians and Educators
Carlos Colón and Maria Monteiro are Texas Baptists, educators and musicians. They serve on a team that is compiling a fully bilingual Spanish-English hymnal for Protestants.
Our 95 Theses: Hispanic Perspectives on the Protestant Reformation
After beginning in Wittenberg, the Protestant Reformation surged among marginalized and exiled people. A new book by Latino and Latina Protestants, Catholics and Pentecostals explores that legacy.
Irish Presbyterians on Singing Celtic Psalms
Kiran Young Wimberly and Karen Campbell are musically gifted Presbyterian pastors who have seen how singing Celtic psalms helps bridge communities in troubled places.
Lily Constantine Kakish on the Arabic Lord’s Prayer Song
Lily Constantine Kakish created the Arabic Lord’s Prayer song that nearly every Arab Christian knows. Now an English language version is helping more people pray with, and on behalf of, suffering Christians.
Tony Alonso on Liturgical Music as Communal Confession
Tony Alonso notices gaps between what we sing in worship and how we live, including how we choose bilingual songs.
Nancy Gordon on Sensing the Sacred
Nancy Gordon adapted the multisensory Young Children in Worship program for people with dementia. Her model deserves to be spread and developed more widely.