Let the Children Come
Splitting into age-divided worship each Sunday doesn't necessarily result in kids who go on to choose worship as adults. That's why pastors are talking about intergenerational worship.
August 3, 2022
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5 min read
Five Tips on Using Digital Tech to Engage Virtual and In-Person Worshipers
Whether you call it virtual worship or online worship, some people will continue to join worship remotely even as others joyfully return to church buildings. Here are five tips for using digital technology as a “both/and” option for hybrid worship services.
June 16, 2022
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8 min read
Pandemic Worship Changes Worth Keeping
So much has changed about church worship since the COVID-19 pandemic arrived, soared, waned, and resurges. Those pandemic-forced pivots have created worship opportunities that have helped congregations adapt, find unity amid division, and pursue justice.
June 16, 2022
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9 min read
A Pastor and Photographer on Creating "God Moments" in Worship
When the pandemic prevented in-person worship, First Church of Windsor, Connecticut, learned how to create liturgical art installations and videos that moved hearts and minds even during virtual and hybrid worship.
June 13, 2022
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6 min read
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.
May 23, 2022
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6 min read
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.
May 23, 2022
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5 min read
Toronto Designers on Visual Cues to God's Time
First Christian Reformed Church of Toronto, Ontario, planned a worship grant connecting color and the liturgical year. They invited the congregation into the biblical story by collaborating on a permanent artwork. Then the pandemic prevented them from entering the church building. The landscape architect and the architect who led the grant say that this pivot turned out to be a good thing.
April 19, 2022
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8 min read
Mary Aluel Garang: The Charles Wesley of South Sudan
Since the mid-1980s, Mary Aluel Garang's theologically rich hymns have helped Sudanese Christians maintain faith and hope in God despite decades of war, conflict, and hardship. Her songs are known and sung beyond her Dinka people, her Episcopal tradition, and her nation of South Sudan.
March 31, 2022
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11 min read
Karen Campbell on Dinka Gospel Songs
Meeting Dinka Christians and musicians decades ago in East Africa made a lasting impression on Karen Campbell, a pastor and musician. She reflects on what we can learn about God through the lens of other cultures.
March 28, 2022
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9 min read
Dinka Christian Infrastructure: Song and Prayer Ministries
During decades of Sudanese civil war, the Jol Wo Lieech song ministry and Thiec Nhialic prayer ministry gave refugees and refugee congregations a sense of family and purpose. Both still work to unite Christians, whether or not they belong to the Dinka tribe or still live in South Sudan.
March 28, 2022
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11 min read
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.
February 14, 2022
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8 min read
Shively T. J. Smith on Visualizing Christian Faith through Howard Thurman's Metaphors
Rather than starting with words and theories of interpretation, scholar Shively T. J. Smith uses Howard Thurman's metaphorical imagery to help congregations visually process how they understand scripture and live out their Christian faith.
January 19, 2022
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6 min read
