Faith Formation
Practicing Resilience with the Psalms

The psalms are a rich resource for our human experience of emotions, community, and connection to God. We will practice activities based on the truth of the psalms and on psychology to strengthen our capacity for navigating suffering with grace and resilience.

May 21, 2026 | 1 min video
Being Shaped by the Psalms: Lessons in Trust, Hope, and Love

The psalms reflect our deepest emotions as people of faith. In their expressions of thanksgiving, trust, lament, anger, joy, doubt, and praise, these ancient prayers seem to peer right into our souls and put words to our thoughts and experiences. But the psalms are more than human words to God. Embedded as they are in the scriptures, they are now also God’s word to us.

May 12, 2026 | 80 min video
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.

May 6, 2026 | 9 min read

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.

April 23, 2026 | 7 min read
W. David O. Taylor on the Psalms and Praying the Unedited Life

Author and pastor-scholar David Taylor shares how he came to appreciate the psalms and how he encourages people to bring their full, unedited selves to God in prayer and experience a richer and more honest life of faith.

April 10, 2026 | 26 min listen
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.

April 9, 2026 | 7 min read

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.

March 19, 2026 | 5 min read
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.

March 12, 2026 | 8 min read
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.

March 5, 2026 | 6 min read

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.

February 23, 2026 | 23 min read
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.

February 19, 2026 | 9 min read
Chris Fenner on African American Hymns and Devotions

Many Christian publishers offer books of hymn stories, hymnals that follow the lectionary and church year, and devotionals based on hymns or the lectionary. Two new resources by Chris Fenner provide all three in one—hymn stories and sources, hymns, and lectionary-based devotionals to match each hymn. Both Hymns & Devotions for Daily Worship and Hymns & Devotions for Daily Worship: African American Edition begin with Advent.

February 18, 2026 | 5 min read