History

Andrea C. Hunter on Contemporary Worship Music’s Thou-to-I Shift

Her wide and deep experience with contemporary worship music gives Andrea C. Hunter keen insight on how it can form—or malform—Christians and congregations.

May 29, 2019 | 6 min read

Emmett G. Price III on Studying Black Christian Experience

“If we don’t see each other in the Bible, we get stuck in social perplexities that cause us to not be a good witness,” says Emmett G. Price III.

September 25, 2018 | 6 min read
Emmett G. Price III on Racial Reconciliation Resources for Congregations

Learning about diversity among Christians is a good way to embrace the ministry of reconciliation entrusted to us by God.

September 25, 2018 | 5 min read
Eddie Espinosa on Changes in Contemporary Worship Music

Eddie Espinosa, composer of “Change My Heart, O God,” explains why those who lead worship need to cultivate heart holiness.

August 22, 2018 | 6 min read

Storytelling and Testimony in Christian Worship

Celebrating its 150th anniversary led First Baptist Church of McMinnville, Oregon, into a practice of storytelling and testimony in worship. They learned how stories cross boundaries and time and connect people with God’s big story.

June 26, 2018 | 9 min read
Hidden Secrets from the History of Contemporary Worship

Led by Lester Ruth, this workshop investigates little-known but significant details about the rise and development of this style of worship. Come ready to be surprised about contemporary worship’s complex history.

May 9, 2018 | 58 min listen
Serious Play: Insights from Augustine and Other Friends from the Early Church on Leading Worship and Administering Sacraments

Led by Lester Ruth, this workshop explored insights from Augustine and others in the early church that can break open playful, Scriptural imagination for leading in worship.

May 9, 2018 | 59 min listen

The Future of Latino Protestants in America

Latino Protestantism is growing in the United States due to a combination of immigration, birth rates, and conversion. This expanding stream of American Christianity will foster shifts in the liturgy and worship of churches in unexpected ways.

April 10, 2018 | 60 min listen
Mika Edmondson on MLK’s Theology of Unearned Suffering

Jesus’s example of laying down his life for others inspired Martin Luther King Jr. and the U.S. civil rights movement. This theology of how to engage undeserved suffering can help congregations deal with pain.

October 10, 2017 | 6 min read
Reggie Smith on Theology Underlying Sociology

What churches profess and what they do sometimes clash. Sharing stories, sitting with those who suffer, praying, and listening in silence for God can help churches harmonize theology and sociology.

September 1, 2017 | 7 min read