April is Autism Awareness Month: Delighting in the Patterns of Worship
Many people with autism spectrum disorder find joy, security, and comfort in familiar patterns. We can also take great delight in the perfect match that exists within many of our corporate worship patterns. Take an individual who delights in patterns, structure, and “sameness,” and you have a recipe for a joyful worshiper.
April 1, 2016
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5 min read
How Loud Is Too Loud?
Volume in worship can be a touchy subject, one full of tensions. However, by looking at it through the lens of Universal Design and applying this principle to volume, we can see the many tensions in play and work together to glorify the Lord and lead God's people in song.
March 21, 2016
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4 min read
Worship Resources for Radical Hospitality
Scripture models well for us how to speak about immigration in worship. Together, with Abraham, Jesus, and the early church, we can model radical hospitality, we can lament the pain of leaving and the pain of the journey, we can witness God's faithfulness to the refugees and migrants in the past, and together, united as the body of Christ, we can seek responses that reflect God's heart. Ultimately, we can look forward with hope, knowing that our "citizenship is in heaven."
March 14, 2016
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15 min read
Stroke Survivors in our Worshiping Communities
This workshop presents an ethnographic study describing the experiences of stroke survivors in their church communities and two worship services planned for these participants.
March 4, 2016
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22 min listen
Baptist Churches in Belarus
Baptists living in what is now Belarus have experienced war, shifting borders, persecution and the breakup of the Soviet Union. Their history gives them a unique perspective on what it means to follow Christ and suffer for him.
September 1, 2015
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5 min read
Universal Design for Worship
Barbara Newman shares how the entire worshiping community benefits from worship services that are designed and led with the goal of including everyone.
Eric Washington on God’s Sovereignty and Slavery
Sometimes it’s awkward for Christians of different cultures to talk together about God’s presence in slavery. Eric Washington provides a way forward.
April 24, 2015
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3 min read
African American Worship Treasures
Six church musicians and scholars explain why treasures and challenges in African American worship traditions apply to churches in any cultural context.
April 21, 2015
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13 min read
Young R. Kim on Learning from a Fourth-Century Saint
Catholic and Orthodox Christians consider Epiphanius of Cyprus a saint because he was pious and opposed heresy. Protestants can learn from him as well.
April 7, 2015
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2 min read
Reconciling with the Church
Pope Francis recently said "Christians are not made in a laboratory, but in a community called the church." But what about those people for whom the church has been a source of pain?
February 25, 2015
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55 min listen
Jerry Sittser on Growing through Adversity and Spiritual Practices
You probably gather for worship with both lifelong worshipers and those new to the Bible. Jerry Sittser mines the history of Christian spirituality for nuggets that give life to all levels of worshipers.
January 6, 2015
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2 min read
How Visual Arts Move Us from Brokenness to Beauty
Visual artists can help us start talking about major life issues that we don’t often acknowledge in worship.
December 12, 2014
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6 min read
