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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.
Visual artists can help us start talking about major life issues that we don’t often acknowledge in worship.
People who know how to make beautiful things with their hands are being welcomed to use their God-given gifts in worship and congregational life.
When strokes, illness or other challenges keep people from attending worship, they often fall off the congregation’s radar. Here are ideas for using visual arts to reconnect and include such people in worship and church life.
Peggy Goetz is a communication arts and sciences professor at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Observing her speech pathology students in Calvin’s stroke clinic sparked her to research the experience of stroke survivors in their church communities.
Stroke is a leading cause of disability in adults around the world, so your congregation probably includes—or will soon include—stroke survivors. And about a third of stroke survivors suffer from some form of communication impairment. Peggy Goetz researches the experience of stroke survivors in their church communities.
A new resource explains that the most disabling aspect of living with disabilities is the attitude of others.
Dan Vander Plaats is director of advancement at Elim Christian Services in Palos Heights, Illinois. Elim’s mission is to help children and adults with disabilities reach their God-given educational and vocational potential.
Sung by the Choral Scholars, written especially for the victims of the civil war in El Salvador, but a lament for all victims of war.
Joyce Borger, editor of the hymnal Lift Up Your Hearts and the quarterly magazine Reformed Worship, shares how to use a hymnal as a pastoral care resource.
Like many young adults, Kristi Holmberg is keenly aware of inheriting an earth damaged by previous generations. However, rather than despair or turn cynical, she began during college to connect with Christians who are working toward a just and sustainable future.
Duane Kelderman preached and presented at the Soul Repair Center’s first congregational consultation on helping veterans heal from moral injury. In this edited conversation from April 2013, he gives the basics for understanding moral injury.
