Pastoral Care

Rosa Cándida Ramírez y Analisse Reyes comentan sobre cantar coritos

Cantar coritos - cantos breves - en español e inglés en el culto ofrece hospitalidad y facilita que la congregación aprenda nuevos conceptos sobre quién es Dios.

December 4, 2018 | 9 min read
Four Types of Advent and Christmas Eve Services: Which Have You Tried?

Experimenting with a different Advent or Christmas Eve worship format may help worshipers connect with the joy and wonder of Christ’s birth. Blue Christmas, Christmas pageants, Las Posadas, or lessons and carols make room for emotions, movement, culture, and people’s gifts.

November 15, 2018 | 11 min read
Mental Illness and Christian Worship

This topic showcase highlights resources for including people with mental illnesses in worship. Congregations that renew their worship to become more inclusive discover that everyone benefits.

October 30, 2018 | 8 min read

Rosa Cándida Ramírez and Analisse Reyes on Singing Coritos

Singing coritos {short songs} in Spanish and English is hospitable in worship. It also opens up worshipers to new understandings of God.

October 23, 2018 | 7 min read

Kevin Adams on Framing Words for Missional Worship

Worship can change lives when people understand what they are doing and why. Carefully chosen words help frame classic worship elements so gathered congregants are sent out to embody God’s grace, mercy, and peace.

July 25, 2018 | 6 min read
Christina Edmondson on Church Multicultural Accessibility Committees

John 17 records Jesus’ prayer for unity “so that the world may know that you have sent me and loved them.” It is a powerful witness when churches model unity within diversity. This witness requires intention and prayer.

July 2, 2018 | 7 min read

Erika Marksbury on Connecting Testimonies to Scripture

Sometimes it is easier to use the Bible to look back at what God has done than to see what God is working toward. First Baptist Church of McMinnville, Oregon, includes testimonies in worship so that people can see how their lives are part of a story God is still telling.

June 26, 2018 | 5 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
From Barriers to Belonging: The Church and People with Disabilities

Led by Erik W. Carter, this session focuses on ten dimensions of belonging and their salience to the inclusion of people with intellectual disability, autism, and other developmental disabilities in the full life of the church.

May 10, 2018 | 60 min listen