Hwarang Moon on Worship in Conversation: Learning from the Church’s Diverse Worship Traditions
Hwarang Moon’s recent book Worship in Conversation: Dialogues with Leading Liturgical Theologians (Baylor University Press, 2025) is the culmination of years of engagement with some of the most influential voices in contemporary liturgical studies. Through conversations with scholars from Anglican, Reformed, Lutheran, Methodist, Catholic, Orthodox, and other Christian traditions, Moon explores how worship shapes Christian faith, forms ecclesial identity, and enriches the life of the church.In this interview, Moon reflects on the origins of the project, what he learned from engaging theologians across Christian traditions, and why listening across traditions remains an essential task for the church today.
I Will Give You Rest
“Trauma” is not a word we are likely to find in any Bible translation, but it has seemed to frequently appear everywhere else in recent years. Perhaps that began in 2020 with the COVID pandemic. Resonances of that trauma reverberated through churches, too, while many denominations were already facing internal difficulties and the loss of members and congregations. Pastors have been wounded, and many have had to leave beloved ministries. The global political scene seems more fiercely riven than any other time in our memory. Just watching the daily news these days can feel traumatic.
Psalm Festival Reflections
In the fall of 2025, the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship invited worshiping communities to join together in dwelling in Psalms, the prayer book and songbook of the Bible. Each psalm festival that resulted is unique and crafted for its individual context. What follows are examples of psalm festivals from these communities. These examples are for your inspiration and encouragement. If you borrow ideas, litanies, or music from these resources, please provide proper attribution and make sure those items are not copyrighted. You must secure your own permission to use any copyrighted material from these examples.
Seeing Christ in the Face of the Other: Singing the Psalms for Reconciliation with Karen Campbell
In 2020, the Presbyterian Church in Ireland published the book Considering Grace, which narrates the stories of 120 people and their proximity to the troubles in Northern Ireland. Though clergy were applauded for often acting as first responders to the victims, wider questions regarding the denomination were raised. Could they have spoken up more and been a prophetic voice? In response, the Presbyterian Church in Ireland commissioned Karen Campbell to convene groups to produce a suite of songs, prayers, and liturgies from the psalms of lament to be used in congregational settings to voice lament, confess complicity, and raise deeper questions surrounding justice. This workshop will discuss the process involved and the questions raised and will include some of the songs, liturgies, and prayers that were produced.In 2020, the Presbyterian Church in Ireland published the book Considering Grace, which narrates the stories of 120 people and their proximity to the troubles in Northern Ireland. Though clergy were applauded for often acting as first responders to the victims, wider questions regarding the denomination were raised. Could they have spoken up more and been a prophetic voice?
Lamenting in Polarized Times
Eight churches in Birmingham, Alabama, took part in a worship renewal grant on using lament in worship. Three years later, leaders from some of those churches talked about how hard it is to practice lament during divided times. Their advice may help your church bring real suffering to God with honesty, protest, petition, and trust.
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.
Epiphany Resource Guide
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.
Customizable Template for a Vocational Commissioning Service
Most of us spend more time at work than in corporate worship services. Imagine how meaningful it might be to attend a worship service that blesses your vocational field! It would commission you to renew before God and one another your commitment to serve and love neighbors through your work.
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.
Easter Season Resource Guide
This list of Eastertide resources—including art, music, drama, devotions, liturgies, books, and sermons for the "Great Fifty Days" from Easter Sunday to Pentecost—will help you plan worship to celebrate Jesus Christ’s resurrection.
HyeRan Kim-Cragg and Mona Tokarek LaFosse on Trauma-Informed Worship
Christians often talk about being one body in Christ, but migrants often struggle to feel that oneness in the Spirit. Some international doctoral students, all migrants to Canada, created liturgies that help recognize and heal trauma.