Helen Rhee on Illness, Pain, and Health Care in Early Christianity
Accounts from ancient historians and early church fathers show that caring for and visiting the sick was an essential marker of what it means to be a Christian. Their example of addressing illness, pain, and health care for everyone, not just Christians, holds lessons for today’s worship planners.
October 25, 2024
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8 min read
Being the Bridge Between Community and Church in Nepal
Higher Ground Nepal is a social enterprise that includes people from all walks of life in Nepal. Proselytizing is not allowed in Nepal, but when people see others living as the genuine presence of Christ in people’s situations, it makes a difference.
September 2, 2024
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9 min read
Celebrating Christian Worship with Lament in Nepal
Nepali Reformed Churches pastor Arbin Pokharel often describes worship as helping worshipers reenact their identity as God’s people. Doing so honestly means including hospitality, healing, prayer, celebration, and lament.
September 2, 2024
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11 min read
Kate Strater on Including Young Adults with Intellectual Disability
Young adults with intellectual disability (ID) often feel left out, even at church. But schools, churches, and agencies can work together to create a sense of belonging that nurtures everyone. Inclusive postsecondary education increases opportunity for employment, independent living, and sharing God-given gifts.
July 29, 2024
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7 min read
Kate Strater on Ministry with and by People with Intellectual Disability
Churches sometimes ignore or separate children and adults with intellectual disability from general church worship and congregational life. But schools, service agencies, and churches can expand one another’s imaginations about what’s possible for and with people with intellectual and development disabilities. Even small congregations can experience the joy of learning to include all abilities in the body of Christ.
July 26, 2024
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9 min read
Practical Worship Planning for Holy Week
Come and join a conversation with knowledgeable and experienced preachers and worship planners as we talk about our best practices for Holy Week worship planning. Bring your questions and ideas as we share and learn together.
June 30, 2024
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55 min video
Brian Reichenbach on Including Band and Orchestra Students in Church Music
Playing his trumpet in worship alongside adult instrumentalists profoundly affected Brian Reichenbach’s Christian faith and church life. He works to help congregations give school band and orchestra students a similar grounding.
May 31, 2024
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7 min read
Brian Hehn on an Ecumenical CCLI Top Songs List
CCLI (Christian Copyright Licensing, Inc.) hugely influences what many congregations sing, so the United Methodist Church began vetting CCLI Top 100 songs in 2015. Since then, song leader Brian Hehn has been encouraging other denominations to vet these popular contemporary worship songs so he can eventually create an ecumenically approved list of CCLI Top 100 songs.
May 21, 2024
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6 min read
Robert Feduccia on the CCLI Song Select Liturgy Section
Churches around the world seek permission to use contemporary worship music from Christian Copyright Licensing, Inc., or CCLI. Late in 2018, CCLI Song Select quietly introduced a liturgical section to help churches select contemporary music that fits the classic ordo, the four-fold pattern of worship. Robert Feduccia explains why.
May 21, 2024
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5 min read
Vetting CCLI Worship Songs for Faith Formation
Several denominations have created or are creating rubrics for vetting CCLI Top 100 contemporary worship songs. Vetting sparks conversations that help worship leaders make faithful decisions about which songs to put on congregations’ lips.
May 21, 2024
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10 min read
Tamil Christians Revive Keerthanai Music
Christians in South India are reviving keerthanais, poems of Christian praise and devotion sung in the Tamil language. They are working to bring this cultural expression back into church worship
May 2, 2024
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12 min read
Cory B. Willson on the Faith/Work/Worship Ecosystem
Theological conversations about faith, work, and worship take on new meaning when they start with the needs, questions, and experiences of workers.
March 11, 2024
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7 min read
