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Best Resources for Teaching Worship

Seven college and seminary professors list their top short reads for teaching worship and say which resources would be most helpful for church worship and liturgy committees.

April 13, 2016 | 9 min read
What You Can Learn from Visiting Churches

College and seminary professors offer church observation guides for their students. You can use their insights to learn more when you visit other churches. This process can also help you understand how people experience liturgical practices in your own congregation.

April 13, 2016 | 8 min read
Jane Rogers Vann on Trusting the Liturgy

Many worship leaders wear themselves out trying to make worship new, fresh, relevant and, above all, different than it was last year or even last week. Maybe they don’t need to change so much and so often.

April 12, 2016 | 3 min read

Sandra Van Opstal on Multicultural Preaching

A majority of U.S. Christians born before 1965 are white. However, the fastest growing groups in the U.S. as a whole and in its churches are people of color. Preaching must change to reflect this diversity so that all generations and nations can encounter God through the Word

April 8, 2016 | 7 min read
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 | 5 min read

What I Learned about Teaching Worship from a Chemistry Professor

"What’s a POGIL?” I asked, half-seriously, half-laughingly. My wife, Sheila, a chemistry instructor in a university was attending a conference for chemistry educators about a pedagogy growing in popularity in science classrooms around the United States. She explained that POGIL is a method for teaching both class content and important skills such as critical thinking and teamwork without using a lecture format.

March 30, 2016 | 11 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 | 4 min read
Cory Willson on Inhabiting the Liturgy

Maybe you feel like a bad Christian when you catch yourself thinking about work or weekday concerns during corporate worship. But doing so can help you worship more deeply and faithfully.

March 21, 2016 | 6 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 | 15 min read
L. Gregory Jones on Traditioned Innovation in Worship

Worship conversations change when you choose to see tradition as a lively center from which to innovate. This provides common ground between those who fear change and those who overvalue change.

March 11, 2016 | 4 min read
¡Le pidieron leer las Escrituras en el culto!

Este recurso ofrece consejos útiles para ayudar a voluntarios y voluntarias en su preparación para leer la Palabra de Dios en el culto. Identifique cómo leer la Biblia en voz alta se diferencia de la lectura de otros libros; descubra cómo obtener una comprensión más profunda del pasaje; obtenga consejos para la interpretación vocal eficaz, y más.

March 7, 2016 | 1 min read