Shaping a Reformation Commemoration Prayer or Worship Service
This workshop explores the ways we can prepare to commemorate this significant anniversary with both grace and truth, acknowledging both the insights and limitations of the Reformers, expressing gratitude for Christ-centered renewal and lament for divisions and even violence within Christ’s body.
Approaching Civic Holidays as Occasions of Both Thanksgiving and Lament
The Psalms form us as people of faith to express both thanks and lament to God. This offers us a perspective that is especially needed when we worship together on or near civil holidays, and face the temptation to promote a civic religion substitute for robust Christian vision.
Here Are My Hands: A Practical Workshop on Affirming Vocation in Weekly Worship Practices
Isaac Wardell, Bruce Benedict, and Laura Fanucci provide some very practical first steps for congregations with a desire to address vocation in worship.
Teaching Children about the Meaning of the Lord's Supper
Gathering at God's Table is a new, vividly-illustrated bilingual children's book which introduces young children to the meaning and significance of the Lord's Supper
Loving Your Neighbor with Dementia
By the end of 2015, more than 5,000,000 Americans were living with dementia. This number is expected to increase in the years ahead as the population ages.
Universal Design, Responsive Design: Keys for Welcoming Persons with Varied Abilities
Worshipers and congregation members certainly do not come in a “one size fits all” wrapping! As you gather for worship you will notice an array of gifts, but you may also see the areas of struggle each one brings to the community.
Music, Congregational Identity, and the Relationships that Spark Effective Ministry
How does music express and form a congregation’s identity? How can that identity be defined and shaped by the relationships it seeks to nurture and the mission it seeks to promote?
Innovation in Worship: Working with a Team to Make Healthy Changes
Listen to a diverse group of panelists from various churches across North America describe how they envisioned and led their congregations through changes in worship.
Music from African-American Traditions for Use in Any Congregation
One of the remarkable stories about music that has emerged out of African-American communities is its reception in communities of diverse cultural backgrounds all over the world.
What J.S. Bach's Music Means for Worship Today
What is it like to be a church musician today in the same place that J.S. Bach once worked? In what ways can Bach's music be a model for us?
Autism Spectrum Disorder and Your Church
With one in 68 individuals being diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, it is likely that your worshiping community already includes someone with ASD. If you are a pastor, worship leader, musician, church school teacher, or church volunteer, discover specific ways to identify, interact with, and worship with persons with ASD.
The Great Prayer of Thanksgiving at Baptism and the Lord's Supper
In the past 40 years, many Protestant communions have recovered a robust, historically-oriented prayer of thanksgiving at celebrations of Baptism and the Lord's Supper.