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Symposium 2009 - Jesus: Our Worship Leader

This seminar explored the wonderful truth that when we gather, our living Lord is present and active in our midst?empowering, perfecting and leading our worship. Behind all true worship, regardless of its form or style, is the present mediating ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ.

January 1, 2009 | 56 min listen

Good Preaching Takes Good Elders

When preachers and churches talk about improving the quality of preaching, many approaches are considered, but one is frequently missing: the participation of elders. This workshop explores both the why and how questions of involving elders in supporting and encouraging preachers in their congregations.

January 1, 2009
Better Together: The Call for People with and without Disabilities to Worship, Serve, Learn, and Live Alongside Each Other

This presentation addressed practical ways congregations can have a real impact on the lives of people with disabilities and their families living in their community and to make worship more accessible to everyone.

January 1, 2009 | 63 min listen
Profession of Faith: Can it Be Revitalized?

Our faith formation is marked by certain milestones. One milestone is public profession of faith or confirmation. When this occurs might vary, but at whatever age, this milestone needs to be vital. This session explored how to recapture a sense of the privilege of professing your faith, make it a celebration, and regularly reaffirm it.

January 1, 2009 | 62 min listen

What the Psalms Have to Teach Us about Song Writing

Psalms allow us to express a whole range of emotions in powerful ways and at the same time, they tell us a lot about God. This workshop will examine how worship song writers can learn from the psalms as they work on their own craft.

January 1, 2009 | 53 min listen
Building a Healthy and Interdependent Church Community

The session presented several practical tools for building a church community that welcomes and embraces diversity in membership. Highlighting examples from churches including members with disabilities, this session offered ideas that allow people to see one another through God's eyes.

January 1, 2009 | 61 min listen
Praying Around the Communion Table: Cultivating a Spirit of Thanksgiving

Discover ways that the prayer of thanksgiving at the Lord's Supper provides a shape and vocabulary to guide us in lives of gratitude as well as connect our practices in church with the actions in our daily lives.

January 1, 2009 | 61 min listen

Prayer in the Life of a Third Millennium Monastery: What We're Learning

This session featured stories, prayers, and insights from the first year of the Stockbridge Boiler Room, a simple Christian community that practices a daily rhythm of prayer, study, and celebration while caring actively for the poor and the lost.

January 1, 2009 | 61 min listen
Worship that Ministers to the Afflicted

Many worshipers suffer from chronic illnesses, sudden crises, stresses from work and/or family life, losses of loved ones or of personal abilities, discouragement from situations in the local community or the world.

January 1, 2009 | 61 min video
Preaching to Expose the Principalities and Powers

Church leaders and other saints in our congregations frequently find themselves struggling with money, technology, politics, the institutional church, etc. - what the Bible calls "principalities and powers."

January 1, 2009 | 59 min listen