Worship Weblog
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Friendship Ministires on ‘What can I do to make large-group prayer more meaningful?’
From Friendship Ministries(pdf):
If you’ve ever asked this question, you’ve probably asked another: “What is prayer?” The answer may be simple–prayer is talking with God–but of course this simple answer raises even more questions! And perhaps your old answers to these questions have changed as you’ve experienced prayer with people for whom spoken communication is difficult or impossible. In the context of so much intriguing mystery, we would like to share some practical ideas to consider as you seek to enhance group prayer:
The newsletter goes on to provide 12 helpful pointers for leading prayer with those with disabilities--check it out(pdf)
Interdisciplinary Application • Leadership • Worshipers • Worshipping Communities • (0) Comments • Permalink
Christina Saj’s ‘Six Days of Creation’ at New Brunswick Theological Seminary
From christinasaj.com (as featured in Image Update):
New Brunswick Theological Seminary is pleased to present “SIX DAYS OF CREATION” an exhibition of paintings by Christina Saj. This exhibition is located in situ at the Seminary Chapel on their New Jersey campus adjacent to the Rutgers University. The works, inspired by Genesis, are six 52” X 100” panels depicting the six days of creation. The series was conceived specifically for installation in the chapel, a modern, 50’s vintage, circular worship space, spartan in it’s décor, with seating that is moveable and conforms to the needs of the community using it. Outside seminary worship, the space is utilized on Sundays by nonresident congregations. The show is augmented by the inclusion of a number of Saj’s other works inspired by icons, such as Transfiguration, a five foot rendering of a silver cross which dominates the Lobby outside the chapel.
“Six Days of Creation” illuminates the Seminary Chapel. Saj is the current artist in residence at the New Brunswick Theological Seminary. The appointment of artists in residence enriches the community. Saj, a practicing artist with an established record who will present programs and/or workshops throughout the year for the purpose of helping students think about, experience, and experiment with an artistic practice in the context of ministry and especially to the worship life of the church. Saj is also teaching a workshop about sacred space this semester. Her exhibition will run thru the end of May.
Interdisciplinary Application • Liturgical Arts • News • (0) Comments • Permalink
B&C on Charismatic Christianity in South America
Years of skilful interviewing by David Smilde of the men in two churches in dangerous parts of Caracas, Venezuela, conducted during the period just before Chavez, confirm what investigations have shown from Kingston, Jamaica, to Accra, Ghana, and points east. Evangelical, charismatic, and in particular Pentecostal Christianity offers visions and revisions of lives changed for good, spiritually, morally and (so far as may be, given the changes and chances of life) materially. Of course, some fall by the way, because things don’t to work out as hoped, or else they are pulled back into old ways by boon companions. Most encounter experiences which try them “as gold in the fire,” and getting right with God may turn out easier than getting right with a wife or partner. All the same, there is enough evidence of some betterment affecting all the interlinked dimensions of life to vindicate Providence in the eyes of believers rather than the influence of fortuna and fate. Even when sorely tried, Pentecostals turn to ancient, indeed biblical, ways of searching out the ways of God: for example, that he is teaching his children through adversity, that his ways are not as their ways, that their way of life has somehow been displeasing in his sight, and that the goods of this world corrupt our treasure in heaven.
Interdisciplinary Application • News • Reading • World • Worshipping Communities • (0) Comments • Permalink
Alban Weekly on ‘Congregational Web Sites: Our New Front Door’
Jonathan, 28, believes Web sites functions like a “front page” for organizations. He notes that his generation surfs the Internet continuously, both during the work day and during leisure hours, and that they would almost never visit a church or other organization without first checking out its Web site. Whether or not Jonathan can speak for an entire generation, organizational Web sites are certainly proliferating. More congregations are establishing Web sites and more congregational leaders are realizing how helpful, even strategic, Web sites can be.
Related Resources
Using Your Website to Enrich Worshipers
Working With Your Local Media as a Worshiping Community
Interdisciplinary Application • Leadership • Reading • Worshipping Communities • (0) Comments • Permalink
CIRT review of ‘Jesus of Africa’
Review of Diane Stinton’s Jesus of Africa: Voices of Contemporary African Christology by Diane B. Stinton from Conversations in Religion & Theology
Interdisciplinary Application • Reading • World • (0) Comments • Permalink
Corwin Smidt on political cues during worship
A belated link: CSR’s blog links to a draft of a working paper co-authored by Corwin Smidt of Calvin College as part of a research initiative supported by the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship.
Interdisciplinary Application • Leadership • News • Preaching • Reading • Worshipping Communities • (0) Comments • Permalink
Gerardo Marti on ‘fluid ethnicity’ in JSSR
Gerardo Marti, whose research we’ve been blessed by (see this and this), has a paper in the current issue of the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion:
Fluid Ethnicity and Ethnic Transcendence in Multiracial Churches
Gerardo Marti
Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 47 (1), 11–16Abstract
Assumptions of racial essentialism lead to inadequate analysis of multiracial churches. Instead, acknowledging ethnic identity as a negotiated phenomenon encourages a richer investigation of how congregational participation stimulates and redefines a person’s racial and ethnic identity. The malleability of ethnic identity is such that it is often obscured in favor of other aspects of self. Ethnographic analysis of two multiracial churches, Mosaic and Oasis, indicates that particularistic ethnic affiliations recede when otherworldly, value-rational interests are emphasized. Ethnic transcendence occurs when members adopt a shared identity based on a uniquely congregational understanding of what it means to be a properly religious person (a proper “Christian,” “Jew,” “Muslim,” “Buddhist,” etc.). In short, the distinctive accomplishment of multiracial congregations is the cultivation of an inclusive religious identity that overrides divisive aspects of ethnic identity. Moreover, recognizing the varying salience of racial and ethnic identity evokes greater caution regarding what can be assumed when researchers apply the label “multiracial” to congregations.
(We may be able to make a copy of this paper available to your church by request.)
Interdisciplinary Application • Leadership • Reading • World • Worshipping Communities • (0) Comments • Permalink
Planning Ahead: July/August 2008
Here’s an overview of the calendar for planning worship for July/August 2008. For our complete planning guide, see Planning Ahead: Worship in July and August.
Overview of July/August 2008
The Sundays during these months this year are July 6,13,20,27, and August 3,10,17,24,31.
There are no major holidays on the church calendar for these months. Some churches choose to mention or commemorate the following occasions in their worship:
July 1 (Tues.) - Canada Day (more information and related article)
July 4 (Fri.) - U.S. Independence Day (related article)
July 20 (Sun.) - Seventeenth of Tammuz, Jewish day of fasting (more information)
August 6 (Weds.) - Feast of Transfiguration (more information and resources)
August 6 (Weds.) - Hiroshima Day (information and resources)
Aug. 10 (Sun.) - Tisha B’Av, the Jewish day of mourning (more information)
August 29 (Fri.) - Beheading of John the Baptist (more information and resources)
Note: External links are provided for reference only, and do not necessarily imply endorsement of the content of any particular website.
Printable Calendars
-
Lectionary Readings
Find the readings from the Revised Common Lectionary for these Sundays from the Vanderbilt Lectionary Project
Find resources for these readings from the Revised Common Lectionary from TextWeek.com
Planning Ahead: July/August
More Planning Ahead