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Friday, September 26, 2008
Worship Leader on pastors and musicians: ‘Holy Headlock or Wedlock’
Holy Headlock or Wedlock
(Cultivating an Enriching and Creative Relationship Between Pastors and Worship Leaders/Musicians)
Taught by Scotty SmithHow good and pleasant it is when pastors and worship leaders/musicians dwell together in unity, but all too often it just doesn’t happen. Many times the planning and execution of God’s worship looks more like a playground for insecure leaders trying to validate themselves than a holy and humble exercise in the mutual stewardship of God’s glory and grace.
Monday, October 20, 2008
11:00am, Pacific Time
Duration: 1 hourThis Webinar will provide a conversation about the privileges and challenges involved in having left-brained and right-brained types—pastors and poets, orators and artists—develop the kind of working relationship that reveals the beauty and power of the gospel. How we relate to one another outside of the worship center either mocks or validates what we are praying will happen in the worship center.
Pastors and worship personnel are welcome into this very frank and encouraging dialog. Whether your current situation is so very sweet, or you’re desperate to find a different job, bring your story and an open heart.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Philosophy and Liturgy - Update 9
Update from the Philosophy and Liturgy conference:
Peter Ochs led us in vibrant small group reflections on philosophy and Jewish morning prayer—in particular, what happens to the “I,” or sense of self in the act of prayer and through the words of prayer.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Symposium ‘08 Update 15
Above: Attendees enjoy fellowship over food in the dining hall. Calvin Symposium on Worship homepage Previous update
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Whatever Happened To The Twelve Days of Christmas?
From syndicated religion columnist Terry Mattingly:
For centuries, Christmas was a 12-day season that began on Dec. 25th and ended on Jan. 6th with the celebration of the Feast of the Epiphany. Thus, the season of Christmas followed Christmas Day, with most people preparing for the holy day in a festive blitz during the final days or even hours, with many stores staying open until midnight on Christmas Eve.
Today, everything has been flipped around, with the Christmas or Holiday season preceding Dec. 25.
-full text
-related earlier column by this author
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Report From Grants Tour ‘07
Betty Grit has just returned from a driving tour of various current and former recipients of Worship Renewal Grants in Ontario and the northeastern United States. Here is her report on her travels. (More information)
Redeemer University College
Ancaster, Ontario
Syd Hielema, chaplain of the college, enthusiastically reported the many ways college faculty, students and staff are engaging in the grant project based on “the kingdom is like yeast” (from Matthew 13) model of ministry. Retreats, a luncheon and worship education desserts have provided opportunities for discussion of worship and prayer. Book reading groups are being formed that will offer fellowship and learning about worship. Syd is grateful for the strong student leadership at Redeemer and for the interest of faculty and staff to make worship a central focus of all campus life. He is interested in further exploring ways to connect worship with the curriculum. He observes that it would be helpful to meet with other chaplains at Christian colleges to encourage and learn from one another.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Book Blogging: Who’s Afraid of Postmodernism? - Chapter 4
From Chapter 4 of Who’s Afraid of Postmodernism? Taking Derrida, Lyotard, and Foucault to Church by Jamie Smith: (previous posts)
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Names of God in the Old Testament from Ancient Hebrew Research Center
Related Resource
For a comprehensive list of biblical names for God, see p. 178-179 of The Worship Sourcebook, also reprinted as p. 15-17 of Prayers of the People
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Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Meditation on Philippians 1:1: Servants
Reading 1: Philippians 1:1-11
Philippians 1:1 focal phrase: “servants of Christ Jesus” focal word: servants
Friday, May 18, 2007
Planning Ahead: July/August 2007
One of the most valuable practices for planning worship is simply to plan ahead. Here’s an overview of the calendar for planning worship for July/August 2007. For our complete planning guide, see Planning Ahead: Worship in July and August.
Overview of July/August 2007
The Sundays during these months this year are July 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, and August 5, 12, 19, 26.
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 (Sun.) - Canada Day (more information and related article) July 3 (Tues.) - Seventeenth of Tammuz, Jewish day of fasting (more information) July 4 (Wed.) - U.S. Independence Day (related article) July 24 (Tues.) - Tisha B’Av, the Jewish day of mourning (more information) August 6 (Mon.) - Feast of Transfiguration (more information and resources) August 6 (Mon.) - Hiroshima Day (information and resources) August 29 (Wed.) - 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
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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
Friday, March 30, 2007
Worship Planning Idea: A Service on Discerning God’s Will
From Ron Rienstra in Reformed Worship:
The success of Rick Warren’s The Purpose-Driven Life is evidence of the deep desire people have to discern God’s will for their lives. We sometimes speak of this as discovering our vocation or hearing God’s call. These concerns are lifelong, but are especially sharp for young people trying to choose the way in which they can minister to the world in Christ’s name, and in which they can flourish and grow into all God intends them to be. A group of such students at Fuller Seminary, tired from a year’s worth of academic work and anxious about their futures, did the initial planning for this service, centered on the theme of discerning and responding to God’s call.
For more worship planning ideas, see WorshipHelps, Reformed Worship, CEP ‘This Week’, and other sites
Previous Worship Planning Idea
Search this blog for more previous Worship Planning Ideas
Related Publication
Ten Service Plans for Contemporary Worship, Volume 2
Monday, March 26, 2007
Prayer for Illumination
Open our eyes to see our Creator’s glory.
Open our ears to hear our Teacher’s wisdom.
Open our hands to offer our Comforter’s gifts.
Open our mouths to sing our Triune God’s praise.
Open our hearts to offer our Redeemer our love.
- Prayer at Eastern Ave. CRC on March 25, 2007; from The Worship Sourcebook
Friday, March 16, 2007
Echoes of Psalm 1 in Jeremiah
From Transactions of the Philological Society:
Psalms and the Baptist
F. Gerald Downing
Journal for the Study of the New Testament, Vol. 29, No. 2, 131-137 (2006)Psalm 1 contrasts the righteous and the wicked, proclaiming the former blessed, and pronouncing a judgment of expulsion from the community on the latter. The former are likened to a tree that produces fruit in season, the latter to chaff blown away by the wind. Individually, these metaphors are common. Jeremiah 17.8 in particular apparently echoes (or prompts) much of Ps.1.3; and one may compare Num. 24.6, Job 29.19 and Ezek. 19.10. ‘Chaff’ as a slur or threat or both is found at Job 21.18, Ps. 35.5, Isa. 17.13, 29.5, 41.15, Hos. 13.3 and Zeph. 2.2. However, only Ps. 1.3-4 in the canon compares and contrasts them. And just such a contrast between fruitful trees and chaff that is to be blown away precedes the quotation of Ps. 2.7 in the accounts of the Baptist’s ministry as they appear in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke (Mt. 3.7-10, 12; Lk. 3.7-9, 17)
Friday, January 12, 2007
Responses to Recent Publications
We’re grateful for encouraging responses to two new CICW publications, The Art of Worship by Greg Scheer and Stilling the Storm by Kathy Smith.
The Art of Worship was reviewed at Byron Borger’s Hearts & Minds BookNotes blog:
[This book] helps anyone involved in crafting contemporary worship to do it better, with greater doctrinal integrity and attention to liturgical aesthetics. And yet, it is one of the more “nuts and bolts” books done, with very nice descriptions of different kinds of vocals and harmonies and tons of good recommendations. He makes suggestions about different kinds of instruments and percussion. He lists oodles of resources ... This will be a book that is talked about for years. It is rooted in a thoughtful, Biblical worldview and emerges from his work in very respected congregations. While the theological underpinnings are discussed in greater depth elsewhere, this book is a reliable and user-friendly guide.
continued…
Stilling the Storm is currently the featured book at the home page of the publisher, The Alban Institute, and was excerpted in a recent edition of the Alban Weekly newsletter.
We pray these and all of our publications can be used to enrich the worship and ministry of the church.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Wabash Center website redesign
The Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion has unveiled their new website. We’ve been blessed to meet with representatives from the Wabash Center at our annual consultation of Lilly-funded religion websites, and we’re excited about the work the center is doing, including its new website. We hope you find it to be a valuable resource.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Mariano Avila studies Mexican churches for second PhD
We celebrate with Mariano Avila of Calvin Theological Seminary, who earlier this month completed a second doctoral degree—this one in the social sciences at the Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana in Mexico City.
Dr. Avila’s dissertation was on evangelical churches in Mexico.
Dr. Avila was featured in our Vital Worship story on worship in Mexico, and spoke on Ephesians and worship at Symposium 2006.
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