Worship Weblog
Grants
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Event from grant recipient: Baptist Worship Identity Project and Symposium
Upcoming event from grant recipient Union University in Jackson, Tennessee:
Update: We grieve with the staff and students at Union University who experienced severe and devastating damage as the result of a tornado on February 5. The conference planned for February 14 to 16 was canceled. Please join us in praying for the Union University community as they rebuild and heal in the months ahead. (Related news release and more news from Union.)
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Sardis Baptist blog
Sardis Baptist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, a 2007 grant recipient, posts various worship resources and reflections at their blog, including a slideshow of worship art by children in their church.
Grants • Liturgical Arts • Worshipers • Worshipping Communities • (0) Comments • Permalink
Monday, November 05, 2007
Roanoke Times coverage of Blacksburg Ecumenical Service
Yesterday, four churches in Blacksburg, Virginia, funded in part by our Worship Renewal Grants program, hosted an ecumenical worship service on the campus of Virginia Tech.
The Roanoke Times ran this report and online slideshow from the service (as well as a preview article on Saturday).
We’ll be posting more reports, reflections and pictures from the students and staff from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, Calvin College, and Calvin Theological Seminary who traveled to Blacksburg to attend the service.
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Friday, November 02, 2007
Report From Grants Tour ‘07 - Visits in Washington State and British Columbia
Before Betty Grit traveled east to visit grant recipients (more about this here), she traveled west, to Washington State and British Columbia. Here is her report from that trip:
New Hope Community Services Society
Celebrating All Nations Church
Vancouver, British Columbia
Pastor James Lee welcomed us on a Sunday afternoon to the ministry center in East Vancouver (above). Several young people joined us to tell about their worship renewal project. They had worshiped as a congregation on Saturday and many of these young people had led through music, Scripture reading and sound technology. The grant project is intended to help them learn more about worship and develop skills for worship leadership. As we conversed, several of the young men were creating small works of art using their skills as graffiti artists. One piece announced “Cross culture – Church Boiz”. They gave these pieces of art as gifts to us to help us remember their ministry.
Additional pictures from Vancouver here and here
The previous Thursday evening these same young people had traveled to Lynden, Washington with Pastor Lee to learn about worship with staff and students from four Christian High Schools. Hosted by Ben DeRegt and students from Lynden Christian High School, this workshop was intended to train and encourage student worship leaders. On Thursday evening we engaged in interactive learning sessions. On Friday morning, Paul Ryan led sessions on “Worship Secrets Revealed” and “Worship Planning.” 
We also learned about Vertical Habits and how they can help us grow in our relationship to God and to each other. We were grateful for the warm hospitality extended to all of us at Lynden Christian High School. After meeting the East Vancouver team in Lynden, it was good to see them again and learn more about worship renewal in the congregation and the ways they are reaching out to their community through service.
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Friday, October 12, 2007
Jimmie Abbington on NBC News
Frequent Symposium presenter and CICW Grants Advisory Board member Jimmie Abbington was featured in an October 3 NBC News report last week on musicians in the church; the video is currently available online.
Christianity Today review of Sojourn album
Sojourn Community Church in Louisville, Kentucky, was one of the many worshiping communities partnering with us to explore the theme of Vertical Habits. We’re delighted that one of the fruits of their learning—their worship album “Before the Throne”—received this very affirming review at ChristianityToday.com:
[E]very once in a while, I receive an album that pleasantly surprises me on all fronts. Not only is the packaging impeccably and cleverly designed on Sojourn’s Before the Throne, but the worship band for Sojourn Community Church in Louisville, Kentucky also managed a far more impressive feat: They actually wrote worship music that I didn’t feel like I’d already heard a million times before. Hard to imagine, I know.
Comprised of ten original songs—plus one cover of a hymn—Before the Throne sort of resembles the City on a Hill albums. Not only does it create a sense of community through multiple vocalists, but the songs center around similar themes, particularly the sharing of God’s peace, love, and other blessings. The CD also has an organic feel with earthy instrumentation, giving their sound a relatable, homespun quality.
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Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Blacksburg Worship Service set for Nov. 4
We’ve been journeying with grant recipients in Blacksburg, Virginia, and are delighted to see their journey culminate (but not end) in an ecumenical worship service on Nov. 4, with Tony Campolo preaching. More info at www.blacksburgworships.com:
Celebrating, Healing, Serving
Gather with Christians from around Blacksburg on the campus of Virginia Tech for a community All Saint’s Sunday worship service. The Reverend Dr. Tony Campolo, internationally known speaker and author, will be the guest preacher for the event. The theme of this ecumenical event is Celebrating, Healing, Serving and it will include adult and children’s choirs from participating churches. All the churches of the Blacksburg community, as well as the campus ministries and students of Virginia Tech, are being invited to be involved with this family-friendly worship event. This service is partially funded through a grant from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship of Grand Rapids, Michigan, with funds provided by Lilly Endowment, Inc.
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Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Report on worship at City Hope Ministries
The following report about worship at City Hope Ministries, a Worship Renewal Grant recipient in 2006, was published in the “FYI” newsletter of Christian Reformed Home Missions. It was written by Jim Steenbergen, CRHM’s development officer. It is printed here by permission of the author.
I love the LORD, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live. (Psalm 116:1-2)It has been a long time since I have been to a church where people laughed, smiled, hugged, danced, held hands, spoke to one another, prayed upon each other, and just plum had a good time all in one service. But this was just another Sunday at City Hope Ministries, a newer ministry that is partly funded by Christian Reformed Home Missions. Except this wasn’t just another Sunday. It was a Sunday where I witnessed three people give their lives over to Jesus and accept Him as their Savior. It was a Sunday where a woman, seeing me there alone, came over and sat with me and asked me if I knew Jesus. Only afterwards did I find out that she was on the very fringe of our society, just fighting to make it everyday. And she cared about me and wanted to know if she could help me in my walk!
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Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Teaching and reflecting on the theology of worship at Holy Cross Lutheran in Maine
We’re grateful to hear that Grants Colloquium 2007 inspired Rev. Richard Horner of Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Kennebunk, Maine, to offer a Wednesday night teaching series this past month on the meaning of worship. Tomorrow night marks the final session in this series. We look forward to hearing how it went! From his pastor’s letter introducing the series:
The highlight [of Colloquium] for me personally, were the teaching times. They were devoted not so much to “what” is being done in various churches when it comes to worship, but “why” any church worships to begin with. I found it refreshing to focus in on some of the foundational, biblical principles that underlie (or should underlie) whatever specific practices or forms our worship takes. There can be a tendency to get so caught up in what we are doing, or want to do, that we lose sight of why we are doing it, the ultimate purpose we hope will be achieved.
Having been so refreshed in this regard myself, I feel led to offer members and friends of Holy Cross a similar type of opportunity. A chance to meet together for some teaching and reflection upon the theology of worship - why we meet together regularly to sing, pray, listen to God’s Word, and receive the sacraments. I will present some of the material I brought back with me from the Calvin Institute, and will use other, similar resources as well.
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ELCA News Release on Consultation on Multicultural Congregations
This news release from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America discusses a consultation on multicultural congregations, and mentions a Worship Renewal Grant given to the Delaware–Maryland Synod of the ELCA.
ELCA Consults White Pastors Serving Multicultural Congregations
CHICAGO (ELCA)—Sitting upright at the first desk facing the podium, the trio resembled students—unmarked by a collective decade of parish ministries. Mentors, each with decades of experience, leaned back from the desk near the windows, each moment learning new things from speakers and from their younger counterparts.
Twenty-five pastors of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) accepted an invitation to come together here for a consultation. They are white pastors serving congregations in multicultural settings in Atlanta, Baltimore, Cleveland Heights and Columbus, Ohio, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and Oakland and Riverside, Calif. ...
As a result of the consultation, Arwyn Gohl said she’s taken part in a multicultural worship project through the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, Grand Rapids, Mich., and the ELCA Delaware-Maryland Synod. She said she’s become more convinced that multicultural worship “is necessary for Jerusalem to be rooted in the community.”
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Thursday, August 09, 2007
Pictures from Blacksburg
Anne Campbell of Blacksburg Presbyterian Church, a participant in the grant to Luther Memorial Lutheran in Blacksburg, has been compiling a photographic record of some of the support that has poured into Blacksburg since the April shootings there. Here are a couple pictures she shared with us: (click to enlarge)
Grants • Interdisciplinary Application • News • Worshipping Communities • (0) Comments • Permalink
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Report from a visit with United Methodist youth planning worship
Report from Betty Grit:
At 8:00 on a warm summer Friday evening, I was privileged to meet with almost 30 high school and middle school youth at Adrian College who had gathered to plan Sunday worship. They had arrived at Adrian College from United Methodist congregations throughout eastern Michigan as well as the Upper Peninsula on Wednesday. The five day leadership camp would engage them in learning about worship planning and leadership based on the curriculum “Lay Speakers Lead in Worship.”
As they gathered to plan worship, they were led by two young people who exhibited an understanding of worship, of group dynamics, of decision making and delegating. After decisively determining that the theme of the service would be The Armor of God, they broke into small groups. Each individual was invited to participate in the group where “you can help best” – music, free expression (drama, dance), prayer and visuals. All agreed that communion should be a part of the service and they would seek a pastor to lead. The two leaders were asked (and agreed) to bring the message.
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Thursday, July 19, 2007
Report on visit with John Bell of the Iona Community
Report from Bethany Vrieland:
On Thursday, July 12, around 75 people gathered at First Presbyterian Church in Schoolcraft, Michigan, from Cadillac to Jackson to Kalamazoo in the Presbytery of Southern West Michigan, to spend a day with Iona Community leader John Bell. This program, which was part of a Worship Renewal Grant from CICW, was the result of much prayer and preparation, and the whole day was very effective, powerful, and smooth.
John Bell came to Schoolcraft by way of Indianapolis (and Ireland!), and it was nothing short of a miracle that he came to be in a small town, in a small Presbyterian church, in Western Michigan. John Bell, who is internationally known for his teaching and work on congregational song, has written many hymns that are used around the world today, and he makes many trips a year to teach his ideas, methods, and songs. He came to Schoolcraft to lead a day-long workshop on congregational song, which was followed in the evening by a “Big Sing”.
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Gerardo Marti Speaks to Grant Participants
On Wednesday, July 18th, 20 grant recipients had the opportunity to sit down to a meal with Gerardo Marti, sociologist and author of A Mosaic of Believers, a study of a successfully multi-ethnic church which Marti was a member of for a time in Los Angeles, and hear and discuss the new material that Marti has been studying for his upcoming book.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Grants Colloquium ‘07 Reports
Here is an index of weblog posts from this week’s Grants Colloquium:
-Update 4
-Update 3
-Update 2
-Update 1
Learn more about the Worship Renewal Grants Program.