Worship Weblog
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Dyrness interviewed at worshippodcast.com
Listen to worshippodcast.com‘s interview with author and professor Bill Dyrness, who is also member of our Grants Advisory Board and contributing author to our book A More Profound Alleluia.
In this episode, Dr. William Dyrness discusses the content of his new book, Senses of the Soul: Art and the Visual in Christian Worship. This book is based on the results of research conducted with Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox congregations in the Los Angeles area. Dr. Dyrness is Professor of Theology and Culture at Fuller Seminary. Other recent books published by Dyrness include Reformed Theology and Visual Culture (2004) and Visual Faith (2001).
Grant recipient featured in VMC newsletter
Read this article(pdf) about one of our grant recipients, The Table, in Harrisonburg, Virginia, from the newsletter of the Virginia Mennonite Conference.
Grants • News • Worshipping Communities • (0) Comments • Permalink
Stringfellow on ‘the vocation of the baptized person’
William Stringfellow, quoted in this Baccalaureate sermon at Louisville Presbyterian Seminary:
The vocation of the baptized person is a simple thing: it is to live from day to day, whatever the day brings, in this extraordinary unity, in this reconciliation with all persons and all things, in this knowledge that death has no more power, in this truth of the Resurrection. It does not really matter what [you as] a Christian [do] from day to day. What matters is that in whatever [you do, you do it] in honor of the triumph of Christ over death and, therefore, in honor of [your] own life, given to [you] by God and restored to [you] in Christ, in honor of the life into which all persons and all things are called. The only thing that really matters is to live in Christ instead of death.
Interdisciplinary Application • Leadership • Preaching • Reading • Worshipers • (0) Comments • Permalink
WCC on Creative Commons licensing for churches: ‘Love to Share’
From the World Council of Churches:
* Churches are struggling with the complexity of copyright laws and the restrictions they face when they want to use liturgical resources in a worship setting or publish non-profit worship material.
* It is difficult to find resources that can be freely shared through the Internet.
* It is hard to know how to use worship material from other countries in an equitable and just way.
* It is not easy to know where to go to find advice or to avoid being trapped by intellectual property (IP) laws.Churches, individuals, and Christian and ecumenical organizations are facing challenges when dealing with these issues. Their struggle is intensified because of the larger context of globalization, where the rules of the market dominate and a culture of commodification is everywhere. While it is important to understand the logic of the market and the laws and regulations that apply to intellectual property, there are other issues that need to be taken into consideration.
This document aims to give some direction and guidelines in this task of searching for alternatives to the current situation. It is an effort to raise questions and clarify some possible solutions and alternatives.
Interdisciplinary Application • Leadership • Music • Reading • World • Worshipping Communities • (0) Comments • Permalink
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Christian History on its relaunched website
Christian History on its relaunched website:
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Alban Weekly on the Transition into Ministry initiative
Alban Weekly on Lilly Endowment’s Transition into Ministry initiative:
A promising set of new experiments has the potential to make a collective impact on the way people enter pastoral ministry in the twenty-first century. The Transition into Ministry initiative (TiM)—an effort funded by Lilly Endowment Inc. and participated in by more than 800 beginning pastors to date—has drawn hundreds of new seminary graduates, a variety of denominational and judicatory leaders, congregations from at least 11 Protestant denominations, several seminaries, and thousands of congregation members into a shared effort to change the experience of pastors at the thresholds of their ministries.
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Thursday, September 04, 2008
Charge for commissioning church school teachers
Servants of Christ, accept the service with which you have been entrusted. Do not neglect the gift that is in you. Present yourselves to God as approved workers, ever faithful to the Spirit of God.
Remember always that Jesus called you friends as well as servants. Attend to prayer, for without God you can do nothing.
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Visit to First Union Church in Cedarville, Michigan
Report from Betty Grit:
On a warm, sun-filled Saturday evening in early August, twelve people gathered with me at First Union Church in Cedarville, Michigan, to talk about worship renewal. Pastor Jeff Meyers and three others from the congregation had attended the Calvin Symposium on Worship and were interested in the projects of worship renewal that had been described by a panel of church leaders. They invited me to Cedarville to discuss what worship renewal might mean in their congregation.
In this gathering I learned that many families have vacationed in the Les Cheneaux area for generations. Throughout the summer they gather at family homes and worship at First Union Church. Others worship for many months of the year in Cedarville and minister in warmer locations during the winter. The church is home to professional musicians, artisans and people with rich and diverse gifts. We spent the evening exploring how a grant might build on the strengths of the congregation to engage in an intentional year of worship renewal.
Sunday morning the congregation and visitors gathered for two worship services. As we sang “Holy, Holy, Holy” in this space surrounded by water and wooded islands, the words “all thy works shall praise thy name in earth and sky and sea” had new and richer meaning. On this baptism Sunday Pastor Meyers focused our attention on Matthew 28:19 and 20. He reminded us that this afternoon we would witness baptism. We were challenged to consider what it would mean to develop a concrete plan and practice to make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey all that Jesus commanded. Invited into communion through the words of institution spoken by a father and young son, we celebrated the Lord’s Supper.
Later that afternoon we gathered on the shores of Lake Huron for the baptism of 9 adults and children. As each person confessed faith in Jesus as their Savior and promised, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to follow the commandments of God, we prayed that all of us would have a growing awareness of what it means to be a disciple. What would we sing and say and do if we were truly to obey the Great Commission?
As the congregation of First Union Church consider s how a worship renewal grant might help them answer these questions, we are praying for them and for all congregations who are developing proposals to be submitted by the January 10, 2009 deadline.
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
‘Seeing the Savior’ exhibit at John Knox Presbyterian in Seattle
John Knox Presbyterian Church is hosting a new exhibit through Christians in the Visual Arts, Seeing the Savior, through the end of July. From the Annunciation to his Second Coming, 34 insightful and colorful interpretations of the birth, ministry, Passion, ascension, and return of the Lord are masterfully portrayed by 13 artists from a variety of artistic and ethnic backgrounds.
Interdisciplinary Application • Liturgical Arts • News • (1) Comments • Permalink
B&C on ‘Sundays in America’
Review of ‘Sundays in America’ at Books&Culture’s website:
I’m trying to think of something that’s as strange as church. As frankly odd. As consistently peculiar. My own church, for instance. I love it. But I wonder how it might appear to a Martian. Or, to John the Baptist, say. Or, for that matter, to Suzanne Strempek Shea, author of Sundays in America: A Yearlong Road Trip in Search of Christian Faith. Shea, a writer who made it her business to visit fifty-two churches in a year, and to write a chapter about each one. It’s a lot of churches. It’s a lot of chapters.
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Monday, June 30, 2008
60 Minutes on the persecution of Christians in Iraq
An abandoned Christian church in the Baghdad neighborhood of Dora.
60 Minutes re-aired this story last night on Christian congregations in Iraq. It was a reminder of the harsh persecution that has fallen on Christians in Iraq, most of whom have either fled or been killed by Islamic radicals. And it was a cause for gratitude and awe to see what God is doing in the face of death through Canon Andrew White, a courageous priest ministering in Baghdad (learn more about his foundation, his books, and his work). He and his wounded flock need the fervent prayers of Christians around the world.
Interdisciplinary Application • Leadership • News • World • Worshipping Communities • (2) Comments • Permalink
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Grants Colloquium ‘08 Update 3
Update from Grants Colloquium:
One of the highlights of every Colloquium is the poster session. Here’s a look at some of the posters and conversations from this afternoon:
Colloquium concludes tomorrow morning with worship and reflections. We pray for safe travel and vital worship and ministry among all our grant recipients as they return to their worshiping communities.
Update: Read Chris Meehan’s report on grant recipients from the Christian Reformed Church.
Grants Colloquium ‘08 Update 2
Update from Grants Colloquium:
Worship this morning ended with this benediction from Jude 24-25:
Now to him who is able to keep you from falling,
and to make you stand without blemish
in the presence of his glory with rejoicing,
to the only God our Savior,
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
be glory, majesty, power, and authority,
before all time and now and forevermore.Amen.
Bless the Lord.The Lord’s name be praised.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Grants Colloquium ‘08 Update 1
Update from Grants Colloquium:
For me one highlight of the day was the passing of the peace after opening worship:
Friday, June 20, 2008
Christmas in July? (Advent in August?)
Today is the longest day of the year, and so, naturally, my thoughts turn to ... Advent. Maybe because this means we’re halfway to the next longest night of the year, which for one church makes for a powerfully resonant Advent service. But on this day of bright sunshine, let me ask worship planners: Christmas in July? Advent in August?
Why not? Although many preachers get to November and wonder how in the world they’re going to tell the same story all over again the following month, I (and I’m just a biblical studies student, not a preacher or
worship planner, so I don’t know what I’m talking about when it comes to planning) find that one month isn’t enough for me to explore all the rich themes and layers of that great mystery, the Incarnation. So if you’re curious, or just looking for something to fill those summer months, I’d be intrigued by a summer series on the Incarnation.
Interdisciplinary Application • Leadership • (0) Comments • Permalink