MAILING LIST 
Home > Resources > Leadership > Planning Worship > Calendar
Planning Ahead: Worship in November
Search over 300 complete worship service outlines to adapt for use in your worship |
While November may seem to be overshadowed by the Advent season that is about to start, the month is filled with significant occasions to commemorate in worship.
The conclusion and climax of the Christian year is Christ the King Sunday, which focuses our worship on the cosmic character of Christ's reign over the world.
Additionally, All Saints Day is an opportunity to remember believers who have gone before us and now surround us in a "great cloud of witnesses" (Hebrews 12). And of course, although Thanksgiving is a civic holiday, many churches find this a fitting occasion to give gratitude to God in worship.
Overview for 2007
A planning calendar and overview of November 2007 is posted at our weblog.
Introduction to Christ the King Sunday
From The Worship Sourcebook:
Christ the King Sunday is celebrated widely in some traditions of the Christian Church, but it is a new idea to others. The focus of this Sunday is the cosmic character of Christ's reign over the world. It is a proclamation to all that everything in creation and culture must submit to Christ and an invitation to actively and joyfully submit to his rule. This fits well with the eschatological emphasis and anticipation of Christ's second coming highlighted during Advent, and prepares worshipers to wait expectantly.This observance is normally held on the last Sunday before Advent and therefore serves as a transitional Sunday leading directly into Advent, the Christmas cycle, and the new Christian year. This helps worshipers, who are already thinking about Christmas, remember that Christmas is about much more than a baby in a manger; it is about a sovereign Christ who came to be the “Prince of Peace”.
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
Worship Service Ideas
• Worship Services for Christ the King Sunday
• Surrounded by a Great Cloud of Witnesses: A Service for All Saints Day
• Services and resources for All Saints Day (Reformed Worship)
• Services and resources for Thanksgiving worship (Reformed Worship)
• A Thanksgiving Service of Confession
• Thanksgiving, Thanksgetting (in Ten Service Plans vol. 2)
• find more ...
• suggest a service
Series Ideas
• Hebrews: Christ as Mediator of God's Grace
• Shaping Our Gratitude
• find more...
• sermon series suggestions from the Center for Excellence in Preaching (cep.calvinseminary.edu)
• suggest a series
More Planning Ideas and Resources
Reformed Worship
Center for Excellence in Preaching: This Week
Ministry Resource Center
The Text This Week
WorshipHelps weblog
Christian Classics Ethereal Library
suggest a resource
Worship Planning Basics
The Nuts and Bolts of Worship Planning
Worship Planning Grids
Designing Worship Together
More Worship Planning Resources
Note: External links are provided for reference only, and do not necessarily imply endorsement of the content of any particular website.