Worship Weblog

Twitter from Symposium

2009-01-16T08:10:00.000-08:00

Are you on Twitter? Add the hashtag #wsymp09 to your tweets at Symposium and follow all tweets with this tag at www.tr.im/wsymp09

You can also follow us on Twitter and follow our Twitter prayer feeds.

Presenter Previews: Mark Yaconelli at Symposium 2009

2009-01-14T12:51:00.001-08:00

Among over 70 presenters at this year's Calvin Symposium on Worship will be Mark Yaconelli, director of the Youth Ministry and Spirituality Project at San Francisco Theological Seminary, and author of Contemplative Youth Ministry: Practicing the Presence of Jesus. Yaconelli will be leading a daylong seminar on Thursday on 'Youth, Worship, and the Seven-Second Attention Span.' Learn more about him here and listen to an interview.

To find out what else, and who else, is scheduled for this year's Symposium, go to www.worshipsymposium.org

Presenter Previews: Simon Chan at Symposium 2009

2009-01-14T12:25:00.000-08:00

Among over 70 presenters at this year's Calvin Symposium on Worship will be Simon Chan of Trinity Theological College in Singapore. Last year Christianity Today said of Chan, author of Liturgical Theology: The Church as Worshiping Community, that he "may be the world's most liturgically minded Pentecostal" (read its interview with him). Chan will be a panelist at a day-long seminar on the Holy Spirit in worship, and will later speak on 'A Theological Understanding of the Liturgy as the Work of the Spirit.'

To find out what else, and who else, is scheduled for this year's Symposium, go to www.worshipsymposium.org

Geez magazine's 'Daringly Awkward Sermon Contest'

2009-01-14T12:16:00.000-08:00

From Geez magazine:

The Daringly Awkward Sermon Contest
. . . because social change is a bit awkward

Maybe the key to social change and spiritual growth is found in stumbling, fumbling, oafish awkwardness. Our pulpit awaits.

continued...

Theology Today archive on Google Books

2009-01-14T11:38:00.000-08:00

I just noticed that Google Books is now offering searchable archives of many magazines, including Theology Today. So far it seems to have only editions from the 1940s through the 1960s, but it's worth keeping an eye on.

TT's website also has a partial archive of articles online.

By the way, also see Rob Bradshaw's excellent archive of theological articles.

Alban Weekly on prayer in board meetings

2009-01-14T11:30:00.000-08:00

Here's an excellent article from Alban Weekly pointing out that prayer should be a vital practice in gatherings of church leaders—rather than just a parliamentary procedure. It's adapted from the book Transforming Church Boards into Communities of Spiritual Leaders.

I often hear the term book-end prayers used to refer to the perfunctory way in which prayer can be scheduled and offered at the beginning and close of a church board meeting. It traditionally separates out the spiritual aspects of the meeting from the "business at hand." The business part of the meeting still resembles the process that one would typically see outside the church—an emphasis on efficiency, a reliance on "reasoned" judgments, and a structure based on parliamentary rules, all ordered by a litany of reports with recommendations and decisions voted by majority rule.

If we redefine the activity of the people of God serving on church boards and see it as worshipful work, then prayer will no longer be relegated to a book-end position; instead, it will saturate the agenda and thread its way throughout the meeting.

Church boards that are "doing board differently" are discovering ways to allow prayer to permeate the whole meeting. Here are several ways:

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Do recessions bring people to church?

2009-01-14T10:52:00.000-08:00

From the New York Times:

[S]ince September, pastors nationwide say they have seen such a burst of new interest that they find themselves contending with powerful conflicting emotions — deep empathy and quiet excitement — as they re-encounter an old piece of religious lore:

Bad times are good for evangelical churches.

continued...

Read some blog responses, including this one that says of that last sentence, "Historians of religion do not buy it."

The historical 12 Days of Christmas - a reminder, and a website

2009-01-02T13:17:00.000-08:00

Terry Mattingly often writes this time of year about the historical roots of the season of Christmas, which on the church calendar begins on Dec. 25 and ends on Jan. 5 before Epiphany. The meaning of this liturgical practice can be lost on Christians living in modern Western societies that consider the Christmas season to begin the day after Thanksgiving (or Halloween, or before long Labor Day or the 4th of July) and end on Dec 25th.

You can read Terry's columns on this from 2004 and 2007. Here's his column this (now last) year:

Merry Christmas.

No, honest, as in "the 12 days of" you know what between Dec. 25 and Jan. 5.

If you doubt the accuracy of this statement, you can head over to the website of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. There you will find an interactive calendar that bravely documents the fact that, according to centuries of Christian tradition, the quiet season called Advent has just ended and the 12-day Christmas season has just begun.

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Praying the Hours in 2009

2009-01-02T13:14:00.000-08:00

If, like me, one of your New Year's resolutions was to pray more—and if, like me, you're a recent convert to Twitter—you might be interested in this Twitter feed I set up. It posts one brief prayer per hour (using FutureTweets); currently each prayer is from the Psalms. Too often I find myself caught up in something else or unsure of what words to pray (and then I'm especially thankful for the promise of Romans 8); using an automated Twitter feed can address both of those weaknesses:

follow me on Twitter

You can also follow this feed in RSS using this address or this widget.

The phrase "praying the hours" usually refers to the centuries-old practice of praying set prayers at certain times of the day (not necessarily every hour), but I also like the idea of one brief prayer per hour (which I first encountered in this set of prayers by Chrysostom).

Update: more here

'Almighty Babe, whose tender arms can force all foes to fly'

2008-12-23T13:37:00.000-08:00

This Christmas we'll be dwelling on these words from Robert Southwell's provocative poem 'A Child My Choice,' which was sung in this year's Lessons and Carols concert:

Alas! he weeps, he sighs, he pants, yet do his angels sing;
out of his tears, his sighs, and throbs, doth bud a joyful spring.
Almighty Babe, whose tender arms can force all foes to fly,
correct my faults, protect my life, direct me when I die.

continued...

The Calvin Institute of Christian Worship wishes you a blessed Christmas and a fruitful new year!

GR Press on Bellamy congregation

2008-12-20T08:23:00.000-08:00

The Grand Rapids Press has this article and photo gallery from a visit to the Ionia Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility, where a new congregation is worshiping regularly.

Dressed in blue-and-orange prison suits and tennis shoes, the men came forward for Holy Communion singing an old spiritual.

"Hallelujah, we're going to see the king," they sang in deep baritone voices. "Soon and very soon, we are going to see the king."

The Rev. Richard Rienstra gave each a small wafer, saying, "The body of Christ, broken for you." The Rev. Carol Muller offered cups of grape juice: "The blood of Christ, shed for your sins."

The inmates smiled at each other, shook hands. They began clapping in time, and their voices grew stronger.

"No more crying there, we are going to see the king. No more dying there, we are going to see the king."

Inside the walls of this state prison, the presence of God was evident in the faces and voices of these two dozen men. For two hours, in a cinder-block classroom, they found faith within the razor wire.

continued...

This is one of the congregations included in our 2007 grant to support worshiping communities in prisons.

More about the grant here from Rich Rienstra at our 2008 Grants Colloquium:

Related Resources
Restorative Justice

prayers for trip to Argentina

2008-12-19T10:49:00.001-08:00

Our prayers are with our colleague Robert Nordling and his Calvin music students as they travel to Argentina to meet with Horacio Vivares, who will be presenting at Symposium 2009. Here's the announcement from the Calvin music department:

While in Argentina, the group will work with an Argentinian composer and music professor, Horacio Vivares to rehearse and record some of his music. This music will be played again in late January at the Calvin Worship Symposium when Maestro Vivares will be a guest presenter. The group will also present several side-by-side concerts with music schools both in Buenos Aires and in Mar del Plata.

The trip is co-sponsored by the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship and the Calvin Music Department. Local music store Meyer Music has donated 15 musical instruments that the group brought with them to give to one of the poorer schools. We are grateful for the partnership with Meyer music!

Image's Top Ten of 2008

2008-12-19T10:47:00.000-08:00

check out Image journal's Top Ten of 2008.

new installment of 'Book of Praises' by Roger Wagner

2008-12-19T10:40:00.000-08:00

From Image Update:

The Book of Praises is a new translation of the Psalms by Roger Wagner. Each psalm is illustrated with wood engravings and paintings in an arrangement of the English and Hebrew text. Book Two of the Psalter, Psalms 42-72, is the long awaited second installment of a project that is eventually intended to encompass five books. Roger Wagner has been featured as an Image Artist of the Month, and his paintings have been shown in many exhibitions and are part of the NatWest Collection London, The Takeover Panel City of London, The Ashmolean Museum Oxford, and The Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge. The Book of Praises can be ordered by mail through The Besalel Press, 62 Rose Hill, Oxford OX4 4HS, United Kingdom, or by emailing Besalel@aol.com. Prices: Book One (Psalms 1-41) $162.46; Book Two (Psalms 42-72) $162.46; Postage for up to two items is $14. For more information, click here.

History of the Christmas Tree

2008-12-19T10:32:00.000-08:00

Christian History has a new blog, and gives this history of
Christianity's adoption of that previously pagan symbol, the Christmas tree.

Also browse this book at Google Books: In the Fullness of Time: A Historian Looks at Christmas, Easter, and the Early Church by Paul L. Maier (Kregel Publications, 1997).

'Peace on Earth' nativity scene

2008-12-19T10:26:00.000-08:00

Jimmy McCarty reflects on this and other nativity scenes.

Alban Weekly on the importance of place

2008-12-19T10:02:00.000-08:00

From Alban Weekly:

Congregations are born from a generative spark of interaction between stories of faith and stories of place. ... I have come to believe that 'Where am I?' and 'What is happening here?' are among the most profound questions congregational leaders can ask. This vocabulary of place or location is often used metaphorically in congregational planning and discernment. 'Where are we now?' may be a figurative way of asking what steps the congregation has completed in a planning process, how far the congregation has progressed in a size transition, or how close the capital campaign has come to meeting its goal. In this discussion, I want to wake up these dozing metaphors of place and refocus on their immediate and physical meanings.

continued...

'Incarnate' at catapult

2008-12-19T08:13:00.000-08:00

Insightful reflections on the theme of Incarnate at catapult magazine, including this essay:

The bit of information we have about God becoming a baby says a truckload about what kind of God that would have to be. Those moments, the first ones, of coming through the birth canal and onto a bed of hay, speak of love. There is the love-that-so-loved that He sent, but to take on the skin of the very ones you've watched since Eden—that’s a different kind of love.

continued...

Central Office Pictures

2008-12-10T12:22:00.002-08:00

These are some pictures of our central office.

Packing Party

2008-12-10T12:15:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we had a packing party to get a number of donated instraments ready to go with a group of Calvin students down to Argentina.

'Chains shall he break'

2008-12-08T06:07:00.000-08:00

Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother
And in his name all oppression shall cease.

-from 'O Holy Night'

Materials for study at reflection at biblicalstudies.co.uk

2008-12-05T11:06:00.000-08:00

Look at some of Rob Bradshaw's recent additions to www.biblicalstudies.co.uk and see what he has in preparation.

beauty of today's snowfall

2008-12-05T11:03:00.000-08:00

the view outside our door:

GR Press on Stockbridge Boiler Room community facing zoning issues

2008-12-04T07:09:00.000-08:00

We saw this story in our local paper last weekend, featuring Symposium 2009 presenters Jenn and Tony Tendero:

A prayer group that meets in a three-stall garage on the city's West Side has run afoul of officials in the city's Planning Department.

They have asked the Stockbridge Boiler Room to apply for a special land-use permit if it wants to continue holding its prayer sessions in the garage at 713 Fifth St. NW.

"We're trying to understand the use -- how many people are going to be there and how often they are meeting," said City Planning Director Suzanne Schulz.

...

Tony Tendero, the founder and abbot of the 3-year-old group, said they moved their twice-daily prayer meetings into the garage after they outgrew the space in the house at that address.

continued...

Mourning the loss of William Spoelhof

2008-12-03T11:13:00.000-08:00

We mourn the death and celebrate the life of William Spoelhof, former president of Calvin College and longtime member of the Calvin community. Dr. Spoelhof died just days away from his 99th birthday. Just a few weeks ago he was still walking past our front door to the nearby coffee kitchen where he and colleagues met every morning to discuss matters grave and trivial. He often visited our office to offer a warm greeting--among the many things we'll miss about him. A memorial service will be held at Calvin on Monday, Dec. 8.

For more, go to www.calvin.edu/admin/president/spoelhof