Good Preaching Takes Good Elders
When preachers and churches talk about improving the quality of preaching, many approaches are considered, but one is frequently missing: the participation of elders. This workshop explores both the why and how questions of involving elders in supporting and encouraging preachers in their congregations.
Resources for Acknowledging Our Military Members in Worship
A set of resources for acknowledging military members in worship.
Building a Healthy and Interdependent Church Community
The session presented several practical tools for building a church community that welcomes and embraces diversity in membership. Highlighting examples from churches including members with disabilities, this session offered ideas that allow people to see one another through God's eyes.
Helping Children Understand the Psalms
The Psalms have been a great source of inspiration for generations of Christians but children seldom get the chance to interact with more than a handful of Psalms in a meaningful way. This workshop will explore how we can help children do this and why it matters.
Bridging Cultures: Worship Renewal in Culturally Diverse Congregations
This panel of Worship Renewal Grant recipients --from First Christian Reformed Church, Hamilton, Ont.; Eliot Presbyterian, Lowell, Mass.; Rehoboth Christian Reformed Church, Rehoboth, N.M.; and Bridgeway Community Church, Haledon, N.J.-- told their stories of how they are bringing together worshipers of different cultures, experiences, and perspectives. They offered practical ideas of how visual art, music, and testimony can help people honor their heritage and grow in unity.
Conversations Between Worship Leaders and Worship Technicians
This presentation addressed some of the wonderful possibilities of working well together as well as some of the pitfalls in the assumptions we make about sound in worship.
Worship that Renews the Me and Transforms the Us
Drawing from their diverse ministry experience, Jim and Rose Dekker --in Latin American ecumenical and spiritual direction-- and Jonathan Bradford --in a U.S. urban context-- explored the biblical concepts of knowing Christ the servant and serving Christ the Sovereign Lord. All of life must really be worship.
Prayer in the Life of a Third Millennium Monastery: What We're Learning
This session featured stories, prayers, and insights from the first year of the Stockbridge Boiler Room, a simple Christian community that practices a daily rhythm of prayer, study, and celebration while caring actively for the poor and the lost.
Teens and Worship: Encouraging Creative and Meaningful Worship with Teenagers
Practical suggestions, strategies, and resources to encourage vibrant, meaningful worship with teens were presented in this session.
Training and Engaging Lay Leaders of All Ages in Planning and Leading Worship
This panel of Worship Renewal Grant recipients reflected on their experiences with worship renewal and offered practical ideas to help congregations engage all worshipers from youth to the elderly Panelists were from Bridge Street AME, Brooklyn, N.Y.; South Grandville Christian Reformed Church, Grandville, Mich.; St. Luke AME Zion, Grand Rapids, Mich.; Granite Springs Church, Lincoln, Calif.
Old Testament Resources for Christian Worship: Surprising insight
Touching the Altar, edited by Carol M. Bechtel, shows how the often-neglected Old Testament is essential to understand the purpose of worship, giving practical ideas any church can apply. A feature story on using Old Testament values in worship.
Sunday Morning Worship: Who's not there and why not?
As churches work toward full, conscious and active participation in liturgy, some are noticing patterns of worship attendance. They're reaching out to those absent from Sunday morning worship. A feature story focused on Sunday worship attendance.