Upcoming Event
A Reformation Sunday worship service commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the Accra Confession
October 27, 2024, 5:00 PM
David Bailey and Erin Rose on Charlottesville, Violence, and Preaching
Seeing violence and racism up close is ugly. Two Presbyterians discuss how to help congregations prepare for and respond to divisive events.
February 26, 2018
Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion, and Truth in Christian Worship and Life
All over the world, Christian churches are struggling to obey the Bible’s clear commands to welcome the stranger, to displace the fear that leads to exclusion, and to both extend and receive mutual hospitality as gifts of God’s Spirit.
February 16, 2018
Methodist Pastor-Musicians on Gaps in Worship Music
Teaching an intensive songwriting class in a North Carolina prison for women made Susannah Long and Michael Conner reflect on gaps in what churches sing about.
February 14, 2018
What Inside Songwriters Can Teach Outside Churches about Worship
A songwriting class in a North Carolina prison taught eight women to write biblical songs that touch congregations inside and outside prison walls.
February 14, 2018
Mental Health and the Practice of Christian Public Worship: An Exploratory Conversation
Sessions related to mental health are not a common feature of many conferences on worship. Yet mental-health-related concerns affect as many as one in five people at any given time, with one of every twenty-five people living with serious mental health challenges. More than four in ten people in the United States experiences a psychological disorder in their lifetime. What we say or fail to say about these challenges in worship settings can be profoundly formative for how Christian communities respond to these challenges
February 13, 2018
Warren Kinghorn on Mental Illness and Our Deepest Identity
We hear a lot about using person-first language. Yet it is still common to label people with their mental health diagnosis. Christians and churches can offer another way to describe our common human identity.
February 6, 2018
Warren Kinghorn on Mental Health and Christian Worship
It is far more common to hear about physical ailments than mental ones in congregational prayers and worship. Psychiatrist Warren Kinghorn explains why mental health issues and people with mental illness should be acknowledged in Christian worship.
February 6, 2018
Worship and Mental Health
What we say or fail to say about mental health concerns in worship settings can be profoundly formative for how Christian communities respond to these challenges.
January 4, 2018
Mark Mulder on Debunking “the Culture of Poverty”
It is important for financially stable churches and Christians to build relationships with those in poverty. But the reason may be different than what you might assume.
December 14, 2017
Stephanie Smith on Starting an Outdoor Church
People treated as the last and the least often feel unwelcome inside churches. That is why some church plants create a worshiping community outdoors. Many of their discoveries also apply to indoor churches.
December 5, 2017
Stephanie Smith on Raising Lay Leaders from the Margins
Those who experience homelessness, poverty, physical or mental illness, or addiction understand things that more privileged people may never know. Raising up peer chaplains from within this group can lead to renewal in both outdoor and building-based Christian communities.
December 5, 2017
Mika Edmondson on MLK’s Theology of Unearned Suffering
Jesus’s example of laying down his life for others inspired Martin Luther King Jr. and the U.S. civil rights movement. This theology of how to engage undeserved suffering can help congregations deal with pain.
October 10, 2017