Vital Worship, Healthy Congregations Series

Each book in this special series—published by the Alban Institute in cooperation with the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship—is designed to reflect the kind of vibrant, creative energy and patient reflection that will promote worship that is both relevant and profound.

When God Speaks through Worship: Stories Congregations Live By
Craig A. Satterlee
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When congregations speak through Worship: Stories Congregations Live By is a collection of stories of congregational worship in which God's ongoing presence, speech, and activity are apparent. These stories of proclaiming the gospel, teachin the faith ... more

 
Worship Frames: How We Shape and Interpret Our Experience of God
Deborah J. Kapp
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Worship is a congregation’s most important practice. In worship we encounter God’s gracious presence and come face to face with the frailty, goodness, and potential of our humanity. We are comforted, corrected, forgiven, healed, challenged, and sometimes even disturbed by the divine and one another ... more

Leading from the Table
Paul Galbreath
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The communion table stands as an intersection between Word and Sacrament, between memory and hope, between pastor and congregation, between receiving and serving, and between community and individual. Leading from the table, says Paul Galbreath, professor of preaching and worship, is a way of thinking, ... more

Choosing the Kingdom: Missional Preaching for the Household of God
John A. Dally
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Today the Christian faith is moving through one of the greatest sea changes in its two thousand year history, and we can no longer assume we know exactlywhat kind of animal preaching is or ought to be. Choosing the Kingdom is both a work of theology and a how-to guide for preachers who want to rethink both the form and the content of their preaching ... more

The Church of All Ages: Generations Worshiping Together
Howard Vanderwell, Editor
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Many congregations today experience collisions between parents who want to spend time with their children and age-segregated church programming, as well as between the children worshiping in their pews and the increasing number of seniors in the same pew. Among the questions these congregations struggle to address are these: Should we try to hold the generations ... more

Preaching Ethically: Being True to the Gospel, Your Congregation, and Yourself
Ronald D. Sisk
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How do clergy preach to meet the legitimate needs of their congregation and live up to standards of professionalism and personal integrity? Preaching Ethically offers guidelines for preaching in light of a range of factors that might tempt a preacher to misuse the pulpit. How do you preach about controversial issues? ... more

When God Speaks Through You: How Faith Convictions Shape Preaching and Mission
Craig A. Satterlee
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“Holy and active listening” means listening openly and attentively to one another with the expectation that God will speak in and through the conversation. In When God Speaks Through You, homiletics professor Craig Satterlee helps preachers and their congregations learn to listen to one ... more 

The Work of the People
Marlea Gilbert, Christopher Grundy, Eric T. Myers, and Stephanie Perdew
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Worship is the work of the people of God. Patterns of worship shape how we pray and how we live. Despite its centrality to church life, worship is too often taken for granted as something a congregation experiences rather than collectively creates ... more

 
Stilling the Storm
Kathleen S. Smith
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When congregations go through difficult times, worship will both reflect and influence those difficulties. The practice of worship itself can be a key part of the congregation’s healing process. Teacher and consultant Kathleen Smith successfully demonstrates this truth in Stilling the Storm, a book for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the ways ... more

With All Thy Mind
Robert P. Glick
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The worship terrain has changed, but a consensus has yet to emerge even about what worship is, let alone how we should worship. Increasingly, however, people are hungry not just to know about God, but to experience God with all they ... more

 
When God Speaks through Change
Craig A. Satterlee
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Anyone who has preached at a wedding and a funeral in the same week can attest to the power of the occasion to impact the preaching event. At times, a congregational transition looms so large in a sermon that it becomes the lens through which scripture is interpreted, the congregation is addressed, the preacher is ... more

Where 20 or 30 Are Gathered
Peter Bush and Christine O'Reilly
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While worship is the primary purpose of all churches, worship in the small church is distinctive. Whether a house church, a new church plant, a rural church along a country road, or a city church whose neighborhood demographics have shifted, these small faith communities present unique opportunities and challenges for ... more

Designing Worship Together
Norma deWaal Malefyt and Howard Vanderwell
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This book draws on more than two decades of collaborative worship planning by pastor Howard Vanderwell and musician Norma deWaal Malefyt of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, offering thoughtful, field-tested processes and tools for planning, implementing, and evaluating life-enriching weekly worship. ... more

One Bread, One Body
C. Michael Hawn
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As a troubadour for global music and an instigator of cross-cultural worship for more than fifteen years in a variety of denominational settings, including congregational, national, and international venues, Michael Hawn has observed many faithful people who find that a taste of Pentecost in worship is refreshing and ... more